The focus of this year’s World Environment Day was solutions to plastic pollution which was observed under the theme #BeatPlasticPollution. Similarly, in 2022, at the UN Environment Assembly, a resolution was endorsed to end plastic pollution.

KATHMANDU, July 18: In a move towards environmental preservation, Kathmandu Metropolitan City (KMC) has officially banned the use of plastic, effective from Monday. The decision, announced by KMC Mayor Balendra Shah on June 21, has now been implemented, with strict measures to curb plastic pollution.

PATAN, June 5: Minister for Health and Population, Mohan Bahadur Basnet, has said plastic products have started appearing as an enemy of the entire human civilisation.

KATHMANDU, June 5: The World Environment Day is being marked today around the theme #BeatPlasticPollution.

KATHMANDU, July 7: The per capita waste production per day in Nepal is 317 grams. This is mentioned in a report prepared in 2013 by the Waste Management and Processing Center with support from the Asian Development Bank (ADB). This figure has changed to some degrees in recent years. An individual produces half a kilo or 500 grams of waste a day. The proportion of plastic in this waste is 12 percent.

Brazilian artist Eduardo Srur reproduces works by renowned masters without using a drop of paint - just recycled shreds of plastic picked up from city streets and rivers.

Manu Karki lives a zero-waste life. When moving into her current home, she spent weeks hunting through different shops to find a metal dustbin rather than go for the easily available plastic ones. She is a vegetarian who is slowly transitioning to veganism. Most of the things she uses are non-plastic, she would rather thrift her clothes than buy new ones and she is willing to do everything in her power to be an environmentally conscious person.

Actor Shruti Haasan has defended her decision to go under the knife, saying it's her life and she has the right to choose the way she looks.

Neetya Karki carries a heavy bag. Besides the essentials, like her wallet, umbrella, sunglasses, and a book, in her dark green tote, the 29-year-old carries a steel tumbler, a double decker steel lunchbox, a fork and a spoon, two cloth napkins, a canvas bag, and, her recent purchase, a bamboo straw. Her bag might weigh a lot but she’s treading lightly on the planet by reducing plastic usage as much as possible, she says.

June 8: The average person eats at least 50,000 particles of microplastic a year and breathes in a similar quantity, according to the first study to estimate human ingestion of plastic pollution, The Guardian reported.

Plastic might feel like a wonderful invention – you use it almost everywhere – but since most of it is used just once (not to forget that plastic takes years to degrade), it’s choking the mother earth. We hear about that all the time but are we doing our bit to ensure we aren’t contributing to it in any way? Here are five ways you can start lessening your plastic usage and waste.

First, it was a rogue coffee cup. Now, Game of Thrones fans have spotted another present-day item lurking onscreen in the fantasy drama: a water bottle.

Plastic waste has been found on the seafloor during a record-breaking dive by an American explorer.

SINDHULI, April 30: Five persons have been arrested on the charge of looting gold. The arrestees, according to the police, had used a plastic pistol to loot 711 grams of the yellow metal from a jeweler's room.

Scientists and environmentalists have long warned about the dangers of plastic pollution, especially now that plastic trash of all types is choking the world’s rivers and oceans. High-end designers have responded by “upcycling” discarded objects into unique, desirable design pieces.

New fabrics being grown in laboratories may provide a viable alternative to the materials currently shedding vast quantities of plastic into the world’s oceans.

A lemur made of damaged car bumpers and bin lids. An owl made from plastic junk. Colorful animals have popped up in Paris as part of a new exhibition by Portuguese street artist Bordalo II, who aims to highlight the effect of waste on the environment.

KATHMANDU, Dec 13: I think it is quite recommendable that a lot of organizations are taking extra step to ban the use of plastic bags from their workplace. It is high time we took an initiative to save the Earth.  Day to day, we come across a lot of articles and posts regarding the environmental damage caused by excessive use of plastic bags. The bad thing about people is that they dump garbage in the river, pond, and lake or in ocean. This not only pollutes the city but also kills millions of aquatic lives.

PHNOM PENH, Nov 2:  From a dress inspired by the plume of a peacock and fashioned out of bottle caps and cement sacks, to a black and orange tiger outfit made of plastic bags, one group of LGBT fashion designers in Cambodia crafts beauty from trash to battle discrimination.

I am sure that most of us have heard about the story of King Midas. According to the myths, when the god granted king Midas one wish, he wished for the touch of gold. The wish was granted and he started turning trees, rocks, and building into gold. But soon, he found himself in a horrible situation because he couldn’t eat as a result of his boon. The food he touched turned into gold as well.

What were you doing when you were a teenager?

Could Mother Nature provide a solution to the world's plastic pollution catastrophe?

Mosquito larvae that grow up in water contaminated with plastic accumulate the litter in their bodies – and some of it remains there even after the larvae emerge as adult flies. The mosquitoes may exacerbate the problem of plastic contamination when they are eaten by animals living on land.

Sept 9: A supply ship towing a long floating boom designed to corral ocean plastic has set sail from San Francisco for a test run ahead of a trip to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

‘Seabird capital of the world’ is home to dozens of endemic species, which are particularly vulnerable to plastics

July 1: For decades, plastic straws have been essential props for cocktail makers, smoothie lovers and fast food addicts.

MAHARASHTRA, INDIA, June 23: The Maharashtra government on Saturday enforced its ban on single-use plastic items.

June 23: Seabirds are starving to death on the remote Lord Howe Island, a crew filming for the BBC One documentary Drowning in Plastic has revealed.

TOKYO, June 13: Scientists have created a mutant enzyme that breaks down plastic drinks bottles – by accident. The breakthrough could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis by enabling for the first time the full recycling of bottles.

KATHMANDU, June 6: Lalitpur Metropolitan City (LMC) is planning to restrict the use of plastic bags in the city from July 17.

KATHMANDU, June 5: Alarmingly, Kathmandu valley consumes between 4,700,000 to 4,800,000 plastic bags daily.  On average, 100 million plastic bags are consumed in a month in the Kathmandu valley alone.

On World Environment Day, here's some plastic facts that one should be aware about.

A whale has died in southern Thailand after swallowing more than 80 plastic bags, with rescuers failing to nurse the mammal back to health.

The breakthrough, spurred by the discovery of plastic-eating bugs at a Japanese dump, could help solve the global plastic pollution crisis

UDAYAPUR, March 27: In a lowly behavior, two ward chiefs of Chaudandigadhi Municipality of Udayapur district have been found hurling plastic water bottles at each other during a meeting.

KATHMANDU, March 26:  After the government's attempt to ban plastic bags in the Kathmandu Valley two years ago became a complete failure, Ward No 1 of Mahalaxmi Municipality in Lalitpur district is all set to revive the ban from April 14 coinciding with the Nepali New Year 2075.

JHAPA, March 21: Fuel was produced from waste plastic in Surunga of Kankari municipality.

JHAPA Mar 21: Fuel has been produced from waste plastic in Surunga of Kankari municipality.

Video posted on YouTube shows water densely strewn with food wrappers, cups and sachets as tropical fish dart in and out

Video posted on YouTube shows water densely strewn with food wrappers, cups and sachets as tropical fish dart in and out

Video posted on YouTube shows water densely strewn with food wrappers, cups and sachets as tropical fish dart in and out

KATHMANDU, Jan 25:  At the behest of the Principal of Tribhuvan University (TU)'s Central Campus, Krishna Prasad Acharya, the leaders of student unions, students and TU officials burned plastic heaps in front of each of the 32 central departments of the university from 11AM to 1PM on Thursday.

The wind stirred and the blue polythene bag rolled and riffed with it. Being tossed around by wind and mud, the wrinkled plastic bag floated with the wind brushing its hands slowly against the floor and then it suddenly soared into the sky.

KATHMANDU, Jan 15: Burning waste materials, which is restricted by national and international laws, is a normal phenomena in Tribhuvan University (TU), the oldest and biggest university of the country. Plastics are openly burned on the premises of TU in Kirtipur.

LONDON, Jan 1: Britain has been shipping up to 500,000 tonnes of plastic for recycling in China every year, but now the trade has been stopped.

KATHMANDU, Oct 8: Property worth Rs 1.2 million has been destroyed after a plastic factory caught fire in Balaju Industrial Area on Sunday evening.

Fans and followers have been left speechless after pictures of Ayesha Takia surfaced in which she was nearly unrecognizable. The transformation that she has recently gone through is unbelievable and immediately became media fodder.

BHAKTAPUR, Nov 16: A fire that broke out at a plastic factory at Changu Narayan-4 in Bhaktapur district on Tuesday night gutted properties worth over Rs 2.5 million.

BAJHANG, Oct 29: Jay Bahadur Bohora of Lataun village used to make good money by selling bamboo made items. Since last few years, his bamboo baskets are not much in demand. People have started to store grains and goods rather in tin boxes and plastic bags are preferred as goods carriers. Bohora laments that the traditional occupation is under threat.

Plastic is non-biodegradable and hence possesses a big challenge to waste management in metropolitan areas