TEHRAN – On the occasion of World Environment Day, June 5, Tehran Municipality launched a scheme aiming to familiarize the public more with environmental problems, Sadr-o-din Alipour, the director of environment and sustainable development department of Tehran Municipality, has said.

Being held from June 9-15, the scheme will focus on providing citizens with green purchasing guides, identifying and eliminating environmental problems of areas with the help of environmental centers, encouraging municipality’s officials to use public transportation, notifying the public about water crisis, fixing the defects of green spaces utilities, and creating some gardening booths for parents in parks to familiarize children with the nature are some of the objectives of the plan, Alipour explained.

It is also to address banning plastic bottles and disposable utensils, mentioning environmental values, disseminating educational environmental clips in public places, holding painting workshops, environmental contests, and puppet shows are some of the programs which are being held in all 22 districts of the capital under the scheme, he added.

“Training citizens is conducted in the presence of an expert and under the supervision of the municipality,” he noted, Mehr news agency reported on Sunday.

World Environment Day was marked on June 5 in India with the theme of “Beat Plastic Pollution”. It is the UN's most important day for encouraging worldwide awareness and action for the protection of our environment. Since it began in 1974, it has grown to become a global platform for public outreach that is widely celebrated in over 100 countries.

According to UN, discarded plastic is one of the biggest environmental threats facing the planet. An estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enter the world’s oceans each year which is killing marine life and entering the human food chain.

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