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Our Power, Our Planet
For the 56th Earth Day, EARTHDAY.ORG is marshalling a planet-wide call to action in the face of sweeping environmental rollbacks.
22 April 2026
This article first appeared in our World Environment Day 2026 issue of My Green Pod Magazine, published 05 June 2026. Click here to subscribe to our digital edition and get each issue delivered straight to your inbox
Plastic pollution is often discussed as an environmental issue, but it’s increasingly becoming a human one, too.
Each year, over 400 million tonnes of plastic are produced globally, yet less than 10% is successfully recycled.
As plastic breaks down, it forms microplastics and nanoplastics that are now found not only in oceans and soil, but also in the air we breathe, the water we drink and the food we eat.
Scientists have detected these particles in the lungs, blood, placenta and even brain tissue, with growing concern about potential links to hormone disruption, inflammation and wider health impacts.
Plastic pollution is no longer something ‘out there’; it is something we are all part of, and something we are all being asked to respond to.
Plastic to Purpose is a new global initiative that invites a more connected, hands on response, particularly for young people.
Built around three simple ideas – Learn, Create & Transform – the programme unites environmental education, practical action and wellbeing. The mission is to transform students’ relationship with sustainability and develop environmental responsibility, leadership and a deeper connection between planetary and personal wellbeing.
The initiative is a collaboration between the Love Peace Harmony Foundation (LPHF), which focuses on inner wellbeing, and Save Living Foundation, an environmental initiative working with plastic transformation.
Their shared vision is a world where caring for the Earth and caring for ourselves are understood as one, creating communities that live in balance with nature and each other.
Plastic to Purpose launched recently in Atlanta, where it generated a strong buzz and a real sense of excitement among both the children and the APEC Learning Center team.
Its formal global launch will take place on World Environment Day (05 June) 2026, marking the beginning of a wider international rollout. From there, the initiative will extend into communities in Germany, Hawaii, the Netherlands, India and the UK, with further expansion planned in the months ahead.
‘This initiative represents a new paradigm in education’, explained Richard Rogers, executive director of LPHF, ‘uniting sustainability, wellbeing and innovation to create meaningful, lasting change.’
Rather than presenting sustainability as abstract or distant, the programme begins by grounding students in lived reality. They explore how plastic is produced, used and discarded, and get a sense of its presence in the environment.
This stage is about awareness as well as information; the goal is to build a clearer sense of connection between everyday choices and global systems.
At the heart of the experience is the LPHF Press, a compact transformation machine that allows students to convert discarded plastic into new objects such as pendants and keychains.
What might once have been considered waste becomes something tangible, functional and personal. In this moment, perception shifts: waste becomes resource, discarded becomes designed and problem becomes possibility.
‘Together, we are empowering students not only to transform plastic waste but to recognise their ability to shape a more sustainable future’, says Marlous de Bordes, director of Save Living Foundation.
Alongside hands-on creation and sustainable experiments, the programme integrates wellbeing practices designed to deepen reflection and presence.
Through mindfulness-based exercises and creative tools such as water calligraphy, students are encouraged to slow down, observe and connect more consciously with their experience.
This integration of inner and outer awareness helps shift sustainability from something external into something personal and lived.
Teachers involved in early sessions have noted a change in how students talk about responsibility, creativity and their role in the world. Students are encouraged to see themselves as ‘Green Plastic Heroes’ – individuals who can take small, meaningful actions within their own communities and inspire others to do the same.
‘Caring for the Earth and caring for ourselves are deeply one’, shares Doctor and Master Sha, founder of LPHF. ‘Through this initiative, we are guiding young hearts to transform both their inner world and the world around them.’
Plastic to Purpose has been designed as a scalable model that can be introduced into schools and communities all over the world. The idea is that each new location will become a local expression of a shared framework, supported through training, materials, wellbeing tools and the introduction of LPHF Press machines.
Support and donations help enable this expansion, allowing new communities to establish their own programmes and bring the experience directly to students. In this way, the initiative grows not only through reach, but also through participation and shared learning.
Plastic pollution is a global, complex challenge, and there is no single solution. But meaningful change often begins in small, tangible ways – in how we understand a problem, how we engage with it and how we choose to respond.
Click here to get involved with the Plastic to Purpose programme.
For the 56th Earth Day, EARTHDAY.ORG is marshalling a planet-wide call to action in the face of sweeping environmental rollbacks.
New report reveals shocking scale of hidden global microplastic exposure.
Women’s Institute leads new parliamentary group inquiry into the true scale of the microplastics problem.
Scientists urge governments not to wait for global plastics treaty, as pollution continues to grow.
