SDG 6:
Clean water & sanitation
FACTS FIRST ❕
How is it related?
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Plastic pollution contaminates water bodies, becoming toxic for those who use the water for daily activities
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E.g. despite being dangerous to health, 28 million people rely on the Citarum River, Indonesia—one of the world's most polluted river—for daily activities such as bathing, cleaning and irrigating
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14-year-old with scabies, a common consequence of living near the severely polluted river
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The quality of water can be improved by:
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Promoting good hygiene practices/habits through education
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Implementing rainwater harvesting systems to collect/store rainwater for drinking or recharging underground aquifers
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Providing home water-treatment capability through the use of filters, disinfection, etc.
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Any trash that is dropped can eventually reach a drainageway
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Bad sanitation and clean water is often in poor countries and at countries with bad health-care
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Less trash means that people can have access to cleaner water, and will be able to manage sanitation effectively
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Dirty water can lead to illnesses and diseases, which can lead to an outbreak in smaller communities which don’t have access to clean water
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The trash we litter spreads harmful viruses, diseases and bacteria into the environment which has the ability to cause multiple health problems
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Contaminated water and poor sanitation are linked to the transmission of diseases such as cholera, diarrhoea, dysentery, hepatitis A, typhoid and polio
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Poor water sanitation can lead to children dying early on, and in some cases, unable to reach the age of 5
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Illness can give the individual person economic debts because there's a lack of free healthcare in small communities and poor countries.
