Page 8 - BPW-UK - E-news - Edition 125 - October 2024 - Completed_Neat

GREEN

& NORDIC Network Seminar

28 September 2024 in Norway and on ZOOM

Siiri Tiivets-Puttonen, (BPW Estonia), chair of the BPW Europe Green and Sustainable
Taskforce and Kukka Lehmusvirta, (BPW Finland) organised this launch of the Green
and Nordic Network and the Green BPW Europe Ambassador programme.

Anu Viks, BPW Europe Coordinator and BPW Finland President, Anne Gustafson-Pesonen
welcomed everyone and handed the microphone to Siiri, who talked about the need

of all members to keep leading the way in their families, communities and countries to
promote sustainability.

The focus was on the United Nations Sustainable Development Goal 15 - Life on Land
{more} and how the United Nations Environment programme (UNEP) is working to pro-
tect ‘terrestrial ecosystems and biodiversity’.

Siiri stressed how family habits changed in the Baltic region after independence from
Russia. Her mother and members of other families can remember having to make eve-
rything last for years and they have seen that not all changes since liberation have
been for the better.

BPW Estonia member Kai Klein, works for the Baltic Environ-

mental Forum Estonia (more) and spoke about the global
problem of plastic in our environment being a visible threat
in the sea, in rivers and down our streets. However, that is
only part of the story. The presence of plastic particles in the

food chain has been the subject of many documentaries,
but now a more sinister invisible threat is emerging.

These molecules have been mixed with additives to make plastic more attractive.
These chemicals, found in added colour, pliability, and transparency, react with chemi-
cals in the body and brain when ingested, but not enough attention is being given to
how this affects humans of all ages, including babies in the womb. These ‘endocrine
disruptors’ (ED) mimic and interfere with natural hormones, the effect of which is not ful-

ly known.
Packaging of products generates the greatest amount of global waste by far, accord-

ing to www.OurWorldinData.org/plastic-pollution . At 142.6 million tonnes per year, its
nearest rival is the building and construction industry at 76.89 tonnes.