http://unric.org/en/latest-un-buzz/29158-this-month-in-unrics-newsletter

This month in UNRIC?s newsletter

Monday, 14 April 2014 10:16

14 April 2014 - Plastic waste is the main theme of our newsletter this
month.

The Icelandic tourist industry promotes Iceland as a "natural" and
"pure" destination. But French photographer Julien Joly encountered an
unexpected sight when he visited the remote beaches of Hornstrandir -
namely plastic. Lots of plastic.

It has long been a widespread belief that marine litter doesn?t cause
much damage. After all, the oceans are big enough to handle some bits of
plastic, right? Unfortunately, we have had it all wrong. The Great
Pacific Garbage Patch is now the size of Texas.

To disseminate knowledge about the world's massive plastic littering,
the Finnish UN Association has launched a competition where you can
propose a name for the "8th continent" - the trash vortex in the Pacific
Ocean.

On average, a European citizen uses 198 disposable plastic bags a year -
an alarmingly high number. Now, the European Parliament has voted on a
resolution which would ban certain plastic bags as of 2020.

And last, but not least, we have interviewed Bo Schack from UNHCR. He
shares with us his experience regarding the difficult work of providing
assistance to refugees and internally displaced persons in Afghanistan.