NEW YORK—Bust out those reusable bags and ditch the plastic straws because tomorrow is Earth Day. This year’s theme is all about plastics (FYI they weren’t just the ruthless posse in “Mean Girls”). Plastic pollution poses a major threat to the well-being of the planet and everything on it. With tomorrow marking the 48th annual celebration of Earth Day, the theme is centered on ending plastic pollution.

According to EarthDay.org, “From poisoning and injuring marine life to disrupting human hormones, from littering our beaches and landscapes to clogging our waste streams and landfills, the exponential growth of plastics is now threatening the survival of our planet. In response, Earth Day 2018 will focus on fundamentally changing human attitude and behavior about plastics and catalyzing a significant reduction in plastic pollution.”

The Earth Day Network has even launched a calculator to help individuals track their plastic consumption and make a plan to reduce it.

With the spotlight on plastics for 2018, Bausch + Lomb reported that more than two million used contact lens materials were recycled through its ONE by ONE program in collaboration with TerraCycle.

Gina Wesley, OD, from Complete Eye Care in Medina, Minn, added, “I am proud to participate in the Bausch + Lomb ONE by ONE Recycling Program, which allows my patients the opportunity to be environmentally responsible in a way that they may have been unaware of previously.”

Along with this, you might already be familiar with Costa’s Kick Plastic campaign which runs in the same vein as this year’s Earth Day initiative. Kick Plastic aims to raise awareness about the growing plastic pollution problem threatening the world’s oceans.

According to Costa’s Kick Plastic page, 98 percent of ocean pollution comes from land, one in four fish tested has plastic in them and by 2050 there could be more plastic than fish (by weight) in the ocean.

To accompany Modo Eyewear’s sustainable ECO frame brand, the company’s program “One Frame—One Tree” works in partnership with the NGO Trees for the Future to plant one tree for every Eco frame sold. ECO frames are made with either 95 percent recycled content or 63 percent bio-based material. So far, through this program, Modo has planted over 1.5 million trees.

Additionally, while many brands are adhering to a green approach within their companies there are a variety of ways to leave less of a carbon footprint in the office too.

Samuel Adelman, OD, and Thomas Monahan, ABOC of Portland Eye Care, actively practice sustainability by including an eco-conscious approach to their office.

"I think of the word sustainability not just in the environmental sense, but also in the sense of creating a practice that is sustainable in terms of being built for the long term," Adelman said. "This way of thinking about sustainability, of course, affects decisions we make regarding the environment as well, even though that isn't the only aspect of sustainability as we see it."

Take a closer look at the tips that Adelman and Monahan implement to live a “greener” lifestyle here from the American Optometric Association’s website.

While you don’t have to completely adopt a zero waste lifestyle, getting involved with these initiatives, even in the smallest way, is more important now than ever. Because if you haven’t already realized it, climate change is real.