Each of us has an impact on the cleanliness of the planet, argues CABP in a documentary about plastic

Every year, consumers in Poland dispose of over 5 million tons of various types of packaging from goods purchased in stores. Most of them end their lives in landfills. But a large part of them is thoughtlessly thrown away in a random place. Such packaging simply litter our environment: forests, rivers, seas. Credit Agricole volunteers cleaned them on the beaches of the Baltic Sea during the Baltic Odyssey and had a good look at them. 

- How big is your belief that lying on the beach at the Baltic Sea you have an impact on the cleanliness of the water in the oceans? After all, they are huge, so what can I do alone? - asks Jaroslaw Ku?niar in the film. And he adds: - And now imagine this question uttered in chorus by several billion people around the world... It changes the perspective, doesn't it?

The heroes of the film - experts, artists and enthusiasts - emphasize that plastic has become an inseparable element of our lives and in many cases is irreplaceable. However, the consumption of disposable products and packaging has gotten out of control.  If we do nothing about it, in the near future our world will literally be flooded by a wave of garbage.

- Plastic is not evil. It is a super invention. Just like dynamite or nuclear power. But the question is: how do we use it? This is where the problem lies," says photographer Daniel Petryczkiewicz. - I know that fighting with excessive plastic may seem hopeless. However, everyone really has an impact on the environment, and a single decision in the collective mass of decisions has a chance to change the world for the better," adds singer Dawid Podsiad?o, who recorded the music for the latest Credit Agricole commercial using plastic waste as instruments. 

So what can each of us do to reduce the use of unnecessary plastic? Just start with a few simple rules: buy only what you really need and do without unnecessary packaging. It is better to use reusable items instead of disposable ones and repair them when they break. It is also worth to segregate garbage properly, because thanks to this you can recover and recycle many useful materials - advise the creators of the film.

The film You Have the Influence can be watched on the Internet on a special website Mniejplastiku.onet.pl, launched by Credit Agricole Bank Polska together with Onet.pl - the most popular Internet portal in Poland. On the first day of viewing, the film was watched by over 380 thousand people.