The theme of this year’s World Consumer Rights Day is plastic pollution.

March 15 is the annual occasion dedicated to the power of consumers and their rights for a fair, safe and sustainable marketplace for everyone. The event is co-ordinated by Consumers International, the membership organization of consumer groups around the world.

This year, the focus is on the use of plastics – highly useful in everyday life, but consumer consumption and production of plastics have become unsustainable, creating a global plastic pollution crisis. The flow of plastic materials into the ocean will triple by 2040 without major innovations and changes in policy and behaviour do not occur, according the Pew Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ’s report Breaking the Plastic Wave.

The Government of Canada’s Toward Zero Plastic Waste resource describes its efforts to take action on plastic waste and how consumers can help.

World Consumer Rights Day was inspired by the message of President John F. Kennedy to U.S. Congress on March 15, 1962, in which he addressed the issue of consumer rights, including “the right to safety, the right to be informed, the right to choose and the right to be heard.”