“The unprecedented plastic waste tide plaguing our oceans and shores, can become as limited as our chosen relationship with plastics, which involves a dramatic behavioral change on our part…”
Captions and Photo: © SAF — Coastal Care
Excerpts;
Faced with the undeniable consequences of a toxic tide of plastic, people around the world are rejecting single-use plastics and pledging to live more sustainably. Governments are acting too: More than 50 countries have signed up to the UN Environment Clean Seas campaign, making this the largest global compact for fighting marine litter.
Businesses cannot afford to ignore the public outcry and many industries are drawing up plans to phase out single-use plastics, use more recycled plastic in their packaging and work on more effective recycling.
The pressure is not just coming from consumers. Bloomberg reported in June that a group of 25 investors, managing more than $1 trillion in assets, were demanding that Nestlé, PepsiCo, Procter & Gamble and Unilever reduce their use of plastic packaging. The demand, backed by the non-profit As You Sow, asked the companies to disclose annual plastic packaging use, set reduction goals, facilitate recycling and transition to recyclable, reusable or compostable packaging as much as possible.
The urgency is undeniable: humans have produced around 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic since the 1950s and that figure is predicted to rise to around 34 billion tonnes by 2050. Plastic production is forecast to grow 40 per cent in the next decade with fossil fuel companies investing billions of dollars to build new generation plastic-making factories in the United States.
Companies that use plastics clearly have a pivotal role to play in changing this unsustainable dynamic. The consumer goods industry is particularly aware that customers are already voting with their feet, shunning companies that do not stem their use of throwaway plastic…
Read Full Article; UNEP (06-28-2018)
EU ban on plastic straws and stirs proposed to cut marine litter; CBS News (05-28-2018)
The European Union has proposed banning plastic products like cotton buds, straws, stirs and balloon sticks when alternatives are easily available in an attempt to reduce litter spoiling beaches and ocean beds…
India vows to ban all single-use plastics by 2022; CBS News (06-05-2018)
India has vowed to ban all single-use plastics by 2022, according to the U.N.’s environmental agency, which called it an “unprecedented ambitious move against disposable plastic…”
New York city to consider banning plastic straws; Guardian UK (02-23-2018)
France Becomes First Country To Ban Plastic Cups And Dishes; Huffington Green (09-19-2016)
Think You Can’t Live Without Plastic Bags? Consider This: Rwanda Did It; Guardian UK (02-15-2015)
In 2008, while the rest of the world was barely starting to consider a tax on single-use plastic bags, the small East African nation decided to ban them completely…
Plastic straw makers brace for bans; CNN (02-23-2018)
Plastic straw manufacturers are bracing for big changes. The tide is turning against their product. Cities and countries around the world are stepping up pressure on businesses and consumers to ditch the plastic drink accessory because of the pollution it causes…
Toxic timebomb: why we must fight back against the world’s plague of plastic; Guardian UK (05-16-2017)
We must reduce our dependence on plastics, especially single-use items, and seek out alternative materials…
The planet is on edge of a global plastic calamity; Guardian UK (06-05-2018)
More than 8. 3 billion tons of plastics made: Most has now been discarded; Science Daily (07-19-2017)
Humans have created 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics since large-scale production of the synthetic materials began in the early 1950s, and most of it now resides in landfills or the natural environment, according to a study.
Plastic Pollution / The Great Plastic Tide, Coastal Care ©-2009.
Washed out on our coasts in obvious and clearly visible form, the plastic pollution spectacle blatantly unveiling on our beaches is only the prelude of the greater story that unfolded further away in the world’s oceans, yet mostly originating from where we stand: the land…
You Can Help Turn the Tide on Plastic. Here’s How.; The National Geographic (05-26-2018)
Do these six pain-free things, and you’ll help reduce the impact plastic is having on oceans and other waterways around the world…
Collecting plastic waste near coasts ‘is most effective clean-up method’, Guardian UK (01-19-2016)
Loving the Ocean Starts at Home, National Geographic (09-08-2016)
Homeless man cleans up beaches every day, Cape Town; Metro (03-15-2016)
The man is called Dan. He’s 28 and homeless, and he grew up on the Eastern Cape. Every day, he cleans the beaches for no other reason than to ‘make the place nice’ because he’s ’embarrassed about the pollution…’
