15/07/2021
Check this out! One of the new innovations in cleaning the ocean of its plastic, covering 1 football fields worth of ocean every 15 seconds!
Plastic is having more of an impact on our oceans and wildlife than we realise. It’s not just the obvious stuff that we see like the pictures of a turtle wrapped in plastic line. It’s the micro plastics that are entering our watercourses and being ingested by wildlife! This not only affects the animals at the bottom of the food chain, but carries on up to the larger predatory animals and continues through the food chain having such a detrimental impact on their health. Which is not always as obvious.
The thing is, we need to stop the plastic getting there in the first place, which is difficult when society is addicted to plastic! What is going on in some countries with plastic is ridiculous, but it is easy to blame other countries, but we need to look towards our own shores! So what can we do?
1. Try to be mindful of what we are purchasing. Maybe it’s a plastic straw that we will use once, or a metal one that could be washed. I know, straws are an easy example but how many other single use plastics do we use?
2. Through to what we buy in a supermarket, how are the contents wrapped? In multiple layers of plastic? Or can you get the same product in more suitable/sustainable wrapping? Corporations and governments act like they care, but what will really make them care is when it hits them in the pocket! We can affect this by choosing what we purchase and making them change their ways!
3. Litter - the amount of litter I see everywhere is absolutely shocking! We can’t just rely on government, we need to educate people! Kids get the blame, but it’s people of all ages offending! I see plenty of adults throwing stuff out of their car windows. Adults, teach your kids not to throw litter, explain the reasons why they shouldn’t do this! Kids, if your parents are the irresponsible ones and littering, tell them off! Explain to them what they are doing is wrong! If they continue, grass them up to someone like a relative or teacher and shame them into stopping!
4. Still litter - there are more and more groups of people in the local community who are doing voluntary litter picking! From litter picking in the park. To beach cleans. Take the kids for a couple of hours and get them involved. Share your experience on social media to encourage others.
There is loads of other things that we can do but I don’t want to ramble on too much in one post! We can simply help out by sharing and raising awareness of this plastic crisis and getting involved!
What do you think? Would you like to hear more suggestions on how we can help? Do you have any suggestions that you would like to add for others to see? Please let me know in the comments!
BBC Countryfile Extra BBC Springwatch BBC Earth BBC News National Geographic Nat Geo Wild The Ocean Cleanup Greta Thunberg Greenpeace UK Greenpeace International
