PLASTIC OCEAN PART THREE - CLEAN SEAS
PLASTIC OCEAN PART THREE - CLEAN SEAS What can humanity do to make our oceans cleaner for the future?
THE SOLUTION: REDESIGN OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PLASTIC We will be dealing with the consequences of plastic pollution for many years to come, but there are things that each of us can do now to prevent the problem getting any worse, especially as we are unable to simply clear it up. Even if plastic production halted tomorrow, the planet would be dealing with its environmental consequences for thousands of years, and on the bottom of the oceans, where an estimated 70 per cent of marine plastic debris ends up for tens of thousands of years. It may form a layer in the geological record of the planet, or some microbe may evolve that can digest plastic and find itself supplied with a vast food resource. In the meantime, what can we do?
‘PEOPLE FIND IT DIFFICULT TO GRASP THE SIZE OF THE OCEANS AND THAT MOST OF THIS PLASTIC IS IN TINY PIECES, EVERYWHERE.’
expensive as it does, we have to start re-using plastic and designing it for re-use. At present only a few of our many hundred plastics can simply be melted down and moulded into something else; the rest are cross-contaminated with other chemicals and types of plastic. But the billion dollar plastic industry is tooled for virgin plastic and resistant to change.
glass, which gives it a smaller carbon footprint. We need to change the way we view plastic, to see it as a valuable resource, we need to apply this way of thinking to all waste which can be re-used. We need to stop believing in the place called Away, waste never goes away, it just becomes someone else’s problem... but eventually it will become our problem again.
WE HAVE TO CHANGE OUR RELATIONSHIP WITH PLASTIC AND START RE-USING AND DESIGNING IT FOR RE-USE.
We may not have the infrastructure to remove every single polymer that is in our oceans but we can certainly retrieve the bigger pieces and prevent them from breaking down into smaller bits that we can’t retrieve. We can also insure we dispose of waste properly in the first place, we need to make sure that our plastic consumer waste doesn’t end up in the environment; in the wind, in the rivers, on the beach because it will end up with sea.
What we cannot do is clean up the plastic in the oceans. ‘It’s the biggest misunderstanding people have on this issue... they think the ocean is like a lake and we can go out with nets and just clean it up.
Charles Moore gives talks to plastic industry executives whenever he can and finds very little interest in recycling, because it’s the least profitable sector of the industry. ‘A lot of companies and product designers and marketing people don’t like recycled plastic either, you can’t dye it with those bright, attention-grabbing colours.’
People find it difficult to grasp the size of the oceans and the fact that most of this plastic is in tiny pieces and it’s everywhere... All we can do is stop putting more of it in, and that means redesigning our relationship with plastic.’ In general terms, it is already clear what we need to do about plastic. Since it is made from oil, which will run out in our lifetimes and get more
For consumers, the easiest way to make a difference is to give up plastic shopping bags and plastic water bottles, which contribute more to plastic pollution than any other products. Then comes plastic packaging, which is a little more complicated. It is easy to point out examples of excessive packaging, but plastic does have the virtue of being lighter than paper, cardboard and
Captain Charles Moore
FOR CONSUMERS, THE EASIEST WAY TO MAKE A DIFFERENCE IS TO GIVE UP PLASTIC SHOPPING BAGS AND BOTTLES. We’ll have to look at changing polices around the world in order to educate other countries of the issues of what’s happening and how they should view their waste. As consumer we have to learn to say no to excessive packaging and to encourage companies to invest in sustainable design. ●
RESPECTING PLASTIC AS A VALUABLE RESOURCE
THERMOSETTING PLASTICS VS THERMOPLASTICS Thermosetting plastics can only be moulded into one shape, they do not melt, they are used in applications where they need to withstand heat. Unlike thermosetting plastics, thermoplastics can be re-melted and re-shaped over and over again.
RESPECTING PLASTIC AS A VALUABLE RESOURCE Currently we only recycle 5% of plastic, recycling plastic is expensive and difficult due to the many variations of the material. It is baffling for consumers to know which plastics can be recycled and why others can’t. When used correctly plastic is a valuable resource which can be manufactured for thousands of uses, it is versatile and flexible. We need to learn more about types of plastics and encourage companies to invest in using recycled plastics. You may have seen the following logos before hidden away on the bottoms of plastic packaging; but who knows what they really mean?
Polyethylene Terephthalate Polyethylene Terephthalate is a thermoplastic polymer resin of the polyester family and is used in synthetic fibers; beverage, food and other liquid containers including drink bottles and oven-ready meal trays.
High-density Polyethylene HDPE is the high density version of PE plastic. It is harder, stronger and a little heavier than LDPE, but less flexible. It is lighter than water, and can be moulded, machined, and joined together. It is commonly used for milk bottles and washing-up liquids.
Polyvinyl Chloride Polyvinyl chloride (PVC) is a thermoplastic polymer of vinyl chloride. It’s resin is hard, but with the addition of plasticizers, a flexible, elastic plastic material is made. PVC is not commonly recycled or recyclable, nor is it biodegradable. However, concerns mainly focus on the generation of persistent pollutants and toxic additives used to produce PVC products. It is commonly used in food trays, cling film and bottles.
Low density Polyethylene LDPE is the low density version of PE. This has less hardness, stiffness and strength compared to HDPE, but it’s more flexible. It is opaque and only thin foils can be transparent. LDPE is used for packaging like foils, trays and plastic bags. It is also used as protective coating on paper, textiles and other plastics, for instance in milk cartons.
Polypropylene Polypropylene (PP) is a thermoplastic, It has low density compared to other thermoplastics, and a unique combination of properties including mechanical strength, chemical resistance and thermal stability. It is used in margarine tubs and microwaveable meal trays.
Polystyrene Polystyrene is a colourless, transparent thermoplastic. It is produced either as a solid or as a foamed plastic, Its many uses include electrical and thermal insulation, yoghurt pots, foam meat or fish trays, take-away food boxes, vending cups, plastic cutlery and protective packaging.
Any other plastics Any other plastics that do not fall into any of the above categories. An example is melamine, which is often used in plastic plates and cups.
WHAT ABOUT “ECO-FRIENDLY” PLASTICS? There are three main categories of eco-plastics including plastics made from biological material, plastics which biodegrade and recycled plastics. However they must be used and disposed of with caution.
THE TRUTH ABOUT BIOPLASTICS Bioplastics are made from corn starch or other biological materials and are identical to Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET), they take less time to biodegrade; for instance a plastic bag could take 3 years to biodegrade as opposed to 100’s of years. However they must be used with caution and are not solely the answer to our plastic addiction. Bioplastics biodegrade, however they only do so in certain atmospheres. They can only degrade when sunlight and oxygen are present, if no oxygen is present then they will release a greenhouse gas which is 23 times more powerful than Carbon Dioxide; Methane. This means that although they may biodegrade they won’t do so in landfill nor on your compost heap. The market for bioplastics has grown by 20–30% annually (Vidal 2008), due to the demand to live a more environmentally conscience lifestyle. This demand means that we are using valuable land to grown plastic when we could be using it to grow food for the millions of people who are dying annually due to starvation, it could also lead to further deforestation. Lastly, bioplastics are not recyclable, if they are accidently mixed in with plastic recycling they can contaminate the recycled plastic and render it useless.
THE NOT SO ECOFRIENDLY BIODEGRADABLE PLASTICS Although marketed similarly to bioplastics these are different. They are the same as normal plastics made from fossil fuels, however they have had a chemical added to them to speed up the time they take to biodegrade. The thing is, biodegradable plastics only biodegrade in certain atmospheres similar to bioplastics. The atmospheres they break down in rely on the right balance of exposure to sunlight, water, bacteria, enzymes, wind abrasion and oxygen. Therefore it’s unlikely that they decompose on landfills or your compost bin, and even if they do, they will release plastic polymers into the soil. Like Bioplastics, these plastics cannot be recycled and if they contaminate regular plastic in the recycling process then the recycled plastic material is useless. ●
BOLD CLEAN UP INCENTIVE: FISHING PLASTIC FOR CASH Fishermen will be paid to catch plastic, under bold new plans from the EU’s fisheries chief, aimed at providing fleets with an alternative source of income to reduce pressure on dwindling fish stocks. Article by Fiona Harvey. Maria Damanaki, commissioner for fisheries, will unveil a trial project in the Mediterranean this month, which will see fishermen equipped with nets to round up the plastic detritus that is threatening marine life, and send it for recycling.
their quota, unintentionally catch juveniles or species for which they lack a quota, or because they prioritise higher value fish and throw away lesser species. About 1 million tonnes are thrown back each year in the North Sea alone.
The move is intended as a sweetener to fishermen who have bitterly opposed the European commission’s plans to ban the wasteful practice of discarding edible fish at sea. Fleets fear they will lose money by not being able to throw away lower-value catch.
“Ending this practice of throwing away edible fish is in the interest of fishermen, and consumers,” Damanaki told the Guardian in an interview. “It has to happen – we cannot have consumers afraid to eat fish because they hate this problem of discards.” But she acknowledged: “People [in the fishing industry] feel insecure, because this is a change. That is why they need incentives.”
FISHERMEN WILL BE EQUIPPED WITH NETS TO ROUND UP PLASTIC DEBRIS AND THEN IT WILL BE SENT “ENDING THIS PRACTICE OF THROWING AWAY EDIBLE FISH IS FOR RECYCLING. IN THE INTEREST OF FISHERMEN, Damanaki vowed yesterday to press on with her plan to eliminate discards, citing the strength of AND CONSUMERS” public opinion on the issue, whipped up in large part by the Fish Fight campaign waged by the food writer Hugh Fearnley-Whittingstall.
APPROXIMATELY TWO-THIRDS OF THE FISH CAUGHT IS THROWN BACK, USUALLY DEAD, BECAUSE FLEETS EXCEED THEIR QUOTA. Two-thirds of the fish caught in some areas is thrown back, usually dead, because fleets exceed
Maria Damanski
Fishermen who clear plastic will be subsidised initially by EU member states, but in future the scheme could turn into a self-sustaining profitable enterprise, as fleets cash in on the increasing value of recycled plastics. Cleaning up the rubbish will also improve the prospects for fish, seabirds and other marine species, which frequently choke or suffer internal damage from ingesting small pieces of non-biodegradable plastic packaging. ●
AN ADVENTURE TO THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH IN A VESSEL MADE OF PLASTIC BOTTLES
PLASTIKI: A VESSEL MADE FROM PLASTIC BOTTLES David de Rothschild set out on a mammoth ocean crossing aboard his recycled yacht to highlight pollution of Earth’s waters – but even he was shocked by what he found. Article by Tim Adams for The Observer. “After 100 days at sea,” David de Rothschild suggests, “you realise that it should be called planet Ocean rather than planet Earth.” De Rothschild is speaking from the island of New Caledonia the night before his boat, the Plastiki, embarks on the final leg of a voyage that should finish in Sydney harbour in a fortnight. The Plastiki, a revolutionary catamaran, is kept afloat by 12,500 plastic bottles in its hulls; the “eco-adventure” has been designed to draw attention to our systematic pollution and overfishing of oceans. In the three and a half months since De Rothschild, the refusenik 31-year-old son of the banking dynasty, and his crew of five set out from San Francisco they have discovered many things, but mainly, he says, they have learned about the sea, about its power and about its fragility.
PLASTIKI, IS KEPT AFLOAT BY 12,500 PLASTIC BOTTLES IN ITS HULLS; THE “ECO-ADVENTURE” HAS BEEN DESIGNED TO DRAW ATTENTION TO OUR POLLUTION AND OVER-FISHING OF OUR OCEANS. The power was amply demonstrated on the leg of the journey just completed, the 1,700 miles from Samoa, during which the vessel’s unconventional construction was rigorously tested by 13ft swells
and 35-knot winds for days on end. It is hard not to be reminded of your insignificance in the universe, De Rothschild says, when hanging off the side of a yacht made partly of plastic bottles, 1,000 miles from land in the pitch dark, while the Pacific breaks over you.
THE OCEAN’S FRAGILITY WAS WITNESSED WHERE MUCH OF THE WORLD’S DISCARDED PLASTIC ENDS UP, THE PACIFIC GYRE. The ocean’s fragility they witnessed in the place where much of the world’s discarded plastic ends up, the “eastern garbage patch”. This, the focus of their voyage, is a floating “continent” of debris. Nothing that the crew had read in advance could prepare them for what they found navigating an area twice as large as the North Sea. “You don’t see it at first,” De Rothschild says. “But when you get into the sea, and under the water, you realise that it is all like a soup, millions and millions of tiny fragments of plastic, suspended in the water. It is mostly microscopic, but once your eye adjusts you start to see the reflectiveness of some of the larger pieces. The red fragments stand out most clearly.” The garbage patch was first identified 12 years ago within the “North Pacific gyre” – a vortex where the ocean circulates slowly because of light wind and extreme high pressure systems.
Oceanographers have since suggested that perhaps 100 million tonnes of plastic are held in suspension in these waters. One of the things that the Plastiki voyage has demonstrated is just how durable modern polymers are: the pressurised bottles of its hull have hardly been knocked out of shape, let alone broken up by the 8,000-mile voyage. “That’s why just about every plastic bottle that has been made still exists,” De Rothschild says. The voyage has been overshadowed by the more graphic pollution of the BP oil spill, but even that is dwarfed by the scale of the problem the Plastiki highlights. While the deaths of seabirds and marine life in the Gulf of Mexico are still being measured in the hundreds, according to the UN Environment Programme, plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, and more than 100,000 marine mammals. Back in 2006, the UN concluded that every square mile of ocean contains 46,000 pieces of floating plastic. Since then the problem has only grown.
The voyage was inspired by Thor Heyerdahl’s Pacific journey on the Kon-Tiki in 1947. Olav Heyerdahl, the Norwegian explorer’s grandson, has been aboard for part of the Plastiki adventure. The comparison between the two voyages illustrates other aspects of the ocean’s fragility, De Rothschild believes.
BACK IN 2006, THE UNITED NATIONS CONCLUDED THAT EVERY SQUARE MILE OF OCEAN CONTAINS 46,000 PIECES OF FLOATING PLASTIC. SINCE THEN THE PROBLEM HAS ONLY GROWN. “When you watch the film of Kon-Tiki and read Heyerdahl’s account, you are struck by how alive the ocean seemed then,” he says. “They were literally having to throw fish off the raft.” That has not been the Plastiki experience at all. “For us it has been much more, where is everybody? We have seen a couple of dolphins, a couple of distant whales, a few flying fish, [but] other than that, nothing.” Heyerdahl could survive on fish, but on board the Plastiki they have caught only a couple of tuna in three months, despite having their lines in the water every day. “When you start reading about 80% of the world’s fish stocks being gone, it’s hard to believe,” De Rothschild says. “But then you come out here.”
THE VOYAGE HAS DEMONSTRATED HOW DURABLE MODERN POLYMERS ARE: THE BOTTLES OF ITS HULL HAVE HARDLY BEEN KNOCKED OUT OF SHAPE, LET ALONE BROKEN UP BY THE 8,000-MILE VOYAGE. “NONE OF US LIKES THE IDEA OF “One of the difficulties in conveying it to FOULING OUR OWN NEST... BUT WE people,” De Rothschild says, “is that you can’t photograph it, the flecks are too small. What ARE NOT GOOD AT THINKING OF THE perhaps makes it most relevant and real for WHOLE WORLD AS OUR NEST.” individuals is the health aspect of it. These particles are ingested by marine life and pass into our food chain. We all do it: we throw this stuff, this packaging, what I call dumb plastic, into the bin, and we think it has gone. But it comes back to us one way or another. Some of it ends up on our dinner plates.”
Even in the middle of the world’s largest ocean it is hard to avoid some of the habits that have created the problem. At Christmas Island, where much of the food arrives in American packaging, “popsicle bags are a scourge”. On Samoa, villages compete over recycling plans, but as soon as
villagers were out of their backyard De Rothschild watched young and old throwing plastic bottles into the sea. One of the more gratifying aspects of the voyage has been the way that the message seems to have been communicated. Plastiki has a vivid ship-to-shore blog – “talking about the ocean from the ocean” – and there has been excitement wherever they have docked. In New Caledonia, De Rothschild says, perhaps three quarters of the people who have seen the boat in the harbour said they had read about it and supported the project. That didn’t stop him witnessing one “supporter” subsequently chucking bags full of rubbish over the side of his boat. “None of us likes the idea of fouling our own nest,” he says. “But we are not good at thinking of the whole world as our nest.”
“GETTING RID OF DUMB PLASTIC, BAGS IN PARTICULAR, COULD BE A VERY SIMPLE PIECE OF LEGISLATION; MAKING SUPERMARKETS USE REUSABLES IS NOT SO HARD.” David de Rothschild
The Plastiki team do not do pessimism, though sometimes De Rothschild admits he feels like he is banging his head against a brick wall. Their own on board efforts at self-sufficiency have gone well, composting waste, powering batteries with a mixture of solar panels and bicyclepowered turbines. Even so, he is confronted by the fact that, however good your intentions, it is hard to live a life without plastic. When we speak, De Rothschild has just done the shopping for the Sydney leg of the voyage. In the supermarket all the vegetables and all the salad were wrapped in plastic. “It’s like a disease,” he says. “But we have to believe the argument can be won. Getting rid of dumb plastic, bags in particular, could
be a very simple piece of legislation; making supermarkets use reusables is not so hard.” The crew’s website is full of stories of people “doing their own Plastiki”, pledging to eliminate plastic bottles from their school or workplace, or creating a zero waste policy. De Rothschild hopes the voyage can be a metaphor for this. “We are just a bunch of citizens, we are not scientists or marine biologists, but we want to show that if we work together we can do something.”
“WE ARE JUST A BUNCH OF CITIZENS, WE ARE NOT SCIENTISTS OR MARINE BIOLOGISTS, BUT WE WANT TO SHOW THAT IF WE WORK TOGETHER WE CAN DO SOMETHING.” David de Rothschild
That sense of teamwork has no doubt been tested on board the catamaran. I saw the Plastiki in San Francisco before it set off, and was struck by how limited the space was – a tiny geodesic dome of cabin – not least for the 6ft 4in de Rothschild: how have they coped? “Usually you are so exhausted by the end of the day that you could sleep anywhere,” he says. “It’s a really odd contrast, you are on this tiny platform and yet you have this enormous space around you. It becomes a little dance, in a way: you are fantastically aware of the other people, how they move. But we have a rule that if you say ‘fuck, you are annoying me’, which we all do, then it has to be done in a spirit of jest.” Sydney is not so far away, but there are some rough seas and weather forecast, so he is trying not to look too far ahead. “It will be a chapter over,” De Rothschild says. “But we are only just beginning to get this message across. The boat will go around the world, I hope, as a symbol of that. I feel, in every sense, that we are in the calm before the storm.” ●
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EDUCATE OTHERS
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SAY NO TO SINGLE USE PLASTICS
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BUY SECOND HAND AND RECYCLED
CHANGE THE WAY YOU SHOP
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CHANGE THE WAY YOU COOK
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REFILLABLE DRINKS BOTTLE
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BUY FOR LIFE NOT PRICE
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USE A BAG FOR LIFE
NEVER FLUSH PLASTIC
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NEVER LITTER
SIMPLE THINGS WE CAN DO TO MAKE OUR OCEANS CLEANER... There are lots of things we can do to prevent further harm to our marine environment of which we rely on. Start by doing something it’s simple...
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The first simple step is to ensure that you never leave litter anywhere where it could make its way to the ocean.
NEVER LITTER
Put all litter in the bin, or take it home and dispose of it. Better still recycle it where possible. When at the beach make sure you discard of your litter properly. A bottle is easier to put into the bin rather than the millions of tiny fragments it will brake down to in the ocean.
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Flushing plastic waste down the toilet is the easy route to the ocean, anything you flush will end up in our seas.
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We have to consume less single use plastic, which means changing the way that we use plastic in our daily lives.
USE A BAG FOR LIFE
Plastic is not a bad material but the way we use it is damaging the environment and health of many species. In the UK we are cutting down our use of single use plastic bags, but we must eradicate the need for them entirely. Always carry a reusable shopper bag to limit the risk of you requiring the use of a disposable plastic bag.
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This requires a little planning, but get into the habit of taking a refillable bottle with you wherever you go.
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Target other disposable items which you could reuse or would last longer.
NEVER FLUSH PLASTIC
REFILLABLE DRINKS BOTTLE
BUY FOR LIFE NOT PRICE
Flushing things down the toilet does not make them disappear, although they are usually treated before being released into the ocean, plastic will not disappear and will wash up on our beaches includes the millions of cotton bud sticks that wash up on our beaches every day in the UK.
Carrying a bottle means you won’t get caught out when your thirsty and will save you money. Always recycle plastic bottles as they are widely recyclable.
Always consider the life of product and the value it will have once you are bored with it. This can be applied to all aspects of modern life from fashion to furniture.
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This stage is tougher and will involve some creativity.
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Change the way you buy food and how you cook.
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Consider buying second hand products and making your own mark on them, its a simple concept but will use less packaging and avoids waste.
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Make a stand, try and refuse excess packaging, try a plastic diary - how much do you consume?
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Make others aware of the problems.
CHANGE THE WAY YOU SHOP
CHANGE THE WAY YOU COOK
BUY SECOND HAND AND RECYCLED
SAY NO TO SINGLE USE PLASTICS
EDUCATE OTHERS
Change your consumer buying habits, make a stand and seek to buy products which have less packaging or think about things differently.
Instead of buying a sandwich for lunch, take your own and pop in a lunch box (remember to avoid the cling film though, use paper if it has to be wrapped). Buy fruit and vegetables singly, the easiest way to do this is to support your local green grocer rather than the supermarket. But remember to resist the plastic bags, your carrots really don’t have to be separated from your apples. Try cooking from scratch and cook for more people to cut down the amount of waste
The more people who support recycled plastics the easier it will become to recycle plastic. So support companies who use recycled plastics in their packaging to create a bigger market encouraging other companies to follow in their footsteps.
Send your packaging back to the companies who made it. Use the money in your pocket to vote and to ultimately make a change. If less packaging means selling more, companies will change for the better.
We need to make people aware of the problem, by telling influencing your children, your friends and family. The message can be passed on to others to act. By making people aware we can make the biggest change together. â—?
SPIRAL ISLAND - MEXICO AN ARTIFICIAL ISLAND FLOATING ON RECYCLED PLASTIC BOTTLES
SPIRAL ISLAND: MADE FROM RECYCLED PLASTIC BOTTLES So you think you know how to upcycle? Well one man, Rishi Sowa, a British artist took upcycling up a notch and created the self-sufficient Spiral Islands, which are made from recycled bottles. So you think you know how to upcycle? Well one man, Rishi Sowa, took upcycling up a notch and created the self-sufficient Spiral Islands. The islands float off the beaches of Quintana Roo in Mexico and are held afloat by recycled bottles. Rishi (former carpenter, musician, artist) collected the bottles locally by hand around Cancun until he had enough to begin construction of his personal paradise.
THE ISLANDS FLOAT OFF THE BEACHES OF QUINTANA ROO IN MEXICO AND ARE HELD AFLOAT BY RECYCLED BOTTLES. By binding them into bundles using old fish nets and placing bamboo and salvaged plywood over the top to make a surface, Rishi then began piling sand atop from the shore. The 250,000 or so plastic bottles now support an island roughly the size of a basketball court, although he is constantly upgrading with hopes of floating out to sea and living in his own “country.” Rishi has planted mangroves for shade and for sustenance he has added such vegetation as bananas, tomatoes, almonds, lemons, and palm trees of course. The re purposing doesn’t end there, he also fashioned a washing machine out of an old drum that rolls in the waves, he collects rain for fresh water, and has constructed a solar cooker for his meals. Not only is this a great story
that sparks the imagination the lessons Rishi has taught us about the ability to create useful, unique, and sturdy living alternatives from the discarded objects around us is amazing. To be a self-sufficient entity (let alone on your hand made island!) takes diligence, care, and effort. However, with some thought and patience the simplest effort to reuse and repurpose can go along way. Spiral Island I island was destroyed by Hurricane Emily in 2005 and was washed completely onto the beach in one piece. The roots of the 7-year old, 7 metre (23 ft)-tall mangroves were intertwined through the island’s base and the strong net that was wrapped under the whole island helped to keep it together.
THE 250,000 PLASTIC BOTTLES NOW SUPPORT AN ISLAND ROUGHLY THE SIZE OF A BASKETBALL COURT. In late 2008, Rishi built a new Spiral Island ,It opened for tours in August, 2008. The new island is about 20 metres in diameter, and plants and mangroves are already growing on it. It contains about 100,000 bottles. The new island has beaches, a house, two ponds, a solar-powered waterfall and river, and solar panels. Rishi will continue to make improvements to the Island, so it will always be a work of art in progress. ●
PLASTIC COLLECTION: MY TWO DAYS WORTH I wanted to see how much one person throws away in the average day. This collection is two days worth, most of which came from food packaging and post.
FIND OUT MORE INFORMATION SEE THESE GREAT LINKS Get involved with these organisations and projects to find out more about the issue and the solution. Simply use the camera on your phone using QR decode app, of the QR code and you will be taken straight to the website.
5 GYRES PROJECT WWW.5GYRES.ORG Understanding plastic pollution through exploration, education, and action.
ALGALITA MARINE RESEARCH FOUNDATION HTTP://WWW.ALGALITA.ORG Founded by the Pacific Garbage Patch discoverer Captain Charles Moore. Follow their latest voyages for new research and information.
WHALE & DOLPHIN CONSERVATION SOCIETY HTTP://WWW.WDCS.ORG.UK/ The Whale and Dolphin Conservation Society (WDCS), is the leading global charity dedicated to the conservation and welfare of all whales and dolphins.
THE PLASTIKI EXPEDITION HTTP://WWW.THEPLASTIKI.COM/ Follow the Plastiki expedition and learn about the cause and what you can do to make a change.
SURFERS AGAINST SEWAGE HTTP://WWW.SAS.ORG.UK/ Not just surfers, not just sewage. A great place to learn about ocean and beach pollution in the UK
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YOUR PLASTIC DIARY: HOW MUCH DO YOU USE? Keep a diary of what plastic you throw away, take this page with you and record when you end up throwing plastic away. Send your plastic diary to us when you’ve completed it. We’d like to use it to make a change.
Morning Common morning plastics include the empty milk bottle, empty breakfast packaging and shower gels or cosmetics, maybe a the swing tag from the new socks you’ve bought.
Lunchtime & Afternoon Maybe the packaging your lunch came in, or maybe it’s the children’s afternoon snack. Perhaps you’ve had some post and the envelope has a plastic window...
Evening Evening means dinner, so any plastic packaging from food... perhaps you’ve been shopping for some new clothes; don’t forget the plastic swing tag.
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YOUR PLASTIC DIARY: SEND IT TO US... Any comments?
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FREEPOST PLASTIC OCEAN 12 HUDSON ROAD PEPPER HILL CHIGLEY WE23 6RT