This June, the U.K.’s Marine Conservation Society (MCS) is challenging environmentally-conscious members of the public to give up single-use plastic. Whether you choose to steer clear of plastics for a day, a week, the month, or forever is up to you — but even avoiding single-use plastics for a full 24 hours can help raise awareness of the plastic problem faced by our oceans today.
According to MCS scientist Dr. Sue Kinsey, the purpose of the challenge is to “encourage people to value plastic as a resource [rather] than just buying stuff without any thought of the environmental impact.” Kinsey goes on to say that she thinks that once their attention is drawn to the issue of plastic consumption, most people will be shocked by the amount they use in their everyday lives.
Taking part in the initiative means avoiding conveniences like pre-packed sandwiches, plastic drink bottles and plastic shopping bags. Last year, nearly 850 people took up the MCS challenge, 95 percent of whom said that the experience had affected their view of single-use plastics to the point where they would continue to reduce their use of them in the future.
Participants found that avoiding plastic was trickiest while doing their weekly shopping. According to MCS, milk, toilet paper and dried goods including pasta and rice are among the hardest items to find plastic-free. Many of the participants resorted to making products like bread and yogurt at home in order to avoid purchasing single-use plastic containers.
The challenge aims to not only highlight our reliance on plastic products, but also to prove that it’s possible to exist without them. Many of the plastic items that we use once and then throw away eventually find their way into the marine environment, as results from MCS’ annual Great British Beach Clean prove.
In 2015, 3,298 pieces of trash were collected per kilometer (.62 mile) surveyed, the vast majority of it made from plastic or polystyrene. In the same year, the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup collected more than 18 million pounds of trash from the world’s beaches. Plastic bottles, wrappers and grocery bags were all listed among the top 10 items collected globally.
Single-use plastic packaging is used in almost every aspect of our lives, from the fast food packets we pick up for lunch to the shampoo bottles we use in the shower. As Dr. Kinsey puts it, “our clamor for convenience is bad news for our seas…plastics are among the most persistent synthetic materials in existence and are now a significant and extensive marine pollutant.”
Plastic waste that enters the ocean is a threat to marine wildlife. Animals may become entangled in larger items, or suffocate after ingesting smaller items. If pollution continues at the current rate, the Ocean Conservancy estimates that 99 percent of all seabird species will be eating plastic by 2050, while the Ellen McArthur Foundation says there will be more plastic in the ocean that fish.
The only way to stem the flow of plastic into the world’s oceans is to cut down on the amount that we use in the first place. Throughout the month, MCS will be offering online help and advice to all those willing to take on the plastic challenge. If you want to help make a difference, you can register to take part at www.mcsuk.org/plasticchallenge.
