The UK Government has set out its plan to ban the distribution and sale of plastic straws, drinks stirrers and cotton buds to protect the rivers and seas.
It is estimated that 4.7 billion plastic straws, 316 million plastic stirrers and 1.8 billion plastic-stemmed cotton buds are used each year in England and the government plans to introduce the ban (will apply to England only) between October next year and October 2020. Straws are among the top 10 items found during beach cleanups and as plastics are not biodegradable, they never completely leave the oceans. Plastic waste is one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world and it’s a frightening fact that every single piece of plastic ever made still exists somewhere on this planet.
With plastic everywhere in today’s world, it’s very difficult to avoid it completely, however, for many years the team at Marine Connection has been reducing their plastic usage in an effort to help stop the pollution of our oceans and protect the species we all work hard to conserve – dolphins, whales and porpoises! What it really comes down to is living with much less plastic, and changing old behaviours.
Live in the UK? Care about plastic in the oceans? Please take five minutes to take part in the consultation (link below).
Thank you!
