After Blue Planet II revealed the horrors of the lack of recycling, we show you 25 easy ways to help save our oceans
Around eight million tons of plastic makes its way into the oceans each year
VIEWERS of Blue Planet II watched in horror on Sunday night as a desperate turtle, tangled in a plastic sack, was seen flailing around helplessly in the open ocean.
And scenes of a pilot whale, filmed with her dead newborn baby which had potentially been poisoned by plastics, moved many to tears.
Plastic is killing sea life around the world and Sarah Conner, an assistant producer on the hit BBC1 series, has revealed the shocking extent of the problems the team saw while filming it.
She said: “There would rarely be a dive where I wouldn’t find some form of plastic from a thread of fishing line, to sweet wrappers or bottles.”
Around eight million tons of plastic makes its way into the oceans each year, killing more than a million sea birds and 100,000 mammals who get caught up in or swallow the lethal waste.
The UK Government is considering a tax on single-use packaging such as takeaway boxes and coffee cups.
But here are some of the things you can do right now to stop plastic polluting our planet and killing wildlife.
1. CARRY A REUSABLE BOTTLE: Brits use 35.8 million plastic bottles a day but only 19.8 million are recycled. Refilling a water bottle not only cuts your plastic use but saves cash too.
2. USE CLOTH SHOPPING BAGS: Most councils bar plastic bags from recycling schemes and they are dangerous to wildlife.
Keep reusable bags in the car or by the front door for supermarket or shopping trips.
3. REUSABLE MUGS FOR COFFEE: Take-away cups are not recyclable as they have a plastic lining. Starbucks and Costa offer 25p off a coffee if you bring your own mug.
4. SAY NO TO A STRAW: Single-use plastic straws are not just unnecessary but are in the top ten items found on beaches and are a hazard to sea creatures. In September Wetherspoons pubs stopped offering them with drinks.
5. DON’T SCRAP ELECTRONICS: We dump around a million tons of electrical and electronic waste a year. Try to upgrade or fix devices instead of buying new ones.
Sell gadgets and computer parts or find a recycling facility. Electricals and electronics can contain valuable raw materials. For example, one iron contains enough steel to produce 13 cans.
6. BUY LOOSE FRUIT & VEG: They are washable and often come in their own compost-able wrapping, designed by nature. Instead of plastic trays wrapped in clingfilm, buy loose produce. It’s often cheaper than packaged stuff and you can buy as much as you need, cutting waste.
7. DITCH DISPOSABLE CUTLERY: Most knives and forks at fast food restaurants and supermarkets is plastic. Try to carry a set in your bag and keep cutlery in your desk at work.
8. GET MILK DELIVERED: Most supermarket milk is in plastic cartons. These are widely recyclable but many still end up in landfill.
You can still get milk delivered in reusable glass bottles – see findmeamilkman.net.
9. AVOID PLASTIC MICROBEADS: The Government has banned the beauty product additive as an environmental hazard but it won’t come into force until next year.
Meanwhile avoid products with polyethylene (PE), polypropylene (PP), polyethylene terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA), polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or nylon.
10. SMOKERS – USE MATCHES: Disposable lighters are made of plastic and filled with butane, and neither is environmentally friendly.
11. PACK LUNCH IN REUSABLE BAGS OR CONTAINERS: Use waxed fabric sandwich bags or a lunchbox, not single-use plastic bags.
12. SKIP THE DISPOSABLE RAZOR: They are hard to recycle and most councils ask you to wrap them carefully, then put them in with the ordinary rubbish. Instead, switch to a razor that lets you replace just the blade.
13. BUY IN BOX: Try to buy rice and pasta in cardboard boxes, not plastic. You can also buy some detergents in a box instead of a bottle.
14. AVOID PLASTIC CHRISTMAS TAT: Cheap toys have shorter life spans than high- quality wooden toys and most do not recycle. A classic wooden toy is long-lasting and can be passed down through families.
15. DON’T CHEW GUM: It contains polyvinyl acetate, made from vinyl acetate, which has been shown to cause tumours in lab rats.
16. USE CLOTH NAPPIES: Eight million disposable ones go to landfill each day and they make up three to four per cent of household rubbish. Nappy liners are made of polypropylene plastic, making them difficult to recycle.
17. MAKE YOUR OWN CLEANING SUPPLIES: Instead of multiple plastic bottles of surface, toilet and window cleaner, you can make your own with kitchen basics such as baking soda and vinegar. Search online for “recipes”.
18. DOWNLOAD YOUR MUSIC: CDs are made of mined minerals, petroleum-derived plastics and dyes and lacquers, making them practically indestructible in the natural environment.
19. BUY MEAT AT THE DELI SECTION AND MAKE SURE IT’S WRAPPED IN PAPER: Packaging for ham and cured meats is hard to recycle. Often the trays are accepted by recycling services but the plastic films are not.
20. DON’T USE AIR FRESHENERS: Plastic ones are not accepted by home recycling services. Avoid buying plug-ins and instead, light a candle or incense.
21. BUY BAR SOAP, NOT LIQUID BODY WASH: Liquid soaps can come with up to 20 times more packaging than a humble bar of soap, which is often sold in minimal cardboard boxes, sleeves or sometimes even loose and wrapper-free.
22. USE CLOTH-BASED TOYS FOR YOUR PETS, SUCH AS CATNIP MICE AND SOFT SQUISHY BALLS: Plastic dog toys are difficult to recycle, much like plastic toys for children. Dogs are likely to lose the odd toy or two in parks, which could be harmful to wildlife.
23. AVOID BUBBLE WRAP: Use paper junk mail or old copies of The Sun to stuff into big packages that you want to ship, instead of plastic bubble wrap or air-filled plastic.
24. USE REAL SILVERWARE FOR PARTIES INSTEAD OF PLASTIC: You might not fancy the clear-up after a party, but it’s still best to swerve the plastic plates and cutlery. An extra dishwasher load or half an hour’s washing up is preferable to polluting with plastics.
25. SHOP LOCALLY: Go to farmers’ markets for fresh produce and eggs, bakeries for bread and butchers for meats since they often use less packaging to wrap items.
You can recycle
Bottles - Water bottles are made of a thermoplastic called PET. It can be recycled and is commonly accepted by local authority schemes. Milk, shampoo, soap and bleach bottles can all be recycled in the same way.
Plastic pots - Yoghurt pots, food trays and biscuit tubs are largely recyclable across the UK – but labels, films and lids must be removed first. It is also important that all food residues are washed away.
Tubs - Most local authorities will now accept tubs used for butter, ice cream and spread. It’s important to wash out your tubs so food doesn’t ruin other recycling.
Carrier bags - While most of us can’t put carriers in our recycling bins, specialist recycling facilities are found in some supermarkets. Some of these also accept other packaging films, such as frozen food bags.
You can't recycle
Polystyrene - This is used in fast-food packaging and cups and it is chemically and mechanically possible to recycle. But many local authorities do not accept it for recycling due to logistical reasons.
Black meal trays - Most sorting plants use optical sorting techniques to identify the different polymers and cannot identify black plastic trays in ready-meal packaging. So most local authorities will not accept these.
Plastic toys - Toys are hard to recycle as many contain different types of parts. A ride-on car, for example, might have recyclable plastic but attached to metal or other material.
Bubble wrap - Some councils accept bubble wrap, but none of the top ten recycling authorities do. The truth seems to be that many councils believe that since it is bulky and unwieldy, it is easier to send to landfill.
Films - These are the least recycled products in the UK and include carrier bags, pasta and rice bags, and the film on ready meals. This is largely down to just a fifth of local authorities recycling these.
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