Calls to BAN plastic cup and straw emoji to help save the oceans
A NEW petition is demanding the plastic cup and straw emoji be banned as part of the battle to save the world's oceans from drowning in plastic waste pollution.
Launched by Sky Ocean Rescue, the first of its kind campaign is calling on the official emoji committee (Unicode) to remove the icon from its keyboard.
It coincides with new research commissioned by that reveals two-thirds of Brits are aware of seeing plastic bottles in their local rivers, lakes and in the sea.
"If this emoji is not banned soon, we might have to remove the beloved whale, fish and marine wildlife emojis as our oceans drown in plastic," said Sky in a statement.
Around 8.5 billion plastic straws are thrown away each year, potentially contributing to the 150 million tonnes of plastic in the world’s oceans.
The alarming statistics led Theresa May to unveil a sweeping ban on a number of household items – including straws, cotton buds, stirrers and wet wipes – that could be enforced next year, following a government consultation.
It means single-use plastics, like straws, could no longer be available in pubs and restaurants.
The move also follows new rules introduced two years ago forcing customers to pay a 5p charge for plastic bags, which drastically reduced the number of bags being used.
Theresa May dubbed plastic waste as "one of the greatest environmental challenges facing the world" and added that the UK was taking a lead in tackling the problem.
But, according to Sky Ocean Rescue, the cup and straw emoji is contributing to the normalisation of plastic.
The Unicode Consortium – which counts Google, Facebook, and Apple execs among its board of directors – introduced the icon in 2017.
This isn't the first time an emoji has come under fire over its controversial nature.
Back in 2016, Apple and Microsoft banned a rifle emoji that was due to be unveiled to mark The Olympics. Members of Unicode agreed, voting against rolling out the weapon, as well as a similar icon of a man firing a pistol.
And more recently, Twitter finally killed off the gun emoji, following the lead of fellow tech giants Apple, Samsung and WhatsApp.
Could the days of the plastic cup and straw icon be numbered too?
Do you think emojis should be censored or are you a smiley free speech advocate? Let us know in the comments.
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