Taking Charge of Our Plastic Waste
Small steps to take at home to tackle the global climate issue
The single-use plastic problem
Plastic rubbish flowing into the seas will nearly triple by 2040 without drastic action. The sheer enormity of the plastic problem is incomprehensible.
- Every day around 8 million pieces of plastic makes their way into our oceans.
- 50% of this is single-use plastic & only 9% has ever been recycled.
- Over 2 million tonnes of plastic packaging are used in the UK each year.
- 88% of the sea’s surface is polluted by plastic waste. Between 8 to 14 million tonnes enters our ocean every year.
- Britain contributes an estimated 1.7 million tonnes of plastic annually.
- The US contributes 38 million tonnes of plastic every year.
- Plastic packaging is the biggest culprit, resulting in 80 million tonnes of waste yearly from the US alone.
- On UK beaches there are 5000 pieces of plastic & 150 plastic bottles for each mile. (source for above)
- Packaging is the dominant sectoral use of plastics globally accounting for 42 percent (146 million tonnes) in 2016.
Can individual efforts make an impact?
YES. It’s just like voting. Just like each vote matters, an individual’s choices can impact the environment for the better. It even sets a chain reaction to the people around you (100% true from first hand experience).
Have a look at some of these facts:
- Recycling a single glass bottle will save enough energy to power a laptop for half an hour.
- Recycling a single plastic bottle will save enough energy to power a lightbulb for three hours or more.
- Aluminium cans are easy to recycle. Each can you place in a recycling bin can be back on the shelf within 60 days.
- Recycling just one tonne of aluminium saves up to 9 tonnes of CO2 emissions.
There’s so many more facts here to blow your mind!
So if one person today decides to start recycling cans, plastic or glass bottles, that’s a big win. That person has the ability to influence people around them and this can potentially lead to ‘change’ reaction. Brilliant!
As I’ve looked at my choices and seen the amount of plastic waste I’m producing, I’ve realised how big the plastic problem is. It’s individual choices in the end that have lead us into the mess we’re in but with the same effort in the right direction, we can truly make a difference.
Climate change, plastic pollution are issues on a global scale but we can drive change right here from home.
Here are five things that have helped me keep my plastic waste in check!
In order for the article not to get too lengthy, I decided to split it up completely from the motivation to the 5 small things that we can substitute. Each of these switches aims to discuss the particular issue and its solution. Starting from replacing facial wipes, I’ll be linking the specific articles in the list below throughout the next weeks!
