Join the fight to keep plastic out of the sea

Sky News deserve to be commended for their Sky Ocean Rescue campaign that is highlighting the shocking amount of plastic that is filling the world's oceans. We've become addicted to using plastics and its use globally is rapidly increasing. It is worth noting that more plastic was made in the first decade of the 21st century than in the whole of the 20th.

The Conservative View with Cllr Duncan Crow SUS-170126-103712001

In 2014, manufacturers churned out 311 million tonnes of plastic and over the next 30 years, annual production of plastic is predicted to soar to 1.8 billion tonnes. Much of this plastic eventually finds its way to the sea where it is having an increasing impact, including entering the food chain. It is estimated that by 2050, the plastic in the world’s oceans will weigh more than all the fish.

As a large island nation, we have over 11,000 miles of coastline in Great Britain alone and all 65 million of us in the UK cannot get more than 70 miles away from the sea. We should all take responsibility for plastic in our oceans. Sky Ocean Rescue says that from 2014 to 2015, there was a 43% increase in the number of plastic bottles washing up on UK beaches.

Almost 80% of plastic in our oceans starts off being discarded on land. The UK’s streams and rivers carry plastic from across the country out into the seas around us. Once plastic reaches open water it can be carried for thousands of miles.

The Conservative government has taken some sound environmental action such as introducing the 5p charge on plastic bags which has reduced the amount washing up on Britain’s coastline by 40%, plus our upcoming ban on microbeads in cosmetic products will stop 680 tonnes being flushed out to sea each year. There is always more that both our own and foreign governments can do, but ultimately human behaviour is key.

For more information go to https://skyoceanrescue.com/ and see what you can do to help. We can all reduce the amount of plastic we use and ensure better discarding and recycling of what we do use.