Recent films and documentaries, such as A Plastic Ocean and BBC’s Blue Planet II, as well as Justin Hofman’s world famous photograph of the seahorse clutching a cotton swab, have increased the public’s awareness of this problem. Despite this, it seems like our attitudes towards plastic use haven’t changed much. For example, demand for artificial grass increased by 185% in 2020 regardless of the many environmental issues linked with its use such as the increase of microplastics being introduced into soil and harming garden wildlife as well as negative impacts for flood prevention – not to mention the difficulties of disposing of it responsibly.

How can you help?

1. Go on a litter pick or beach clean in your local area

A simple activity that can make a huge amount of difference! Why not challenge your friends or family to see who can bag the most litter in 10 minutes?

1. Make small changes to your lifestyle

There are some easy swaps or changes you can make so you use fewer plastics in your day to day life. Please note, this doesn’t mean to immediately throw away all your plastic containers and bottles. Use up the products you have first. When they have been emptied, then think of how you can replace them with something that uses less plastic packaging.

2. Check products for microplastics

In 2018, there was a ban on the sale of rinse-off products containing microbeads, such as body scrubs and toothpastes. However, plastic microbeads are still allowed in many other products such as cleaning detergents, sunscreen, paints and lipstick.

By Josie Stuart
SWT Youth Action Committee Co-Chair