Make the connection!

A young Cuvier's beaked whale that washed up in the Philippines died from “gastric shock” after ingesting 40kg of plastic bags. 40 kilos of plastic bags, including 16 rice sacks. 4 banana plantation style bags and multiple shopping bags were found in the whale’s stomach after conducting an autopsy. Please make the connection between your consumption and this. Reducing the amount of plastic we use is the only way to win this plastic battle. ​

Please don't throw away your old mascara wands! These little wands are able to be upcycled for our wildlife to remove oil, larvae, fly eggs, mites, dirt and other unwanted contaminants from feathers/fur.Please wash them with warm soapy water and send to:
Tweed Valley Wildlife Carers
PO Box 898 Murwillumbah, NSW 2484
Australia ​

Balloons are in the top three most harmful waste items to wildlife. Birds and turtles not only ingest balloons, they actively select them as food. This is because a burst balloon often resembles a jellyfish, the natural food sources of many marine species like turtles.
Ingesting balloons, and the clips and strings attached to them, can cause intestinal blockages and results in a slow painful death through starvation. Marine animals don’t have the gastrointestinal pH levels to breakdown a balloon and for turtles, it may also cause floating syndrome. Trapped gases in the gut can cause a turtle to become buoyant, unable to dive for food—making them vulnerable to boat strikes and leading to starvation and severe dehydration.
Wildlife, both terrestrial and marine, can also become entangled in balloon ribbons or strings, causing injury or death through drowning, suffocation, or an inability to feed and avoid predators.

The Norwegian model uses a loan scheme whereby the bottle you ‘purchase’ does not belong to you. Instead, it can be exchanged at the several thousands of reverse vending machines, or over the counter at stores and gas stations in return for cash or store credit.
If that isn’t enough, the Norwegian government implemented an environmental tax on plastic producers which can be reduced the more they recycle. If collectively, over the nation, recycling is above 95% then everyone is exempt from paying the tax. Over the last seven years plastic producers have continued to reach this target. To ensure consumers also meet the target, they attach a deposit onto the bottle of around 15 to 30 cents which will be redeemed when it is returned. A bottle can be recycled 12 times. Clear bottles are used to re-make bottles and the coloured ones can make new plastic materials. The model has been welcomed by small shop owners as they receive a small fee for each bottle and some say it even increases business.

How many of you recognise this? I was in a meeting last week with two other people. This is what they had on the table. Both of them went to get a second cup of takeaway coffee. One of them said: "I really care about the environment. It makes me so angry when people don't understand. I always tell people not to litter and to recycle." None of the people in the meeting could see the connection between their own single use plastic habits and plastic pollution ​

Plastic is used in almost every single daily activity. If you are looking to ditch plastic then pegs are a super easy swap! Choosing stainless steel pegs is not only better for our environment, as they are 100% recyclable but also stronger and cheaper in the long run. ​

We don't need a handful of people doing zero waste perfectly. We need millions of people doing it imperfectly. ​

Of the three pillars of sustainability, the economic impacts of bottled water are perhaps the most evident to the consumer. Tap water is approximately $3 per 1000 litres, comparatively to bottled water, which is approximately $3 per litre. Unfortunately the costs expand on economic concerns, and have detrimental social and environmental effects.
There is a growing body of evidence to suggest that bottled water can have detrimental effects on human health. One study found that many brands of bottled water were deficient of essential minerals such as magnesium, potassium and calcium. Another study found that 20% of the bottled water samples had concentrations of chlorine, fluoride, nitrate and other harmful compounds that exceeded the World Health Organisation guidelines. Additional studies found that the bacteriological quality of tap water was greater than bottled mineral water. There are other health concerns related to bottled water due to harmful chemicals released from the bottle, such as bisphenol A (BPA).
BPA has been linked to breast cancer, among other health conditions. In Australia the bottled water guidelines are of a lower standard than the Australian Drinking Water Guidelines. The chemicals used in the production and consumption of bottled water also have follow-on environmental effects.
The environmental effects of bottled water use are extensive. Although most bottles are able to be reused or recycled, most plastic bottles that are currently produced are made from virgin polyethylene terephthalate (PET).The plastic is comprised of non-renewable fossil fuels, which are a finite resource, and the use of this product encourages mining which has associated environmental impacts.
There is a large consumption of energy in capturing the water, conveying the water and also in the treatment of the water at the bottling plant. Additional energy consumption occurs in producing the bottle, and in cleaning, filling, sealing, labelling and refrigerating the bottles. Lastly, energy is required to transport the bottle to retailers, and then to the consumer.The total energy required in the production of bottled water is 5.6-10.2 MJ per litre, comparatively to tap water, which typically requires 0.005 MJ per litre in treatment and distribution.
Energy and fossil fuels aren’t the only resources that are utilised in the production of bottled water. The production of bottled water consumes additional water for the manufacturing process. More than 6 litres are required to produce and cool 1.5 litres of bottled water. Additionally, spring water for bottled water in Australia is sourced from underground aquifers. This can impact on farmers, and may lower the water table, which could have considerable social and environmental ramifications.
An ongoing conundrum with bottled water use is improper and ineffective recycling of water bottles. Plastic bottles were one of the ten most common items picked up on Clean up Australia Day in 2014. Once these bottles are in the environment, they can take up to 450 years to biodegrade. There is a prevalent belief that the environmental impacts of bottled water production and consumption are mitigated through recycling practices.However, when recycling is appropriately undertaken it only saves 1/3 of the energy in the production stage. Additionally, the quality of the plastic degrades each time it is recycled, thus limiting the quantity of times plastic can be recycled. Therefore, reducing your bottled water consumption by using your own durable bottle is the preferred option for you, your back pocket, and the environment.

Come on locals, especially former PMs.
Why do you think it's so hard to bring your own cup? 
Are you lazy?
Don't you care about the environment? 
Are you selfish?
Do you enjoy being part of the plastic pollution problem?
Do you enjoy contributing to the 2,700,000 coffee cups thrown out in Australia EVERY DAY?
Do you want your coffee cup to be around for hundreds of years impacting the local environment?
Do you want your coffee cup to break down to tiny microplastics that are toxic and can be ingested by animals including humans?
Do you want to support trees being cut down to produce a product that only ends up being used for the length of time it takes to drink a latte? 
Do you want to contribute to a bigger carbon footprint of coffee cup manufacturing and distribution for these single-use items? ​

Ask nine-year-old Tom O'Brien from Freshwater about recycling and rubbish, and he will tell you how turtles die after they mistake plastic bags for jellyfish. "They go to eat a jellyfish, and it turns out to be a plastic bag, and they can't eat and they starve," he said on Sunday.
That's why seeing the detritus and plastic on local beaches made him sad, said Tom, who often picks up the mess left behind. "The worse (it is) .. the more it will kill animals."
Tom's mother Jenny Stokes said her son would be "crushed" if rubbish ended up in landfill especially after the family's extensive recycling efforts ranging from separating the rubbish to having worms and compost.
That's an increasing risk, said Linda Scott, the president of Local Government NSW (LGNSW) and a Labor councillor and deputy mayor of the City of Sydney Council. "In the wake of China's decision to stop accepting recycling, there is a risk of it ending up in landfill unless it can be processed here."

In six of the ocean's deepest crevasses, scientists found tiny shrimp-like creatures chomping on tiny bits of plastic. The new research, published in the journal Royal Society Open Science, sampled deep-sea critters called amphipods, small shrimp-like crustaceans, living in the deepest known trenches on Earth. Tiny pieces of plastic smaller than five millimeters, called microplastic, were present in every trench and in 72 percent of the amphipods they collected. Sixty-six percent of the plastic they found was blue fibers. Black, red, and purple fragments were also present, along with blue and pink fragments.
No trench was fiber-free, and more than 80 percent of the amphipods contained them. The deeper the trench, they found, the more fibers were present. When tested, they found the fibers were the same used in textiles, and the study suggests they entered the ocean after leaching from washing machines. This study reports the deepest record of microplastic ingestion, indicating it is highly likely there are no marine ecosystems left that are not impacted by plastic pollution.