Fishing line takes 600 years to decompose. How many animals can one disregarded line kill during this time?
Marine plastic pollution is damaging the health of our oceans. From plankton to pilot whales, algae to albatross — no ocean life remains free from the effects of plastic waste … it’s even found in the seafood we eat. We might not think that our everyday actions can make a difference. But they do.
Take cotton buds for example. Their stems are made from plastic. And many people are flushing them down the toilet … in their millions. Whilst getting people to stop flushing them is the ideal outcome, the perception of the toilet as a ‘wet bin’ just doesn’t seem to go away. During heavy rainfall our sewers can overflow into our waterways and rivers, meaning anything we flush can get washed out to sea. Being so small, cotton bud stems can squeeze through sewage filters — which is why they make up over 60% of all sewage related beach litter. #northernbeachescleanupcrew #cottonbud Fitzroy cafe Napier Quarter is banning takeaway coffee in a bid to get its customers to slow down. "Our customers are all locals and they enjoy the ritual and part of their day is sitting down and having a coffee or pastry," owner Daniel Lewis says. "There is a conglomerate of people standing around with backpacks, on their phones, and it takes away from the experience. It's turning into a takeaway generation, it's not what we are about." While Mr Lewis said he ran the financial risk of losing around $2500 a week in takeaway coffee sales, he was hopeful he would attract customers by giving them discounted coffee and a new mindset.
“I’m trying to get people to savour the experience of having a coffee. You have a knock off glass of wine after work and it’s about sitting down and talking to people, you wouldn’t put that in a takeaway cup and hop on the tram,” he said. The silly season is upon us, but that doesn't mean we can't be smart with our waste! Best is of course not to create any waste by using repurposed wrapping but if you're friends are not as clever as you when it comes to avoid plastic, then recycle soft plastics, including silver lined chip & cracker packets, through REDcycle: https://lnkd.in/fwCUr2a - visit website for full list of what goes in the bin.
Sharks don't lurk in the oceans but they do lurk watching you buying groceries - Do you buy plasticfree or not?
Come and join us for our December clean up at Palm beach - we're meeting close to "The Boathouse" - see map in the event as well as our post for carpooling. Its our first clean up at Palm beach - so we're really looking forward to this one. We have gloves (no kids gloves - sorry), bags and buckets. We're trying to remove as much plastic, cigarette butts and rubbish as possible. We're a friendly group of people and everyone is welcome to this family friendly event. It's a nice community - make some new friends and do a good deed for the planet at the same time. Message us here or on Instagram if you are lost. All welcome - the more the merrier. Please invite your friends too. We're looking forward to seeing you all and wish you a happy New Year!
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