What YOU Should Do

With small changes to your everyday life and larger scale legislative changes, the amount of plastic pollution in our oceans can be drastically decreased.

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Reduce Single-Use Plastics

The biggest step that can be made is to reduce the daily use of single-use plastics.

As demonstrated in the info-graphic, most of the plastic found in our oceans is from single-use plastics, which can easily be replaced with reusable containers. Although the adjustment to reusable containers may be a large change for those who rely on daily uses of things like Ziploc Bags or plastic water bottles, the change often saves money and is necessary to help the ocean ecosystem.

One person switching from plastic bags to reusable bags could stop as many as 500 bags from entering the oceans.

In order to make a change in the use of single-use plastics, the general public must become more informed on the threat that they pose to ecosystems around the world.

How to Make Local Changes

Make it easy for residents to fill up around town. Water filling stations make local tap water easy and accessible.
Get the word out. Reminding residents to carry reusable water bottles and promoting the quality of local tap water can be very effective.
Encourage the use of reusable shopping bags. Placing reusable shopping bags near the checkout will promote the purchase of eco-friendly bags and reduce plastic bag use.
Bring own thermos/reusable cup to coffee shop. Bringing your own thermos for to-go coffee is another way to reduce the plastic footprint.
Avoid plastic straws at restaurants

Large Scale Change Through Legislation

Legislation can be an effective way to reduce plastic usage on a larger scale. In various cities in the United States and across the world, legislation has been passed in hopes of reducing plastic pollution. Bans on plastic bags and straws and taxes on plastic bag usage have all been found to be effective.

Examples of Legislation^[2]

Ireland has a plastic tax that charges about 20 cents per bag. After this law was enacted, plastic bag use declined by 90%.

In Germany and Denmark a deposit-refund system was introduced, reducing 80% of plastic pollution. Every time a plastic bottle is bought, you pay a deposit, which is refunded when you return it to the store. They are then sorted and recycled before being refilled by drink companies. More than 90% of plastic bottles are now recycled.

California banned plastic bags in 2016.

After switching to an ask for a straw model, many restaurants found that as many as 60-90% of customers do not ask for a straw.

Seattle is officially adopting a plastic straw ban in July, 2018.

Governor Andrew Cuomo announced legislation to create a statewide ban on plastic bags in New York.

Many of these laws are resulting in positive results without significantly harming the businesses. Other cities and countries must put similar legislation into effect in order to make a impact on global plastic usage.

What Does the Future Look Like?

As humans, we heavily rely on plastics. To say the least, we have become addicted to them. At this point, it seems almost impossible to make any change at all. Soon, our planet will quite literally turn to plastic. In order for our land and oceans to remain in a stable condition, however, both small and large scale actions are necessary. On the level of elected officials, we must expect more legislation to be passed eliminating the use of microplastics in our products and reducing the number of single-use plastics legally allowed to be used. On the level of an average citizen, we must limit our reliance on single- use plastics and turn our attention to reusable options. If simple changes are made across the world, a change for the better will one day be noticed. It is not too late to solve the problem, but the public must first understand what is at stake.

Citations

1. 8 Ways to Reduce Your Single Use Plastics. Canadian Wildlife Federation,

cwf-fcf.org/en/about-cwf/share/petitions/plastic-petition-thank-you.html.

Accessed 21 May 2018.

2. "Plastic and Paper Bag Legislation." National Conference on State Legislatures,

17 May 2018, www.ncsl.org/research/environment-and-natural-resources/

plastic-bag-legislation.aspx. Accessed 21 May 2018.