Planet vs Plastic: How Ocean Lovers Are Taking Action For the Earth

By Charlie Cox, Director of Ocean Pollution and Plastics at Ocean Wise

Planet vs Plastic was the theme for Earth Day in 2024, and I’m into it! Not just because it puts a spotlight on an issue that we work on every day at Ocean Wise, but also because it does justice to the global scale of the threat from plastic pollution.??

As ocean lovers, we care about plastic pollution because of the threat it poses to marine life and ecosystems. We’ve all seen the images of seals entangled in discarded fishing gear, or fish and seabirds with stomachs chock-full of plastic litter. It is horrifying to see how humans abuse the ocean, using it as a dumping ground for our trash.??

But as the Planet vs Plastic theme for Earth Day reminds us – the plastic pollution crisis is about more than just the ocean! Our entire planet is threatened by our addiction to plastic. Pollution sits alongside climate change and biodiversity loss as one of the three interrelated environmental crises facing the planet. The Stockholm Resilience Centre, responsible for developing the planetary boundaries concept, sounded the alarm in 2022. Their research indicates that pollution, including through the release of plastic and chemicals to the environment, risks altering “vital Earth system processes on which human life depends”.??

Planet vs Plastic also rightly acknowledges that plastic pollution doesn’t just threaten ocean health, but our own health as well. Recent scientific studies have found microplastics – microscopic fragments or fibers that are formed when larger plastic items break apart – in food, drinking water, and inside the human body. We don’t yet fully understand the effect that these microplastics are having on our health. But we do know that some of the chemical ingredients used to make plastics have harmful health effects. To give just one example, Bisphenol A (BPA) and its commonly-used replacement Bisphenol S (BPS), which can be found in soft plastic food packaging, are toxic to the reproductive system. Worryingly, a recent study showed that the BPS present in thermal labels on food packaging can make its way from the packaging into the food.?

But while the scale of this challenge is formidable and intimidating, there is hope! At Ocean Wise, we have the privilege of working with changemakers in communities, government and industry to turn the tide on plastic pollution.??

Shoreline Cleanup: Engaging Communities to Take Action on Plastic Pollution?

We are excited to share Ocean Wise’s annual Shoreline Cleanup Impact Report and Dirty Dozen for 2023. The report shows just how many engaged citizens are committed to tackling plastic pollution – in fact, since our program began in 1994, we have had over 1 million volunteers participate. These people are making a tangible, meaningful impact on ocean health. In 2023 alone, they removed 8,375 kilograms of trash from shorelines. That is the equivalent to the weight of 670,000 coffee cups!??

But the real magic? That is in the long-term, quantitative litter data we gather from these cleanups. As much as we love our volunteers and partners, we cannot hope to solve the plastic pollution crisis through Shoreline Cleanups! And ever-increasing plastic production and the inadequacy of waste management infrastructure, among other things, means we cannot rely on recycling to address the issue.??

Each year, we draw on our litter data to compile our ‘Dirty Dozen’ report, which highlights the twelve most commonly found items during cleanups across Canada. The Dirty Dozen enables us to inform evidence-based government policymaking – such as Canada’s Single-use Plastics ban – that will help to reduce the amount of plastic we produce and consume.?

This year, for the first time in a decade, the Dirty Dozen list will not include plastic drinking straws! Straws were one of the first items to be outlawed under the Single-use Plastics ban. While we cannot definitively say that this is a result of the ban, or confirm that there has been an overall reduction in the total number of straws that have leaked into the environment year over year, this is a positive trend indicating that regulatory measures can have a meaningful impact.??

INC-4: Stronger Regulations on the Horizon?

As another Earth Month has drawn to a close, it has been encouraging to see stronger regulations on plastic on the horizon. The International Negotiating Committee on Plastic Pollution (INC) finished meeting last week in Ottawa, Canada for the fourth round of negotiations for a Global Plastics Treaty. These negotiations represent another step towards a global legally binding agreement on plastic pollution, which is targeted by the end of 2024.??

The trend towards greater regulation of plastic, at the global as well as national- and sub-national levels, is an encouraging one. But regulations take time - and that is something we don’t have in the fight against plastic pollution.??

That is why Ocean Wise will continue to work on practical solutions to plastic pollution that can be adopted and implemented at scale. Our Plastic Reduction Program helps grocers, restaurants and hospitality businesses to track and reduce their consumption of unnecessary plastics, in ways that improve operational efficiency and save money. And the Plastics Lab, our microplastics research team, is collaborating with apparel and appliance companies to innovate solutions to microfiber pollution from our laundry.??

With more regulation on the horizon, there has never been a better time for businesses to address their plastic footprint. Consider supporting Ocean Wise’s Ocean Pollution and Plastics initiative to #BeOceanWise. Together, we can turn the tide on plastic pollution, for the benefit of the ocean, the planet, and all people.?