WATCH: Inspiring You and 1 Billion People to Take Part in One Plastic Free Day
03 June 2019
Insights + Opinion
EcoWatch teamed up with A Plastic Planet via Facebook live on Monday to amplify the voice of the exciting #OnePlasticFreeDay.
Will you be a part of this solution? Campaigners and businesses united to launch one of the largest plastic pollution visual surveys ever conducted.
On June 5, coincided with World Environment Day, A Plastic Planet urges you to join the challenge. It's simple. Take a photo of anything you would like to see go plastic free. Post the photo to your social media channels and use the hashtag #OnePlasticFreeDay. Include where you are posting from and what the item or place is.
EcoWatch teamed up with A Plastic Planet via Facebook live on Monday to amplify the voice of the exciting One Plastic Free Day in which people will unite locally and globally to take part in a landmark global visual survey on plastic.
<div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="2ef49eaf04e5fbbc7f9ca82fe4170d7c"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/EcoWatch/videos/791470221254481/?" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>In a press release sent to EcoWatch, <a href="http://aplasticplanet.com" target="_blank">A Plastic Planet</a> explains how the photos from social media posts will be used:</p><blockquote>Following June 5 the comprehensive global results will be published as part of a landmark visual report into the frustration caused by unnecessary plastic across the Americas, Asia, Europe, Africa, and Australia. <br><br>The major new visual report is set to shed new light on the extent of the global plastic crisis, identifying hotspots around the world where decisive change is most needed. One Plastic Free Day is also set to see Governments and big business make their own plastic reduction pledges. </blockquote>
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<a href="https://www.instagram.com/p/ByPaVuBHnrx/" style=" color:#000; font-family:Arial,sans-serif;
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word-wrap:break-word;" target="_top">A Plastic Planet on Instagram: “2 Days to go until #oneplasticfreeday 2019! We’re so excited to know what you want to see go Plastic Free so join us on the day by…”</a></p>
</div></blockquote></div><p>"The fifth of June is a day for us to say we've had enough, but together in harmony and that's how we can really make an impact," said Eileen Horowitz Bastianelli, environmental crusader with EcoCentric Solutions and A Plastic Planet. "The solutions are there but we have to look at them together and we have to approach our governments with the appropriate asks."</p><p>What makes this opportunity unique is that it's a solution owned by the people. This is a chance for the public to tell governments and corporations exactly what they want to be rid of plastic.</p><p>"This hashtag is really important because it's about everybody," said Frederikke Magnussen, co-founder of <a href="https://www.aplasticplanet.com/about-us.php" target="_blank">A Plastic Planet</a>. "We have more power than we think and that hashtag will show that we are standing together ... we look at plastic as the tip of the iceberg where we can actually try to make a change."</p><p>Bastianelli explained in the Facebook Live that she is thrilled to see how many individuals are backing One Plastic Free Day. Not only will billboards celebrating the day be lit up in Times Square, but also in places around the world. Hollywood stars, athletes and leading campaigners are also taking part.</p><p>So get out there, snap a photo of an item that is unnecessarily laced in plastic and become a voice in this solution.</p>
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Multicolored balloons flying to the sky. Jakkree Thampitakkull / Getty Images
We get it. Balloons are fun and make great decorations. But we hate to burst your bubble—balloons can be a big problem when they are deliberately released into the environment.
The litter is not only a blight on landscapes, waterways, trees and power lines, but balloons and balloon strings can entangle, choke or kill marine life and other animals. That's not to mention the wasteful use of helium, a non-renewable resource.
<p style="">
The
<a href="https://apnews.com/71082d3bb77e44a59408a69bc58caf89" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> reported Wednesday that much like recent efforts to ban <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastic-straws">plastic straws</a> and <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastic-bags">plastic bags</a>, balloons could similarly be on the way out as the general public becomes more environmentally conscious.
</p><p style="">
"The issue of straws has really broadened the marine debris issue," Emma Tonge of the <a href="http://www.noaa.gov" target="_blank">National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration</a> told the AP.
</p><p style="">
Recently, South Carolina's Clemson University
<a href="https://www.tigernet.com/update/No-More-Balloons-Clemson-ends-30-year-tradition-of-balloon-launch-30428" target="_blank">decision</a> last month to end its 30-year football gameday tradition of releasing 10,000 balloons into the air. Earlier this year, New Shoreham, an island town in Rhode Island, outright banned the sale, use and distribution of balloons.
</p><p>
Releasing balloons is not just an environmental problem, it could also be illegal. States such as California, Connecticut, Florida, Tennessee and Virginia as well as a number of U.S. cities already have laws that restrict launches.
</p><p>
Balloons are usually made of latex, which is considered biodegradable. However, the Marine Conservation Society (MCS) pointed out on a <a href="https://www.mcsuk.org/press/has-your-council-banned-balloon-releases" target="_blank">web post</a> that it can take months or years for the rubber to break down, meaning animals have plenty of time to come in contact with the debris.
</p><p>
"There's an awful lot of confusion over balloons especially what they're made of and how they break down," said MCS Pollution Campaigns Officer Emma Cunningham in the post. "Some people believe that because latex is natural balloons made of it are harmless once let go. This just isn't the case. Latex may last for up to four years in the marine environment."
</p><p style="">
Balloons made of other materials such as Mylar can last even longer in the environment because they are made of plastic, which never fully degrades. Not only that, California's Pacific Gas & Electric reported that metallic balloons caused 203 power outages in the first five months of 2018, up 22 percent from the year prior, according to the AP.
</p><p style="">
<span></span>Even the Balloon Council, which represents retailers, distributors and manufacturers, established "<a href="http://www.theballooncouncil.org/smart-balloon-practices/" target="_blank">Smart Balloon Practices</a>" to educate consumers on the proper handling of balloons and to stress the importance of never releasing helium-filled foil balloons.
</p><p style="">
In 2015, <a href="https://www.fws.gov" target="_blank">U.S. Fish and Wildlife</a> posted an
<a href="https://www.fws.gov/news/blog/index.cfm/2015/8/5/Balloons-and-Wildlife-Please-Dont-Release-Your-Balloons" target="_blank">article</a> that advocated for alternatives to balloon releases and included photos of balloon litter impacting wildlife, including a bird strangled by a balloon string and a dead sea turtle that ingested a balloon.
</p><p>
<span></span>"The pictures are hard to look at," the post states, "but they make clearer than any words why we all should <a href="http://balloonsblow.org/alternatives/" target="_blank">find alternatives</a> to letting a balloon go."
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<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Pamela Denmon, USFWS</small>
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<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">USFWS Eastern Shore of VA and Fisherman Island NWR</small>
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EcoWatch Daily Newsletter
Courtesy of Anna Du
For 12-year-old Anna Du a love of the ocean and marine animals inspired her to build a device that hunts for microplastics.
<p>
These tiny <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/tag/microplastics">plastic</a> particles are barely visible to the naked eye, but they pollute aquatic ecosystems around the world, posing a serious threat to marine life.
</p><p>"One day when I was at Boston Harbor, I noticed there was a lot of plastics on the sand, I tried picking some up, but there seemed to be so many more, and it just seemed impossible to clean it all up," the sixth grader from Andover, Massachusetts, told <a href="https://www.wsbradio.com/news/national/year-old-invention-for-detecting-plastics-oceans-getting-national-recognition/T63GKoA9WGkaLx5XNKAjBK/" target="_blank">Boston 25 News</a>.
</p><p>
<span></span>So Du created an underwater ROV, or remotely operated vehicle, that uses infrared to detect microplastics in the ocean.</p>
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<img type="lazy-image" data-runner-src="https://assets.rebelmouse.io/eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJpbWFnZSI6Imh0dHBzOi8vYXNzZXRzLnJibC5tcy8xODEzNTk2OS9vcmlnaW4uanBnIiwiZXhwaXJlc19hdCI6MTY0OTQyMTM2NH0.nbpd9ClKROBWrhoY8F_8wKZLD-yiPLUqZb7bQrgZqTQ/img.jpg?width=980" id="35dca" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="57985629656bf9203c784424966265ae" data-rm-shortcode-name="rebelmouse-image">
<small class="image-media media-photo-credit" placeholder="add photo credit...">Courtesy of Anna Du</small></p>
<p>
"I hope to be able to spatially map where microplastics are accumulating," she told <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/40589282/this-sixth-grade-inventor-built-a-robot-to-hunt-ocean-plastic" target="_blank">Fast Company</a>.
</p><p>
Du chose infrared not only because it keeps costs low, the technique also helps scientists distinguish microplastics from other, nonhazardous materials underwater without having to send samples to a lab.
</p><p>
The sixth grader is now gaining national attention for her invention, called the "Smart Infrared Based ROV to Identify and Remove Microplastics from Marine Environments." She was recently named a finalist in the <a href="https://www.youngscientistlab.com/challenge" target="_blank">2018 Discovery Education 3M Young Scientist Challenge</a>.
</p><p>
Du notes in her submission <a href="https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_DRW_qqB3lY" target="_blank">video</a> for the annual challenge that <a href="https://www.ecowatch.com/8-million-metric-tons-of-plastic-dumped-into-worlds-oceans-each-year-1882012563.html">8 million metric tons of plastics</a> are being dumped into the ocean every year. This plastic "constantly sinks to the ocean floor, making it virtually impossible to clean up," she says. </p><p>This marine debris never fully biodegrades. Instead, waves and sunlight break it up into smaller and smaller pieces. </p><p>"Some fish may eat the microplastics and those fish will be consumed up the food chain, throughout the global ecosystem and ultimately ending up on our plates, potentially causing a big health problem as toxins accumulate in our bodies," she continues.<br></p><p>
Now that she's a finalist in the challenge, she'll get to work with 3M's scientists and engineers to help incubate her idea. Eventually she wants to create a machine that can also collect the plastic it finds, aiming to make "the most efficient machine cleaning up plastics," she told Fast Company.
</p><p>
<span></span>When the young genius grows up, she wants to pursue a career that will help make a positive difference.
</p><p>
"I hope to be ... an engineer because I love the ocean and marine animals, and I want to do something to help," she says on her <a href="https://www.youngscientistlab.com/index.php/entry/1669" target="_blank">bio page</a>. "In the future, with my engineering, I hope to be able to save people with all of my inventions."
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Norwegian zoologists have discovered some 30 plastic bags and other marine debris inside the stomach of a malnourished 20-foot Cuvier's beaked whale.
The whale was an adult male that weighed about 2 tons. Local authorities were forced to euthanize the distressed animal on Jan. 28 after repeatedly stranding itself off the shallow waters of Sotra, an island near Norway's southwestern coast.
<p>After it was put down, University of Bergen researchers analyzed the whale's stomach and determined that the various non-biodegradable objects were likely the cause of death. </p><div class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="a211f88a350ae21654236853d594ffbb"><div class="fb-video" data-href="https://www.facebook.com/SkyOceanRescue/videos/163910794105808" data-allowfullscreen="true"></div></div><p>"Our whale was emaciated; little fat and low weight. But its stomach was full of <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/tag/plastic" target="_blank">plastic</a>, which likely killed it," University of Bergen associate professor Hanneke Meijer <a href="https://twitter.com/DrHanneke/status/826748505687543808" target="_blank">tweeted</a>.</p><p>According to <a href="http://www.tnp.no/norway/panorama/5450-norwegian-whale-found-off-the-west-coast-with-30-plastic-bags-in-its-stomach" target="_blank">NRK</a>, large quantities of small plastic as well as candy wrappers and plastic bread bags were found in addition to the 30 plastic bags. The items had packaging and labels in Danish and English. </p><p>University of Bergen associate professor Terje Lislevand told the <a href="http://abcnews.go.com/Technology/wireStory/norway-zoologist-find-30-plastic-bags-stranded-whale-45242302" target="_blank">Associated Press</a> that the whale's intestine "had no food, only some remnants of a squid's head in addition to a thin fat layer."</p><div id="6a9c7" class="rm-shortcode" data-rm-shortcode-id="KTBTWZ1500473942"><blockquote class="twitter-tweet twitter-custom-tweet" data-twitter-tweet-id="827287709467160576" data-partner="rebelmouse"><div style="margin:1em 0">Securing the skeleton of a Cuvier's beaked whale stranded on Sotra, Norway. The stomach tragically filled with pla… https://t.co/axYC4peuqx</div> — Terje Lislevand (@Terje Lislevand)<a href="https://twitter.com/TerjeLislevand/statuses/827287709467160576">1486075734.0</a></blockquote></div><p>Lislevand also told Norwegian publication <a href="http://www.bt.no/nyheter/lokalt/Syk-hval-hadde-30-plastposer-i-magen-329775b.html" target="_blank">Bergens Tidende</a> that the whale was likely in pain due to its clogged stomach. <br></p><p><span></span>"The plastic was like a big ball in the stomach and filled it almost completely," he said.</p><p><span></span>The whale might have mistakenly ingested the plastic bags thinking it was squid, its preferred source of food. </p><p>Lislevand remarked that the animal was one of the first Cuvier's beaked whales to be spotted near Norway.</p><p>EcoWatch has documented <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/whale-found-dead-with-small-pieces-of-plastic-garbage-in-its-stomach-1882180892.html" target="_blank">many instances</a> of whales suffering and even dying because of plastic waste. But ocean plastic is not just a problem for whales. <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/25-of-fish-sold-at-markets-contain-plastic-or-man-made-debris-1882105614.html" target="_blank">Fish</a>, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/ocean-plastic-seabirds-2093294952.html" target="_blank">seabirds</a>, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/viral-video-fisherman-saves-turtle-entangled-in-plastic-bag-1891176641.html" target="_blank">turtles</a> and many other marine creatures are choking from the <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/8-million-metric-tons-of-plastic-dumped-into-worlds-oceans-each-year-1882012563.html" target="_blank">8 million metric tons</a> of plastic garbage that enters our oceans every year. </p><p>Unfortunately, if consumers do not reduce their use of plastic and plastic-intensive goods, <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/these-5-countries-account-for-60-of-plastic-pollution-in-oceans-1882107531.html">the problem will only get worse</a>. A <a href="http://www.ecowatch.com/there-will-be-more-plastic-than-fish-in-the-ocean-by-2050-1882154887.html" target="_blank">widely reported</a> study found that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050 if the world continues to consume and dump this form of non-biodegradable waste at current rates.</p>
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