Brighton Springs into Action to Fight Plastic Epidemic
To help preserve Britain’s coastal waters and beaches, Natracare – the organic and natural female hygiene range – is launching a ‘Say No to Plastic’ campaign to ensure future generations can enjoy the UK’s coastline, and it’s starting in Brighton.
Brighton is set to lead the way for the rest of the UK to take action against plastic waste with a beach spring clean taking place at Rottingdean beach, on Saturday 20th March, the Spring Equinox.
Celebrities will team up with locals, schools, community leaders and MPs to take part in the ‘Rottingdean recovery hour – say NO to plastic’. The hour promises to be rewarding and educational, focusing on the three R’s - ‘Reduce’, ‘Re-use’ and ‘Recycle’.
Volunteers are asked to give just an hour of their time from noon to 1pm on Saturday 20th March to help spring clean Rottingdean.
Britain is set to suffer a plastic waste epidemic if we don’t act now. Latest data reveals that us Brits throw away up to 30 million tonnes of plastic waste a year – the equivalent of 3 ½ million double-decker buses queuing from London to Sydney and back.
As a nation, we now produce 20 times more plastic today then we did 50 years ago. The impact is far reaching:
FACTS:
- A plastic bag is used for approximately 12 minutes before being thrown away.
- There are hundreds of products on supermarket shelves that are made from a high percentage of plastic such as sanitary pads, Panty liners, wipes, nappies, Incontinence pads, etc.
- One plastic bottle takes up to 450 years to degrade and releases damaging toxic chemicals in the process.
- Plastic production uses potentially harmful chemicals as stabilisers or colorants. Some, such as phthalates (PVC), have yet to undergo environmental risk assessment and their impact on human health and the environment remains uncertain.
- 70% of plastic waste in our oceans is found on the sea bed, suffocating local marine life. In the North Sea alone, 600,000 tonnes of litter covers the ocean floor.
- The ‘Eastern Garbage Patch’, a swirling mass of refuse which floats between Hawaii and California, is now five and a half times bigger than the UK