1. Why I’m Supporting Plastic Oceans UK

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Helping our Oceans

Over the past 25 years, I have been conscious of the environment and have tried hard to do my bit to help wherever I could. Protecting the environment means a lot to me, and my aim is to do as much as I can to make a positive difference. I am helping to do what I can with Plastic Oceans UK.

It’s easy to think that what we do as an individual doesn’t make an impact by only doing one thing, but Sir Captain Tom proved that notion wrong, at the impressive age of 99! He raised over £3m for the NHS just by doing one thing. 

What Have Been My Eco-Fighting Missions?

Over the years, I have tried my best to make a difference where I can. We only get one world, so we need to take care of it. Over the years I have been on some eco-fighting missions myself.  

It’s not pleasant to think about, but I ran the ‘3 Counties Real Nappy Network’, which helped to prevent nappies from being added to the environment. Perhaps this only made a small impact with my two boys and the network I ran, but we helped reduce the impact of the landfill by not adding to it with over 200,000 nappies. 

It takes a cup of crude oil to make just ONE single use nappy.

Did you know that a baby will be changed an average of 5,000 to 6,000 times? This means that if you have two children, you’re likely to need 10,000 to 12,000 nappies. For more information on the damaging effects of nappies on the environment, read this blog here.

Over the years, I have continued to at least recycle and rarely used throwaway plastic bottles unless absolutely necessary.  My ex-husband used to get annoyed with me when I insisted on different bins for recycling, but protecting our environment is incredibly important to me.

When I did my trek in Nepal to the Everest Base Camp, the amount of disposable plastic bottles was horrendous.  And with the cold and way of life, there was nowhere to dispose of them, so they were collected, and chucked into heaps. These heaps were either left on the mountain top, or burned, and neither is good for the environment. 

This is why I love the work of Plastic Oceans UK, (now known as Oceans Generation). 

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Who are Plastic Oceans UK?

Plastic Oceans UK are experts on plastic pollution and have been for over a decade. Their journey started with their award-winning documentary ‘A Plastic Ocean’. This was named by Sir David Attenborough as “one of the most important films of our time”. 

Plastic Oceans UK is on a mission to engage audiences and educate them on plastics. How to use plastics and how change can be made so that less plastic ends up in the ocean.

They provide teachers across the UK with training and materials on plastic pollution and ocean health, so this can be embedded into their teaching curriculum for all ages. This is why they have now changed their name to ‘Ocean Generation’, as they want to educate the younger generation on how they can make an impact. 

Plastic Oceans UK also works with businesses to help them change their plastic uses, so that they still see business success, just without the additional plastic. 

What damage is plastic causing to our oceans?

Plastic Oceans UK has some fantastic facts on its website. They have some fantastic PDFs that can be downloaded and shared across social media. For example, PDFS on how plastic affects whales, turtles, and birds. Did you know that plastic pollution is the most widespread problem for our marine environments?

Not only does it threaten ocean health, but it also now affects human health too! As the quality of our food, as well as the safety of it, is threatened. It is now affecting whole food chains! Plastic in our oceans also contributes negatively to climate change, as well as coastal tourism. 

It is deeply upsetting to think that there are now over 5.25 trillion macro and micro pieces of plastic in our oceans. There are now 46,000 plus pieces in every square mile of our beautiful oceans, which weighs up to 269,000 tonnes. Each day over 8 million pieces of plastic enters our oceans. Now is the time to make a change. 

Over 1.1million seabirds and animals are being killed by plastic every year. More than 90% of all birds and fish are believed to have plastic particles residing in their stomachs. Plastic breaks up into tiny little pieces in the sea, which are then eaten and digested by fish and other sea creatures. 

You can view a video by Sir David Attenborough here. This will give you more insight into the issues we are facing. If you want to read even more on plastic pollution facts, then head over to this article

How am I supporting Plastic Oceans UK?

I want to make a difference. That is why I am doing my part to help support Plastic Oceans UK. The charity is doing incredible work, and I want to try and make a difference too. 

This Spring, I am walking around the South West coast of England. I love Cornwall, having lived there for a few years and holidayed in Devon with my boys, so the coast and our oceans are special to me.

When I was in my teens, in the 1980s, we often saw basking sharks and a friendly dolphin visit our bays. Do they visit now or has the pollution of our throwaway society destroyed these special sights?

I will be walking 700 miles around the coast and hope to see some wonderful wildlife, both in and of the sea. But unless we reduce the plastic these wonders will not be around for future generations.

Please do support me and this charity. You can view my Just Giving page here.  

 

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