The Urgent Need to Address Our Plastic Addiction

Recycling won’t save us. We need to take a hard look at our use of unnecessary plastics.

By Lasse Gustavsson, President and CEO of Ocean Wise

Plastic waste has become a pervasive environmental problem around the world, with over 11 million tons of plastic litter entering the ocean every year. As we prepare for International Coastal Cleanup Day this Saturday – a global movement to remove trash from the world’s beaches and waterways it is imperative that we take meaningful steps to cut our addiction to plastic and tackle the plastic waste crisis. Urgent action is needed to protect our environment, preserve our natural landscapes, and secure a sustainable future for generations to come.

We’ll be hosting cleanups in Toronto and Vancouver on September 16th…I hope you’ll join us.

The Dirty Dozen

Leading up to our cleanups this weekend Ocean Wise is sharing our ‘Dirty Dozen’ list.  This list is our low-down, nitty-gritty compilation of the most common trash items we find on our shorelines each year. In 2022, cigarette butts, plastic pieces and food wrappers once again topped the list. But, on a positive trend we saw the percentage of plastic bags and food packaging decrease in 2022. These items are included in bans that we are starting to see from different municipalities and even the Government of Canada’s recent single-use plastics ban, which was announced in early 2022. I can’t help but think this is a good sign for when the regulation comes fully into effect this December!

Rising Plastic Consumption

Plastic consumption has been exponentially increasing over the years, resulting in a staggering amount of waste that ends up in landfills, waterways, and ecosystems. And the pandemic hasn’t done us any favors. The International Solid Waste Association estimates that consumption of single-use plastic has grown by over 250% since the pandemic began! From single-use plastic bags and bottles to food packaging and disposable cutlery, the convenience of plastic is undeniable. But it’s also an addiction that is killing our ocean and hurting humanity.  

Plastic and the Ocean

The consequences of plastic use and waste are far-reaching and devastating. In fact, a 2021 report from Ocean Wise found microplastics in remote regions of the Arctic, showing that plastic waste is truly a global problem. Plastics take centuries to breakdown into smaller and smaller pieces, leading to the accumulation of non-biodegradable waste in our landfills. This waste often finds its way into rivers and lakes and ultimately our ocean, posing a severe threat to aquatic life and ecosystems. Moreover, plastic debris in our oceans has created massive gyres, like the infamous Great Pacific Garbage Patch, negatively affecting marine life and contributing to the pollution of our food chain.

What can be done?

Businesses have a unique opportunity to take proactive measures in combating plastic waste. In addition to adhering to regulations that raise all boats the business community can truly show leadership in developing new technologies and processes that remove certain plastics from ever entering our waste stream.

The businesses must work with leading conservation organizations to implement procedures and initiatives that work across borders to create meaningful, circular solutions that stop waste at its source.

Some key steps include:

• Bans are effective: The evidence is telling us that bans are an effective way to influence businesses to make tough choices. By addressing the low-hanging fruit bans help create a level playing field between those who are pushing for change, and those who are ok with the status quo.

• Encouraging businesses to adopt sustainable practices: We need to work with businesses to reduce their reliance on single-use plastics and incentivize the use of eco-friendly alternatives. The best incentive is to buy those items that use less plastic!

• Promoting recycling and waste management: We can strengthen our recycling infrastructure by creating accessible and reliable collection systems for the most commonly littered plastics, and restoring trust in the recycling system through transparency. But we can't recycle our way out of this problem…we need to stop creating as much plastic as we do.

• Collect good data: Join Ocean Wise for a shoreline cleanup to collect litter from your local shorelines and parks. We offer custom fit business cleanups as well where we make it easy for a company to bring their staff out to a shoreline. You can register to lead your own cleanup and identify new sites where you’d like to host a cleanup, on our website at ocean.org/action/lead-a-shoreline-cleanup/.

Addressing the plastic waste crisis requires collaboration among individuals, businesses, community organizations, and the government. By joining forces around International Coastal Cleanup Day, we can create a culture of awareness around the impact unnecessary plastics have on our shorelines and work towards cutting our plastic addiction.

On September 16th join Ocean Wise wherever you are and help tackle plastic pollution. Together we can take action for the ocean.

Lasse Gustavsson is the President and CEO of Ocean Wise, an ocean conservation group on a mission to build a global community by taking meaningful action to protect and restore our ocean.