Plastic Obsession leads to Plastic Oceans
You swim peacefully towards the large coral; it sways slowly as you approach it. Parts of what once was a bright orange have now been bleached white. A side effect of the rising sea temperatures as the sun grows warmer, and the coral grows stressed. Tangled around one of the coral’s tentacles is a small deep-blue plastic security ring, one that might have come off a milk carton. While the coral’s tentacle can regrow within two weeks, you cannot help but imagine the pain caused to the small polyps as the tentacle slowly breaks off.
A sea turtle approaches from behind you, it swims mindlessly towards the coral beds looking for sea sponge to snack on. Sticking out from its nose is a long white straw with red and yellow lines down the sides. A sad thought passes through your mind, that this turtle is a lucky one, it has a straw in its nose rather than choking to death on a plastic bag it mistaken for a jellyfish.
You continue to swim through the coral reef, patches of white interrupt the rainbow of colours. To your left you see a white blob slowly moving over the coral, you think it is a Caribbean reef octopus trying to blend in with the coral beds. As you swim closer however it is not an octopus at all but rather a plastic shopping bag floating through the reef. You think of the turtle and hope that it does not swim this way and try to eat the bag.
Past the floating plastic bag, you see a coral reef hermit crab climbing on top of a green coral’s tentacle. The shell perched on the crabs back is clear, it has mistaken a plastic cup as a new home to live in. You worry for the crab’s safety; the cup will provide no protection and you can see the back legs gripping to the edge of the cup willing it to sit in place.
The plastic polluted coral reef makes you feel at home, as though you belong with the other creatures. Sea turtles with straws caught in their nose, plastic bags that are mistaken for octopus and jellyfish, and hermit crabs who have decided to live in old plastic cups. You feel as though you blend into the imperfect perfect surroundings, and as you settle into your new home amongst a partially white coral, you begin to forget about the plastic tightening around your gills.
In 2017, Australian supermarket chain Woolworths announced they would be phasing out single use plastic bags by July of 2018, and instead offering 15c reusable plastic bags. Hours after their announcement supermarket Coles, followed suit and announced they too would phase out the use of plastic bags.
The announcement came after comedian Craig Reucassel put pressure on supermarket representatives while appearing on the ABC show ‘The War on Waste’. Following the announcement, Reucassel congratulated Woolworths on making the right moves to reduce their plastic waste. However, Reucassel believed “It’s a very poor reflection on the politicians of the states in NSW and Victoria and WA that Woolworths have basically gone ahead and done it themselves.”
Reucassel has a point, during his appearance on ‘The War on Waste’ he called out politicians and why they have not banned plastic bags yet. However, while the politicians stayed quiet after the episode aired, Woolworths made their move to help reduce their footprint of plastic waste.
So, what exactly are our governments doing to help reduce plastic pollution in our oceans?
States South Australia, Queensland, the ACT, Western Australia and Victoria have all announced their plans to phase out single-use plastics including plastic bags, straws, cutlery, polystyrene containers, cotton bud sticks and the release of helium balloons.
New South Wales completed public consultations around the idea of banning single-use plastics, yet no plans have been announced.
Meanwhile, Tasmania and the Northern Territory have made no announcements or potential moves to band the use of plastic. (Australian Marine Conservation Society, 2021).
While these plans have been announced many do not start until the end of 2021 with some of these plans waiting until 2026 to be fully enforced.
What can you do to help reduce plastic pollution in our oceans?
Refrain from Single-Use Plastic — Purchasing tote or paper bags for shopping, metal reusable cutlery for when eating out and a reusable coffee cup can help reduce the amount of waste you put into the environment.
Recycling — While much of our primary plastic is still unable to be properly recycled locations across Australia have installed the ‘Return and Earn’ machines where you can return your used plastic bottles and in return earn 10c for each bottle.
Garbage Night — We are all guilty of overfilling our garbage bins and letting them sit on the curb anxiously awaiting the garbage truck. However, some of our overflowing garbage will find its way out onto the street. Placing your bins on the side of the road just before the garbage truck comes can help decrease the amount of garbage that enters our environment.
A helpful link to find schedules for rubbish collection:
Clean Up Australia Day — Since November 1989, Clean Up Australia Day has become an annual day to help clean Australia’s environment. I highly encourage participating in Clean Up Australia Day however also just practicing cleaning up the environment around you can help reduce waste.
Many marine animals are endangered, with an estimation that by 2025, 99% of sea birds would have ingested plastic, and by 2050 the amount of plastic in our oceans will outweigh the fish. Through taking the above steps, we can help reduce the amount of plastic waste that enters our waterways and oceans, protecting our marine ecosystems.
Water are you waiting for Australia, it’s time to make a change.
