According to Greenpeace, only 2,4 million tons of the estimated 51 tonnes of plastic waste were recycled in 2021. This is just the US. These numbers are enough to scare your socks off!
The reality is that plastic pollution can be reduced by taking very simple actions:
swapping plastic bags with cotton tote bags;
shopping responsibly and refusing to buy products covered in plastic when this can be avoided;
and adding a water filter at home to significantly reduce your plastic bottle waste.
Around 20,000 single use plastic bottles are made globally every second – none of these will ever full decompose. The reusable water bottle is a great alternative. If looked after properly it could last a lifetime, saving over 150 plastic bottles per person per year.
This is just one person.
Now imagine if this was adopted by ever person in Malta – that’s over 78 million plastic bottles every single year from one simple, little reusable water bottle!
If these facts weren’t enough to convince you here are a couple more to send chills down your spine…
Single Use Plastic makes up 50% of our waste
Half of the plastic that is destroying our planet comes from single use plastic products such as coffee lids, straws, plastic bottles and plastic cutlery.
Over 70% of beach litter is plastic
According to National Geographic, 70% of all beach litter is plastic. This varies from bottle caps, polystyrene containers, cigarette buds, bottles and more..
Plastic in our oceans outnumbers marine animals
It comes to no surprise that there is more plastic in the sea than actual marine life. For every marine animal, there are 6 pieces of plastic!
Over a million marine mammals die due to plastic pollution
From birds getting stuck in a plastic can holder to sea turtles mistaking plastic bags for jellyfish. About 90% of the bird species have been found to have plastic around their bodies or in the system.
The Pacific Garbage Patch
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is a large floating plastic mass that has an estimated 3,6 trillion pieces of plastic. The size of this patch could even be its own state island.
Less than 5% of plastic produced globally is actually recycled
Even though Europe claims to have the highest plastic waste recycling rates (30%), it sends its waste to Asian countries to recycle. With Asian countries refusing to recycle and returning waste for western countries, this percentage has begun to diminish
Plastic in the ocean will outweigh fish by 2050
Marine life is in jeopardy and if we don’t take action now as the idea of finding more plastic than dolphins, seals, and others marine life in our oceans is heartbreaking
A million plastic bottles sold EVERY minute
By the time you finish reading this, that many plastic bottles will have been sold. Less than 50% would be recycled and just 7% would be turned into new bottles
70,000 microplastics ingested per year
Researchers in the UK have reported that we consume an average of 70,000 microplastics every year. Microplastic particles are everywhere; in your clothing, your tires, the sea.. It’s really hard to avoid them.
Scary right?
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