I worry a lot about the amount we are sending to landfill, but there's another huge dumping ground on our planet which doesn't get talked about quite so much. That dumping ground is our oceans.
It is estimated that 6.4 million tonnes of plastic finds it's way into our seas every year. This can be through dumping, containers falling off ships or through damage to cargo ships.
More shocking statistics can be found at The Ocean Crusaders website, such as:
THERE ARE BELIEVED TO BE 46,000 PIECES OF PLASTIC IN EVERY SQUARE MILE OF OCEAN.
100,000 MARINE CREATURES A YEAR ARE KNOWN TO DIE FROM PLASTIC ENTANGLEMENT.
APPROXIMATELY 1 MILLION SEA BIRDS ALSO DIE FROM PLASTIC.
AT LEAST TWO THIRDS OF THE WORLD’S FISH ARE SUFFERING FROM PLASTIC INGESTION.
This is why I'm so pleased that Ecover are working with Waste Free Oceans to try and tackle this problem.
They have teamed up to collect sea plastic for use in their limited edition washing up liquid bottles which will be on sale exclusively through Tesco stores week commencing 15th June only.
The bottles are made from 100% recycled plastic, with 10% being ocean plastic which has been collected by fishing boats.
Kitted out with special technology, these European boats are fishing out between one and eight tonnes of plastic waste per catch.
This really is a re-use scheme I can get behind. This new bottle follows Ecover's pledge in 2013 that they would use new types of recycled plastic in their packaging. This year, they will be using one tonne of Ocean Plastic and aim to increase to three tonnes next year.
Have you managed to re-use something this week? Found a pre-loved bargain or rescued something from landfill?
Grab the badge and link up.
Disclosure: We were sent a sample bottle of washing up liquid from Tesco.
We resued a tissue box and milk bottle and made a guitar!
ReplyDeleteThanks for hosting Liz, have a great week! xx
ReplyDeleteI was really impressed with the ecover products. I try to recycle but I know I could improve.
ReplyDeleteWhat a fab idea! Love their products anyway. Even more now x
ReplyDeleteI learned all about this last summer at an exhibit at the Monterey Bay Aquarium. They had an exhibit made of rubbish left they found floating in the ocean and also showed how sea life (fish and birds) would mistake the small bits of plastic as food and then would die. It's shocking how much ends up in the ocean. It's nice to see someone turning rubbish into something useful. x
ReplyDeleteThis is a marvelous idea. I was shocked to see how much plastic was washed up on the Isle of Wight.
ReplyDeleteGosh those statistics are really frightening and what a great idea from Ecover. I shall look for those when I go shopping this week.
ReplyDeleteThose are really sad numbers. What a great company!
ReplyDeleteIt's pretty shocking that the fishing boats can gather that much rubbish on one catch! Reminds me of this website by a couple that collect the plastic rubbish washed up on the beach and make art from it... http://beachplastic.com/
ReplyDeleteNo magpie finds from me this week, I'm still in trauma over the tombola :)
I am a huge fan of ecover, this is a fantastic initiative! Really awful statistics!
ReplyDeleteWhat a funky looking bottle! Love things like preloved and freecycle - we got a toddler slide off freecycle a couple of years ago, all the kids love it and it is still going strong!
ReplyDeleteI use Ecover products anyway, but this is a brilliant initiative - love the idea of reusing sea plastic. What a great company for being so forward thinking, and the bottle looks great!
ReplyDeleteGotta love Ecover :)
ReplyDeleteI've heard those stats before, and it makes me so sad. But what a great idea to recycle that plastic! I have never heard of Ecover, but I will be looking for it now!
ReplyDeleteI published something similar last year with Ecover. Just writing the article opened my eyes to so many new facts and figure but what hit me the most was the sheer amount that ends up in the sea. Our oceans are the lifeblood of this planet - you would think we'd take more care of them.
ReplyDeleteEcover is out most favourite brand when it comes to washing dishes or clothes! Is the only brand we can really use with our very sensible girls. Love the bottle!
ReplyDeleteyou know we went for a walk down the regents canal in east london at the weekend and the litter in the canal was outrageous. i just don't understand why people feel that this is an acceptable way to dispose of their rubbish. london councils are pretty damn good at recycling so why do people find it so difficult when it's not. grrrrrrr makes me angry
ReplyDeleteThis is a great idea, and I really hope it can be scaled up massively. I'm sure it's very labour intensive clearing that plastic out of the seas, but all the figures above show how crucial it is to look after our seas and sea life. Good for Ecover leading the way with this one.
ReplyDeleteWhat a great idea! Thanks for hosting.
ReplyDeleteoooh I love Ecover! My little girl uses ALL my rubbish for junk modelling!
ReplyDeleteWhat a brilliant idea - I love it!! Wish more companies would follow suit
ReplyDeleteWell done to Ecover. I know all about this problem from when my daughter was studying marine biology. ope more companies follow Ecover's lead (I'm a big fan of theirs and use a lot of their products at home).
ReplyDeleteNo magpie treasure for me lately, but living vicariously through your linkies :) Mx
That is crazy, great idea from ecover!
ReplyDeletereally like the ecover products, started using them while living in london. luckily the wash-up and also the laundry liquids can be bought in my current town too here, and hoping that this special bottle will find its way to us soon too! it is heartbreaking though what we've done to our oceans and the animals with plastic...good on the innovators to try to find solutions all the time to clean up!
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