Did you know that plastic is responsible for the deaths of over one million sea birds, whales, dolphins, turtles and other marine life every single year? Or that around 80% of all litter in the ocean is plastic?
Most of us do the right thing and dispose of plastic bottles and plastic bags soon after we have finished using them, but some people don’t, and their rubbish ends up as litter in waterways that can threaten and harm local wildlife.
We can all do something small that will make a big difference to our local environment and keep it safe.
Later this month Wyatt Roy and the students of Caboolture Montessori School will be holding a community beach clean-up day at Bongaree to reduce local plastic pollution.
What you will need: gloves, hat, sunscreen
Where to meet: Buckley’s Hole, Bongaree
When: 26th October, 10am
Did you know..?
1) Plastic is responsible for the deaths of over one million sea birds, whales, dolphins, turtles and other marine life every single year
2) A plastic bag floating in the water can often resemble a jellyfish and can be mistaken as a food source by marine animals
3) Plastic litter can also harm animals when they get tangled, trapped or caught up in it
4) The Bryde’s whale that washed up on a Cairns Beach in 2000 had six square-metres of plastic tightly packing in its stomach
5) 86% of all marine turtles are affected in some way by marine litter
6) Only 20% of all plastic bottles and just 3% of plastic bags actually get recycled
7) In Australia we use between 4 billion and 6 billion plastic bags a year
8) More than 60 countries, states and cities around the world have banned or restricted the use of plastic shopping bags
9) Around 80% of all litter in the ocean is plastic
10) Plastic waste in the ocean is currently so bad that ocean currents have formed a “pacific garbage patch” where plastic has been forced together and has created a gyre of litter.
Tags: Community, Environment
