Plastic pollution is one of the most common forms of pollution. It is also senseless and a waste much of the time, as much of the plastic that we use is only used once and then it is thrown away.
Plastic pollution is huge.
And we waste a lot of plastic every single day and that makes up a staggering amount of plastic pollution every year. For example, 8 millions tons of plastic waste ends up in our oceans every year. While 40% of marine mammals and 41% of seabirds are harmed by plastic pollution.
Sadly, there is also a huge amount of animals killed by plastic pollution. It is estimated that 1 million seabirds, 100,000 sea mammals and an undocumented amount of fish are killed each year through coming into contact with plastic pollution. This doesn't include the on land animals which are harmed, suffered and killed because of plastic pollution.
It doesn't have to be this way though, we can help end our use of plastic through the way we live and the choices we make. Recycling plastic does help, but moving away from plastic and either getting rid of unnecessary plastic and/or using different materials may help animals more, the environment and ecosystems more and the whole planet as a whole more.
Thankfully, the RSPB has created some useful tips on how we can reduce our plastic use and help create a greener planet. You can take part in Plastic Free July with the RSPB - here!
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