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June 23, 2020

Plastic is a Disaster

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Topics: Plastics

 

While we’re doing our best to stay safe, our oceans are in more danger than ever. 

It’s everywhere and in everything – and it never goes away. It’s known as single-use plastic, but we call it a disaster.

Twenty-two million kilograms of plastic leaks into the ocean every day. This is the equivalent of one garbage truck worth of plastic every minute. The worst culprits? Single-use plastics like utensils, straws, bottles and food packaging. Forty-seven per cent of the plastic waste generated in Canada comes from packaging and single-use plastics. That’s more than any other category of plastic waste.

But the disaster goes so much deeper.

Over time, plastic that enters the ocean breaks down into tiny pieces. These pieces are eaten by marine life, and in turn, by us. Plastic has been found on the deepest parts of the seafloor, in the ocean breeze, in the desert dust and now even in rain. And it’s only getting worse – the production of plastic is expected to increase at least fourfold by 2050.

Canada is contributing to this problem, creating 3.3 million tonnes of plastic waste every year, of which, less than 10 per cent is recycled. With the longest coastline in the world, Canada has an obligation to better protect the ocean and show leadership in tackling this global crisis.

There’s still hope for our oceans, but we can’t deal with this disaster alone. Together, we can make a difference. You can help us stop single-use plastic at its source.

A comprehensive national ban on harmful and unnecessary single-use plastics is the most effective way to reduce plastic at the source. The ban, along with progressive corporate leadership and wide public support, will ensure we all have plastic-free choices in our future.

This is the future Canadians want. An overwhelming number of you told us so in our recent Abacus Data research poll – 86 per cent of Canadians support a national ban on harmful single-use plastics. This compares to a similar survey conducted in 2019 that found 81 per cent of Canadians supported such a ban.

Join us. Tell the government of Canada you want a future with healthy oceans and plastic-free choices. Sign the petition to ban unnecessary single-use plastics today.

Watch the video: End the Plastic Disaster.