Turning the tide on plastic

A new initiative is committed to clearing our waters of plastic pollution. Ciara McDonnell finds out more about how we can clean up our act.

If we were to lay the amount of plastic water bottles Irish people buy each week on the ground, they would stretch from Dublin to Boston.

This shocking figure is brought to us by an independent survey commissioned by Sky Ocean Rescue, an initiative created to inspire Irish people to make simple, easy changes that will stop our oceans becoming dumping grounds for plastic waste.

Television presenter Amanda Byram is passionate about saving the environment, and says for her, getting involved with Sky Ocean Rescue was a no-brainer.

“I have been passionate about helping initiatives like Sky Ocean Rescue for a while now, after watching a David Attenborough programme about the damage we are doing to our oceans,” she explains. “As a result, for the past couple of years I have been a big advocate of passing on plastic and urging others to recycle. When Sky Ocean Rescue approached me about being on board with the initiative to help raise awareness about the environmental catastrophe we are facing it was an immediate yes.”

Despite an avid interest in environmental issues, Byram has learned lots since getting on board with the effort.

“One of the most shocking facts I have learned is that 8m tonnes of plastic ends up in the ocean every year. This never decomposes and will stay there forever. If this continues, by 2050 the plastic in the ocean will outweigh all the fish.”

For Amanda, the evidence of pollution can be seen everywhere, from our streets to our beaches, and the onus is on us, she says, to deal with it.

“A few weeks ago, I went for a walk around the corner from my parents’ house in Dublin to the gym, and along the way I photographed at least 15 areas of plastic dumping, including bottles, bags, general waste. If that is not cleared up, it gets washed into drains and into the ocean. It is heartbreaking that people think they can just throw stuff aside like that not realising the consequences.”

While walking on a beach in Wexford recently, Amanda and her husband cleared an entire black sack full of rubbish. “We picked up everything from balloons, to rope, to Marks and Spencer sandwich cartons. I just don’t understand the mentality of people who do that, and the catastrophic effect it is having on our environment. This is our planet and it is our responsibility to stop this. Which is why awareness is key.”

Rockers The Riptide Movement are long-time environmental activists, and have lent their support to the Sky Ocean Rescue Campaign.

It was, says frontman Malachy Tuohy, a natural fit. “We wrote a couple of songs last year called ‘Plastic Oceans’ and ‘What Will The Kids Say’ and we wanted to work with a campaign that was involved with ocean conservation and raising awareness of plastic pollution.”

The band has filmed a one-hour documentary on plastic pollution in Irish waters and the experience has been life-changing for the band.

“We had watched documentaries called Plastic Ocean and Blue Planet and After The Flood and of course, we were aware because of the media reportage on what’s happening in the oceans. The thing is, it’s only really from making the documentary and seeing the reality for ourselves first hand that really drove it home.”

Malachy and his bandmates donned their scuba gear while filming and swam along the ocean floor in Dublin’s Sandycove.

The experience, he says, was mind-blowing. “When you’re down there, you realise that there’s a whole other world beneath the water and realise how removed we are from it. You can see all the beautiful fish and different types of seaweed and crabs scuttling across the sand. Then you see plastic and rubbish and aluminum cans that have rained down from above and it’s just shocking. At the start, you think it’s an aesthetic thing but then you hear stories of whales and other creatures washing up with stomachs full of plastic. On Blue Planet we saw the baby albatross whose parents are feeding it plastic and you think ‘would you be forgiven for this?’”

Both Amanda and Malachy agree that in order to save our waters, making small changes to everyday life is key. Amanda says that a commitment to plastic refusal can apply to most aspects of our lives. “I bring my own non-plastic shopping bags and carry one three-litre reusable water bottle and fill with water every morning. I take my own Thermos to the coffee shop.

“I do not use straws, and I own paper straws if I really need one. I stopped using disposable razors, and in supermarkets I ask the manager to please stop supplying customers with fruit/vegetables wrapped in unnecessary plastic.”

Utilising social media is a great place to note your views, she says. “I also tweet corporations and ask them to stop. The more voices the better, in my opinion.”

Malachy says that The Riptide Movement have seen their plastic consumption go down dramatically while on tour. “When we are travelling there are seven of us in a van and we stop every couple of hours to have coffee and water. Having your own bring cup and reusable water bottles, between the seven of us a day, that’s about 50 bottles of water and coffee cups that we are saving.”

While we make small changes at home, it is crucial to target big corporations in order to advocate for less plastic use. It’s up to all of us to make the change, believes Byram.

“The real work has to start with the Government and the big corporations. There needs to be more initiatives when it comes to recycling, we need a circular economy. There has to be incentives for people to pass on plastic. And most of all, people need to stop thinking that they can’t make a difference, it boils down to each one of us making the changes, then we can make the bigger difference for good.

“I am currently in LA, and in the week that I have been here — and I walk/cycle all around LA — I have noticed maybe three pieces of plastic! We need to take note and follow suit. We have no choice but to pull up our socks!”

There is great hope for the environment, says Malachy Touhy, and it can be seen through the eyes of our children. “The kids are way ahead of us. They know all about plastic and they understand the recycling process. It’s amazing seeing their knowledge and commitment to the environment and it really gives you hope.”

He is sure of one thing. If we make the change now, we can create positive change for the children to come. “It’s really our generation’s problem and it’s up to us to solve it. I don’t have children but when I do, I want them to see that our legacy was turning the tide on plastic, that we made the choice to stop poisoning our waters with plastic.”

Find out more about Sky Ocean Rescue, its commitments and how you can make simple, everyday changes to #PassOnPlastic at the Sky Ocean Rescue Facebook page, @SkyOceanRescue on Twitter, or visit skyoceanrescue.com.