Plastic pollution is a problem everywhere and particularly near waterways. And sending it to landfill isn't the answer, as New Zealand found out recently when heavy rains caused a huge part of a landfill to be washed into the Fox River. You can find plastic on nearly every beach in the world. Even on the relatively pristine beaches near New Zealand's Abel Tasman National Park. I went to Stephen's Bay yesterday.
Stephen’s Bay
Stephen’s Bay beach
It's a small beach, but I still picked up a couple of pieces of plastic (the packaging was something I found en route to the beach).
The best way to prevent single use plastic ending up in the ocean is to not buy it in the first place.
Since it is plastic-free July, I'm going to try not to bring any new plastic into my life this month. The challenges so far have been contact lens solution, which only comes in plastic bottles (I will make the one I have last longer by wearing my glasses more), and crisps. Crisp packets cannot usually be recycled. I love crisps and it is hard to make them from scratch without a deep fat fryer. But I discovered that Proper Crisps (based in Nelson, near where I'm staying at the top of the South Island) have released a crisp packet that it is biodegradable.
I'm amazed to see if that it even looks like foil inside.
Is this really going to break down in my compost? Watch this space.
I saw this by the beach too. Although it looks manmade, it is actually a basket fungus!