Positive Change for Marine Life and Waste Warriors have joined forces to launch their ‘Don’t Be A Sucker’ campaign that launches tomorrow in Byron Bay. The campaign focuses on the impacts of plastic straws and other single-use plastic items on the marine environment, and works with businesses to enable them to go single-use plastic free without bearing the economic cost of doing the right thing.
It’s estimated that 44 per cent of all seabirds have ingested plastic during their lifetime, with many marine animals becoming sick or dying from plastic ingestion, which gives them a false sense of fullness, leading to starvation.
With the average Australian using 170 plastic bags alone per year and 150 million tonnes of plastic bags a year ending up in our landfills, positive change is needed to turn the tide on plastic pollution. Plastic straws, bottles, cutlery, plastic-lined coffee cups and other single-use plastic items are often used for just minutes before being thrown away.
‘It’s not just wasting valuable resources, it’s destroying our ocean and has become one of the great challenges of our time. Despite this, single-use plastic is still in supply at almost every shop and venue across Australia,’ Karl Goodsell, CEO of Positive Change for Marine Life explains.
‘With every beach in the world now littered with plastic pollution and an estimate of more plastic than plankton in the ocean by 2050, we need to act now and take charge toward a plastic free future. That’s why the ‘Don’t Be A Sucker’ campaign was formed.’
Waste Warriors for Business and Positive Change for Marine Life will be rolling the campaign out to other venues and businesses around Byron and the Gold Coast in the coming months, so that they can take up the challenge to stop sucking and start working toward plastic free oceans and healthier communities.
‘Removing these items from your business can really make a difference to your businesses environmental credentials. Consumers are becoming much more informed and appreciate the efforts business are making. So not only are you saving money by not using these items, your customers will love you for it!’ says Kim Potter from Waste Warriors.
