Microplastics

Single use plastic pollution Plastic pollution is one of the defining issues of our time.  It is in the air we breathe, the food we eat and oceans we rely on.  Much of the plastic we use, particularly single use products, doesn’t make it to the recycling plant because it is littered – and this means unless anyone intervenes to pick it up it eventually ends up in our rivers and oceans.   Single-use plastic refers to products that are used once, or for a very short period of time, before being thrown away, and we know that single-use plastic products are more likely to end up in our seas than reusable options.  Plastic’s journey is catastrophic for the environment, posing a threat to the climate as it slowly breaks down and releases greenhouse gases, and infiltrates our waterways, soil and oceans.  Smaller fragments called microplastics can enter our soil and water. It’s in our drinking water and on our plates because we eat fish and other animals that have consumed microplastics.    It’s not biodegradable  A big proportion of plastic doesn’t rot, in the way paper or food do,  and generally takes over 400 years to decompose. Each year, 400 million tonnes of plastic is produced and 40% of that is single-use – plastic we’ll only use once before it’s binned.   How can we reduce our use of single use plastic It can be done, We have reduced our reliance on single use plastic bags ,  nine billion fewer single-use plastic bags have been used in the UK since the bag charge was introduced  in 2015. And there are other ways we can reduce single plastic pollution   Go for resuables The best thing you can do is not purchase single use products  in the first place and use reusables instead such as a water bottle, sandwich box,  or a reusable hot drinks mug.   Avoid plastic packaging Not always easy when you’re shopping for food though supermarkets are increasingly using cardboard or paper instead of plastic Some things like shampoo and soap can be bought ‘naked’, and some  shops now invite you to bring your own packaging to take products home in. If there’s one in Wakefield please let us know.  If there isn’t a refill shop, try to find packaging made from recycled materials which are easy to recycle locally. Check the packaging, if it’s made from recycled material, they’ll probably shout about it. The packaging will also typically tell you what it’s made of   Recycle Cans, pure paper products, and most plastic bottles are widely accepted at recycling points and remember Renewi, the Council’s recycling scheme recycle everything in the UK so it’s not shipped abroad at great environmental cost.   In the kitchen Swap clingfilm for food wraps/baking sheet  Stop wrapping your food in a material made from crude oil that’s what cling film is made from. Keep cheese and other foods fresh by wrapping  them it in  beeswax food wraps which are reusable and biodegradable or just use a piece of baking paper/grease proof paper. . Replace teabags with loose tea The majority of teabags in the UK contain a very thin layer of polypropylene plastic. That thin layer will probaly end up as tiny pieces in the soil, which could then find their way into our rivers and eventually the sea. You know that loose tea tastes better anyway – and you might want to start using a teapot again or there’s the option of a tea infuser,