A lot of people have heard of the floating garbage island, known as the Great Pacific Garden Patch, but I was surprised that it is the largest of the world's ocean plastic accumulation zones. The GPCP alone has a surface area of approximately 1.6 million square kilometres.
Erik Solheim, Head of UN Environment, said, "It is past time that we tackle the plastic problem that blights our oceans. Plastic pollution is surfing onto Indonesian beaches, settling onto the ocean floor at the North Pole, and rising through the food chain onto our dinner tables. We’ve stood by too long as the problem has gotten worse. It must stop."
Break Free From Plastic
The non-governmental organization Greenpeace Canada came to Yonge-Dundas Square on Tuesday, October 30, 2018 with a plastic trash installation which has an 8-foot mother albatross bird feeding her baby - and that food was branded single-use plastic! Instead of picking something like people using plastic straws, Greenpeace has identified 5 of the top corporate plastic polluters identified through brand audits: "These top polluters were found to be Nestlé, Tim Hortons, PepsiCo., The Coca-Cola Company and McDonald’s."
“The art installation serves as a visceral reminder of who is fueling plastic pollution and what that means for marine life,” said Wanjiro Ndungu, spokesperson for the Oceans and Plastics campaign. “The sculpture specifically reflects the reality that 9 out of 10 seabirds have ingested plastic. Since the branded trash used in this sculpture was collected during cleanups, we hope the top polluters we have identified through our brand audits will start focusing on cutting their plastic footprint and realize that we’re well beyond recycling as a solution.”
“The art installation serves as a visceral reminder of who is fueling plastic pollution and what that means for marine life,” said Wanjiro Ndungu, spokesperson for the Oceans and Plastics campaign. “The sculpture specifically reflects the reality that 9 out of 10 seabirds have ingested plastic. Since the branded trash used in this sculpture was collected during cleanups, we hope the top polluters we have identified through our brand audits will start focusing on cutting their plastic footprint and realize that we’re well beyond recycling as a solution.”
"Stop trashing our future with throwaway plastic"
Greenpeace hopes that plastic-producing corporations begin to reduce and phase out single-use plastics and governments to eventually ban single-use plastics.
