By: Heidi Kilian
Did you know that the top 5 items found on uShaka beach during the International Coastal clean-ups over the last two years are cigarette butts, food wrappers, plastic bottle caps, straws/stirrers/lollypop sticks and plastic pieces. What do they all have in common? Plastic! Yes, even a cigarette filter that is made from Cellulose acetate, a form of plastic.
Plastic is a very useful substance that exists in our lives, think of your cell phone, TV and motor car – all made from plastic. But many items made from plastic are single use, meaning that they are used once and then discarded often ending up in the environment and in the ocean.
This month, we celebrate Plastic Free July, and we encourage you to think about your daily use of plastic. Are there items you use that you can Reduce, Reuse, Recycle or REFUSE!
