Single Use Plastics

Single use plastics are one of the most common types of marine debris. Disposable plastic items such as shopping bags, water bottles (and their lids!), straws, cutlery and cups, too often find their way into our waterways where they will never biodegrade, and cause serious problems for our marine life.

Fortunately, the single-use plastic issue is an easy one to fix! By switching single-use, disposable items for multi-use, durable ones, we can drastically reduce the amount of plastic waste being generated in our communities. And there are many different ways to go about making this happen.

Check out the ideas below on how people just like you can engage with the relevant people and businesses in your community, to reduce the amount of single-use, disposable plastic items that are currently available where you live. And remember, sometimes it is as simple as remembering to grab your stainless steel water bottle, bamboo cutlery, or reusable shopping bag with you when you leave the house.

Djunbunji Rangers are taking the lead on waste reduction

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The Djunbunji Land & Sea Ranger team is leading by example with the creation of their new reusable events kit.

After attending the Australian Marine Debris Initiative’s 2014 conference and being involved in creating Source Reduction Plans for various projects, the rangers decided to create a Source Reduction Plan for themselves.

“We really need to change people’s way of thinking,” said Ranger Laurissa Mundraby, as she showed Tangaroa Blue the reusable events kit the rangers had put together. The kit had reusable cutlery, bowls, plates, and cups, with the aim to replace all the disposables they used to throw away.

Do you shop at a Responsible Cafe?

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The Responsible Cafes Program connects responsible cafes with conscious consumers by encouraging cafes to offer a discount to customers with reusable takeaway cups.

1 billion takeaway cups and lids are landfilled or littered each year in Australia and, contrary to popular belief, they are poorly recyclable, many having a plastic lining, and only rarely composted due to inadequate industrial composting facilities.

So by giving a discount to customers who bring their own reusable cup, the Responsible Cafes Program saves money and reduces waste at the same time. This not only incentivises customers to do the right thing but increases awareness of the issues surrounding single-use waste and nurtures a culture of reuse.

While many cafes are opting for a 30-50c discount, the amount of the discount is totally up to you – just write it in straight on the poster!

In association with environmental organisations Take 3, the Two Hands Project, Tangaroa Blue, Surfrider Foundation Australia, Positive Change for Marine Life, Transition Bondi, Transition Margaret River, and more, we provide a vintage-style poster (in A3, A4, or A5 sizes), a small sticker for storefront display, an information sheet outlining the issue, and a video on the benefits of the program.

Responsible Cafes are jumping up all over Australia, so we’d love to have you on board! If you or anyone you know owns a cafe, or if you would like to approach cafes in your area, let us know and we’ll sort you out with everything you need.

For more information on Responsbile Cafes visit their website.

Scheme water healthier than plastic

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This source reduction plan was designed by participants in Port Hedland during a workshop funded through Keep Australia Beautiful Council WA Litter Prevention Grants. The source reduction plan addresses plastic water bottles. Locally there is a large consumption of bottles from the supermarkets because people do not trust the scheme water. They are found on beaches because they are discarded there, as well as in parks and on the water. They also fall out of vehicles, boats, bags and bins. This issue is of great community importance because the large consumption of plastic water bottles is not sustainable. They are unsightly when in the environment, they break up to smaller plastic particles which can impact wildlife and they waste council money due to the amount of clean-up effort needed.

Reusable bottles for Karratha

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This source reduction plan was designed by participants in Karratha during a workshop funded through Keep Australia Beautiful Council WA Litter Prevention Grants. It aims to reduce the amount of plastic water bottles in the environment at Karratha. The source reduction plan involves introducing re-usable water bottles. The workshop attendees will lead by example and try to initiate the source reduction plan in each of their workplaces. Events will be water bottle free and re-usable events kits will be introduced. Cafes in town will be contacted to engage their support. The success of this source reduction plan will be measured during the 2015 WA Beach Clean-up event.

Photo courtesy of http://obrag.org/?p=40640#.VVQQomcw-pp

BYO cups in Albany

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This source reduction plan was designed by participants in Albany during a workshop funded through Keep Australia Beautiful Council WA Litter Prevention Grants. It aims to reduce the amount of disposable coffee cups that are not disposed of correctly in the area. This is an important issue in the community because discarded coffee cups impact the aesthetic quality of the area and cost the council to clean-up. The cups also break up and have the potential to impact wildlife.