Use of plastic bags in England drops by 59% in a year

When global oil prices drop, so do incentives to recycle plastic materials, and even more plastic debris and trash ends up collecting in our oceans and ecosystem. An alternative solution in the form of "up-cycling" is helping to combat plastic pollution, as nonprofits and do-gooders who gather beach and ocean trash partner up with companies and retailers to produce desirable products crafted from materials collected out of the oceans.

Clean Ocean Sailing is a volunteer-based organization that boats to largely inaccessible parts of Cornwall’s coasts to pull plastic pollution out of the ocean and off the beaches using kayaks, rowboats, and physical labor.

The beach in Omura Bay in Japan isn’t a normal beach covered in sand: It’s covered in glass. This glass beach, developed by the Nagasaki Prefectural Environmental Health Research Center, is meant to recycle waste from the ocean and promote the growth of shellfish to maintain the water’s health. After five years, the center has seen about 525 clams per square meter, an increase over previous years.

Sometimes bolstered by state tax credits, oyster recycling projects across the United States are encouraging restaurants to save their oyster shells, which are used to restore reefs instead of ending up as waste.

After activists campaigned against the use of single-use plastic straws that pollute the environment, cities, states, and companies began banning them or offering alternatives. Because plastic straws are responsible for only a tiny fraction of plastic pollution, the anti-straw movement was seen by some as "greenwashing." However, it also raised awareness of the harm of single-use plastics and helped build momentum for further action, including bans on other single-use products such as plastic bags, cutlery, and stir sticks.

Expeditions to clean up debris from the coastline are underway along the B.C. coast after an ecotourism company was forced to stop tours during the pandemic. The project is largely funded by the B.C. government’s Clean Coast, Clean Waters Initiative Fund, and involves five different companies. In just one expedition, 61 tonnes of garbage was collected and removed via volunteers, a helicopter, and a barge.

For one family, living plastic-free was a lifestyle decision made after they learned more about the harm that plastic waste causes. The Watt family lives as plastic-free as possible – carrying their own utensils, buying in bulk and bringing their own glass containers, making their own household cleaner, and using reusable beeswax wraps instead of cling wrap. While these are all steps in the right direction toward reducing the nearly 335 million tons of plastic produced every year, experts say we need to rely less on individual actions and push for tougher laws and systemic changes.

An innovative solution to the massive amount of plastic in our oceans is a new startup called Loliware. It produces 100% biodegradable straws "that look, feel, and act like plastic" but are actually made of seaweed. Not only do the straws decompose in a few weeks and are gluten-free, non-GMO, and sugar-free, but the process of creating them sequesters carbon dioxide, which further increases their positive environmental impact.

Infinitum, a Norwegian company, aims to create a never-ending loop of plastic reuse and their deposit hub recycles 97 percent of the country’s plastic drink bottles. While critics question the focus on continuing to produce plastic since it relies on fossil fuels, similar collection schemes in other countries could reduce plastic waste.

“There were bottles, cocktail sticks, coffee cup lids, razors, toothbrushes," recalls Rachel Yates, a Penzance community member, in describing the looks of a Cornish beach she volunteered to clean up with marine conservation charity Surfers Against Sewage. Shortly after, she joined the charity and led the Cornwall community to achieving plastic-free status through awareness and campaigning efforts, unifying the town in the fight against single-use plastics.