News
Over 5,000 people give up single-use plastic in support of the environment in June
The Ross-on-Wye based Marine Conservation Society (MCS), the UK’s leading marine charity, says its 2017 Plastic Challenge has been the most successful yet and shows there’s a growing understanding of the effect plastic pollution is having on our oceans.
The charity has run a Plastic Challenge for the last three years – challenging the public to give up single use plastic for the month of June. Last year just over 1,000 people took part, but this year 5,035 registered to give up using single use plastic which includes food packaged in plastic, plastic water bottles, plastic milk bottles, shower gels, toothpaste and pasta to name but a very few!
“This is a really tough challenge,” says MCS waste expert, Dr Sue Kinsey. “It’s not until you come to do it that you realise just how reliant we are on plastic that gets used once and is then thrown away. The support we’ve had this year has been amazing and we know, from the comments we’ve received on social media, that this is the start of a lifestyle change for many.”
In 2016 The Ellen MacArthur Foundation reported that every year about 8 million tonnes of plastic enter the oceans – that’s roughly one rubbish truck being tipped into the oceans every minute. The Foundation also stated that by 2025 there would be one tonne of plastic for every three tonnes of fish and by 2050 the ocean will contain more plastic by weight than fish.
Scientists at Ghent University in Belgium recently calculated people who eat seafood ingest up to 11,000 tiny pieces of plastic every year.
The Plastic Challenge was supported by adventurer, TV presenter and author, Simon Reeve who congratulated everyone who took part whether it was for the whole month of just part of it: “Over 5,000 thousand people went head to head with single-use plastic! Social media was buzzing with people shocked at how ridiculously dependent we’ve become on the stuff. If you’ve started using less single-use plastics please keep going – let’s build this movement to make our seas cleaner and safer.”
The Plastic Challenge community has shared all sorts of tips during the month via the MCS website and social media feeds. From getting toilet rolls wrapped in paper delivered, baking their own bread, ditching plastic drinking straws and clingfilm, going back to using bicarb for cleaning and choosing glass milk bottle deliveries.
MCS hope that the 2018 Plastic Challenge will get nearer 10,000 people taking part as more and more members of the public understand the terrible price the oceans are paying for our plastic society.
Challengers can sign up for the 2018 Plastic Challenge at www.mcsuk.org/plasticchallenge
News
Dive Worldwide Announces Bite-Back as its Charity of the Year
Over the next 12 months, specialist scuba holiday company Dive Worldwide will be supporting Bite-Back Shark & Marine Conservation with donations collected from client bookings to any one of its stunning dive destinations around the world. The independently-owned operator expects to raise £3000 for the UK charity.
Manager at Dive Worldwide, Phil North, said: “We’re especially excited to work with Bite-Back and support its intelligent, creative and results-driven campaigns to end the UK trade in shark products and prompt a change in attitudes to the ocean’s most maligned inhabitant.”
Bite-Back is running campaigns to hold the media to account on the way it reports shark news along with a brand new nationwide education programme. Last year the charity was credited for spearheading a UK ban on the import and export of shark fins.
Campaign director at Bite-Back, Graham Buckingham, said: “We’re enormously grateful to Dive Worldwide for choosing to support Bite-Back. The company’s commitment to conservation helps set it apart from other tour operators and we’re certain its clients admire and respect that policy. For us, the affiliation is huge and helps us look to the future with confidence we can deliver against key conservation programmes.”
To launch the fundraising initiative, Phil North presented Graham Buckingham with a cheque for £1,000.
Visit Dive Worldwide to discover its diverse range of international scuba adventures and visit Bite-Back to learn more about the charity’s campaigns.
MORE INFORMATION
Call Graham Buckingham on 07810 454 266 or email graham@bite-back.com
Gear News
Scubapro Free Octopus Promotion 2024
Free Octopus with every purchase of a SCUBAPRO regulator system
Just in time for the spring season, divers can save money with the FREE OCTOPUS SPRING PROMOTION! Until July 31st SCUBAPRO offers an Octopus for free
with every purchase of a regulator system!
Get a free S270 OCTOPUS with purchase of these combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with A700
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with S620Ti
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with D420
MK25 EVO Din mit S620Ti-X
Get a free R105 OCTOPUS with purchase of the following combinations:
MK25 EVO or MK19 EVO with G260
MK25 EVO or MK17 EVO with S600
SCUBAPRO offers a 30-year first owner warranty on all regulators, with a revision period of two years or 100 dives. All SCUBAPRO regulators are of course certified according to the new European test standard EN250-2014.
Available at participating SCUBAPRO dealers. Promotion may not be available in all regions. Find an authorized SCUBAPRO Dealer at scubapro.com.
More information available on www.scubapro.com.
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