Blog: Oceans

This week, microbeads shot up the political agenda (again) - thanks to Greenpeace supporters (again!) and a host of coalition members.

You may have seen the term Deposit Return Scheme batted around lately- but what exactly does it mean?

The way I like to think of it is this - with a DRS, you buy the contents of a bottle (glug glug, delicious smoothie), but only borrow the bottle. The tiny deposit paid on top of the drink is fully refundable once the empty bottle is returned. This bottle can then be recycled or (even better!) reused.

Back in September, the government announced it was planning to launch a consultation on banning microbeads, those pesky toxic beads that companies have added to face washes, toothpastes, washing powders and other products.

With the ebb and flow of the tides, thousands of miles of coastline around the UK testify to the devastation that plastic pollution is having on the marine environment. The oceans are at their choking point, for every mile of beach surveyed there are 159 plastic bottles found washed up.