oceans

Back in July I was lucky enough to be one of 100 people who spent the day cleaning up a heavily plastic polluted beach on ‘Freedom Island’ in Manila Bay, Philippines. The beach was in an appalling state - piled high with throwaway plastic wrappers, straws and bottles which also littered the water. This was just a snapshot of the estimated 8-12 million tonnes of plastic that scientists tell us goes into our oceans every year.

This weekend, the Environment Secretary Andrea Leadsom announced a plan to ban microbeads from cosmetic products like face scrubs, toothpastes and shower gels. This is brilliant news for the 350,000 people who have signed our petition in collaboration with Fauna & Flora International, the Marine Conservation Society and the Environmental Investigation Agency. It shows the government is taking steps to protect our oceans from this pointless plastic pollution. BUT… (oh why is there always a ‘but’?!)

On Wednesday this week, the Environmental Audit Committee released a report calling for microbeads to be banned. But what does an effective ban look like? The ban in the US, whilst signalling a huge step forward, is riddled with loopholes.