Oceans

Microbeads – the story so far….

Posted by Elisabeth Whitebread - 21st June 2016
Image for Microbeads – the story so far….
All rights reserved. Credit: Fred Dott/Greenpeace

Last Wednesday on World Oceans Day we handed our microbeads petition into Number 10. Over 300,000 of you signed the petition – one of the biggest petitions in Greenpeace UK’s history! This is the story of the campaign so far. In December the US passed… Read More

Orange roughy – a ‘sustainable’ fish certification too far.

Posted by Willie Mackenzie - 21st June 2016
Image for Orange roughy – a ‘sustainable’ fish certification too far.
orange roughy illustration

Orange roughy are easy to over fish. So, humans do. But that doesn’t seem to be stopping moves to re-define them as ‘sustainable’ by the Marine Stewardship Council. True, when we started fishing orange roughy we didn’t know that this slow-growing, long-lived, deep water fish was… Read More

Can the Cosmetics Industry help win a microbead ban?

Posted by Fariah Syed - 13th June 2016
Image for Can the Cosmetics Industry help win a microbead ban?
All rights reserved. Credit: Fred Dott/ Greenpeace

On World Oceans Day, while we handed in our BanTheBead petition, I took a trip down to Parliament to attend the Environmental Audit Committee’s (EAC) inquiry into the environmental impact of microplastics. The EAC is a group of MPs from all parties who come together to review and… Read More

Taking Microbeads straight to No10!

Posted by Fiona Nicholls - 9th June 2016
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All rights reserved. Credit: David Mirzoeff / Greenpeace

Yesterday, on a rainy summer’s day we took the petition urging David Cameron to ban microbeads to Number 10 Downing Street, complete with 312,239 of YOUR signatures! Since the petition opened at the beginning of this year, there has been an enormous groundswell of support for this campaign to… Read More

Baby fish are hooked on plastic junk food

Posted by Alice Hunter - 3rd June 2016
Image for Baby fish are hooked on plastic junk food
All rights reserved. Credit: Oona Lönnstedt

Today brought yet more evidence that putting plastic in the ocean is probably not the best idea humankind has ever had. Scientists from Uppsala University in Sweden have discovered that fish larvae born in microplastic-laden waters were “smaller, slower, and more stupid” than those that hatched in clean waters. Read More

Fishing for plankton is ridiculous.

Posted by Willie Mackenzie - 1st June 2016
Image for Fishing for plankton is ridiculous.
All rights reserved. Credit: http://spongebob.wikia.com/wiki/Sheldon_J._Plankton/gallery

In the ocean, plankton is food. There are two types of plankton – tiny plants (phytoplankton) and tiny animals (zooplankton). Zooplankton includes some eggs and larvae of things like fish and crabs, as well as some minute animals that feed on phytoplankton. That makes them the first link in any… Read More