World First Travel Insurance Blog - For The Most Comprehensive Travel Insurance Around
Martin Dorey, a long-time friend of World First, is a writer with a passion for plastic. He lives in Cornwall where he runs a not for profit that’s devoted to cleaning up the world’s beaches, two minutes at a time. Martin’s book ‘No. More. Plastic.”, a handy little guide to changing plastic habits, is an Amazon bestseller. Here Martin gives us his thoughts on why we should open our eyes to plastic.
Next time you head off on holiday, spare a thought for the ocean. Wherever you go you’ll find plastic of one kind or another. It’ll be in your drink, in your hotel room, on your plate in your airline dinner and on the beach. Until recently, we wouldn’t think twice about a straw in our drink or a plastic stirrer in our cocktail. But now we’ve seen the BBC’s Blue Planet 2 and the recent Drowning in Plastic we realise it’s time to wake up to plastic and the devastation it’s causing to our planet. Besides, who wants their holiday resort to be drowning in plastic? Not us.
Did you ever see that video of the turtle with the straw up its nose? It’s a stark and hard to watch reminder that simple, every day objects that we use without a second thought – a plastic straw – can cause terrible destruction if or when they get into the natural environment.
It’s just one straw, said 10 billion people
How often, when you go on holiday, do you get given a plastic straw with your piña colada? I’ll bet it’s in there before you even notice, isn’t it? Giving out plastic straws, cutlery and cups has become so normal that we barely register there’s anything wrong with it. We simply accept it as part of our holiday (or everyday life) experience. Yet when we think of the amount of them given out each year across the globe, it is simply staggering. Some estimates say we use 8.5 billion plastic straws a year in the UK each year. Again, if you want to see why we should stop using them, watch the video.
The best thing about plastic
What’s the problem with plastic straws or plastic in general? The best thing about plastic is also the worst thing about plastic. It is extremely durable and will not rot or biodegrade, which means it hangs about forever. It’s also cheap. Yet in the marine environment it attracts toxins and leaches toxins. It breaks down into tiny pieces and becomes attractive to birds and fish, who mistake it for food and die, miserably, with full stomachs. Plastic rope entangles seals, dolphins and whales too, and can end up in mussels and seafood – and then the food chain. In short, plastic is really bad news for the ocean – and us.
Do they recycle where you are going?
The other problem with plastic is recycling. In places where you go on holiday – like the Far East or Greek Islands, there may not be recycling facilities, which means plastic may end up going to landfill and escaping to the ocean. On a recent trip to the Maldives I was horrified by the amount of plastic in use there. They have little infrastructure to deal with plastic, so it becomes litter and then finds its way into the ocean. To see floating plastic in the ocean is not unusual in the Maldives.
Time to cut down on your plastic habit
Please remember that we CAN do something about ocean plastic.
The answer is to use less of it, if and when you can. It’s not that hard to do and begins with just one straw. All you have to do is ask for a paper straw or ask that your drink doesn’t come with one when you hit the hotel bar. If the barman asks why, tell him you are concerned about the ocean. Next, refuse drinks in plastic bottles, instead go for glass or something from a bar tap. How many bottles will you save during your holiday? Then, how about saying no to those coffee cups? It’s no great hassle to bring your own cup and will save you contributing to the plastic mountain. Finally, if you can find a water fountain, start to refill your own reusable bottle. Lots of airports now have water fountains or you can ask cafes to refill for you. How many will you save?
Now you’re making a difference
All these things are very simple to do and will make a difference because you’ll be voting with your wallet and feet. And you won’t be making the problem any worse. In fact, you may well end up saving a turtle’s life. How about that!?
Finally, if you get the urge to take it one step further, take two minutes to pick up plastic from the beach and put it out of harm’s way. Bottles, bits of plastic, cigarette buts, crisp packets and sweet wrappers are all bad and the more you take off the beach the better. If you feel silly or alone, just take a look at #2minutbeachclean on Instagram and you’ll soon see that there are people all over the world doing the same thing! Go for it!
Have a great, plastic-clever trip!
Love travel? It’s time to love the ocean too. | World First Travel Insurance Blog
