Next time you see someone leaving their yoghurt lids and instant noodle cups on the beach, you know there’s a secret society walking around picking up their rubbish after them.
That sounds more enigmatic than it needs to. On a serious note, clean-ups are not some sporadic internet challenges (although the recent #trashtag showed the real power of social media in something as unexciting as tidying). And the people whipping beaches into shape are like the 160 volunteers that attended the Bibi Beach clean-up in Okinawa last Saturday.
Last time we checked, it’s not just an occasional straw here or cutlery there. But a total of eight million tonnes of plastic waste ending up in our oceans every year. That’s one truck full of plastic trash every minute. And scientists wiser than us say that there could be more plastic in the seas than fish by the next 30 years if we don’t do anything.
Now, you’re probably wondering how can you spend a guilt-free beach holiday. Rather than running from a beach to another bagging mountains of plastic, just take your rubbish to the bin. And reduce your plastic consumption. And tell your friends and family, too.
