Plastic Tide

The beaches of the U.K. are becoming home to more debris with each high tide. Everyone must do their bit to make the beaches just a little bit cleaner.

As a first step, buying plastic-free and carefully recycling packaging can reduce the amount of beach waste that is being generated.

However, once it is in the system and on beaches the only option is to pick it up each time you see something that should not be on the high tide line. Whilst it is a tiny gesture in the grand scheme of things, every small bit picked up is one less piece in our oceans.

This project aims to show the debris collected from beaches in a new light, hopefully making you think about how you recycle and reuse in everyday life. It is now waste but was once sold as a bright shiny desirable product within a catalogue or on website pages. Each would have stunning images to help you choose the product you desire. So my aim is to take the beach debris from Burnham-on-Sea beach right back to where it first enters the cycle, the product images from their past.

The accumulation of litter is a global problem causing harm to the environment and wildlife that lives there. Over time the debris in the sea has changed from tumbled glass and pieces of pottery to more invasive plastics. This transition was initially slow but over the last decade has escalated beyond belief.

Today it is impossible to walk along any shoreline without finding some plastic litter. This accumulation in the oceans is a symptom of a much larger problem and originates in our convenience-driven society and our reliance on single-use plastics.

Single-use plastic is mainly used for packaging and accounts for about 40% of all the plastics produced. Whilst it reduces product waste by prolonging the shelf life of food and drink, this focus on disposable packaging over the last 60 years has led to the environmental problems we see today.

Thought needs to be given to the design of packaging and how we dispose of it after use. More plastic is buried in landfill than enters the ocean but some estimates predict the increase of plastic in our oceans will triple between 2015 and 2025. This is a truly terrifying amount of waste in the oceans.

There are a number of large surface water gyres or garbage patches in the sea. Floating plastic accumulates in some of the most inaccessible parts of the ocean including the Arctic and the deep sea as well as the far reaches of the Pacific Ocean.

The Impacts of Plastic Litter

We have all seen plastic on the beaches and on our walks and research has shown that plastic litter can actually decrease the benefits of being out in the natural world.

Plastic litter can have a huge economic burden on countries. Even small beach cleans in tourist areas can cost millions and this is a cost that could be totally avoided if we changed our technology and disposal methods.

Plastic is catastrophic for wildlife and probably the most publicised issue around plastic litter. Entanglement can lead to physical injury and eventually death. Ingestion can also lead to death. This is seen in turtles, whales and other fish that ingest the plastics.

Microplastic can also cause problems if ingested, but we are currently at a point where the damage from these can be reversed and limited. In 2013 it was found that over a third of fish caught in the English Channel had ingested microplastics.

OCEAN DEBRIS AND THE IMPACT ON THE MEDITERRANEAN SEA

It is thought that most plastics in the Mediterranean originate from Turkey and Spain with a 40% increase each year in the amounts found. It is one of the most polluted seas in the world with an estimated 250 billion micro-plastics circulating, more than is seen in the ‘plastic island’ in the Pacific Ocean.

As it is almost totally enclosed with just the Suez Canal and the Strait of Gibraltar as entry and exit points, any plastics that enter the water circulate within the enclosed confines of the sea and have very little chance of finding their way out unless it is physically and intentionally removed.

The plastic floating around in the Mediterranean Sea can cause injury or suffocation to marine life including turtles and monk seals as well as entering the food chain. This can lead to even more threats to wildlife and ultimately humans.

what are the solutions?

Due to the range of plastic products, their size, global distribution and pathway to the oceans, there is no easy solution to this problem. Some of the options include banning certain types of plastics, introducing biodegradable plastics, clean-up operations, “reduce, reuse and recycle” campaigns and redesigning plastic items and packaging.

While banning plastics would be the quickest option, the use of plastic is so important in life today that a blanket ban would bring about unintended and negative consequences.

Beach cleans are worthwhile but time and energy would be better spent stopping the problem at its source. Clean-up operations only reach certain areas of the oceans and a small percentage of beaches leaving a lot of areas untouched.

While the increase in population is putting an increased burden on the planet, plastic litter is one area that can be solved with a united effort from everyone who uses and designs single-use plastics in all of their forms.