Paul Cayard
Paul Cayard Even the longest journey…
Of course I have been aware of plastic in the oceans and the need to effectuate change but recently my alarm bell has really been ringing. Having spent my life on the sea, enjoying
nature and the amazing life experiences she has to offer, it is very disturbing to see what is happening to our oceans. It is even more
disturbing to be on land, witnessing the amount of single-use plastic in everything we do and wondering where this plastic will end up. I know this article will be ‘preaching to the choir’ in some cases,
as many of you are more astute than me on the subject of ocean conservation. As recently as 100 years ago there was virtually no pollution in our oceans. In a little over three generations we have caused significant damage and the rate of increase in the harm we are doing is alarming. We need to wake up to this reality and do something about it. This change requires all of us. Plastic has been the workhorse material of our modern society.
Since 1964 annual plastics production has increased 20-fold. Plastic doesn’t decay, so it is a great material for some products that need to last for decades. Unfortunately, it’s not so great when it ends up in our oceans where it is ingested by the fish we eat, tangles turtles or drifts away slowly to often far-away beaches. Today there are estimated to be approximately 180 million metric tons of plastic in the sea. It is projected that at the rate we are going by 2050 that there will be five times that amount… There will be the same weight of plastic in the ocean as fish. That bears repeating: an equal amount of plastic and fish in the sea. Despite a seemingly big effort in the Western world during the
past 20 years, just 14 per cent of plastic packaging is collected for recycling*. Single-use plastics are economically advantageous. Our capitalist
society has driven grocers to increase the shelf-life and convenience of their products by wrapping them in plastic. Almost every product from lap- top computers to fruit is now wrapped in plastic as a matter of course. But there is a cost to the benefit
By 2050 there will be the same weight of plastic in the ocean as fish
plastic offers and so far too much of the bill has been paid by our planet. Absurdly, the most polluted place on earth is tiny, uninhabited Henderson Island, in the South Pacific.**
With 37 million pieces of plastic already littering its shores and
at least 4,000 more pieces arriving daily, for reasons known only to oceanographers this tiny shard of dry land acts like a central filter to the pollution circulating in the South Pacific currents. It is also a poster child for the horrible harm that our plastics society continues to do against nature. Until one is aware, really aware, it is hard to get too concerned.
To that end, I am honoured to be part of the One Ocean Foundation, led by Yacht Club Costa Smeralda. One Ocean is a community of yacht clubs, scientists and legislators who are committed to initiating change for our oceans. All of the yacht clubs involved have already committed to using environmentally responsible practices when it comes to running their regattas. But beyond plastic, there are other problems facing our oceans,
namely carbon dioxide produced by cars, planes and industry, not to mention overfishing. As we know excessive CO2
is leading to
increased global temperatures, melting ice at the poles, and chang- ing the acidity of ocean water thereby damaging coral reefs and other sea life. Some 93 per cent of the Great Barrier Reef has now been bleached due to higher than normal ocean temperatures. But some encouraging developments are taking place. The
Consumer Goods Forum is an association of many of the largest goods manufacturers in the world. The CEOs of many of those companies are directly engaged and some of them now sit on our board. They have recognised and acknowledged that many current methods of delivering their products are too harmful and are
28 SEAHORSE
committed to improving their operations to the benefit of our planet, and as a consequence so are their shareholders.*** In The New Plastics Economy initiative the Ellen McArthur
Foundation is estimating that single-use plastic packaging worth some $80-120 billion is lost to the economy annually. So there is also the parallel opportunity that by reversing the negative conse- quences of our current plastics economy we can both improve the performance of existing businesses and create new companies, all with better environmental outcomes. Obviously this won’t happen by itself and we need to actively encourage innovation and creative thinking to make worthwhile progress. What can you and I do today? Why not start by making choices
that will make a difference: don’t buy products that use excessive plastic packaging, bring your own bag to the supermarket, use a reusable water bottle or coffee cup, do a thorough job of recycling your trash, skip the straw, even try to pick up one piece of plastic every day and dispose of it properly. Of course we can organise and participate in ‘clean regattas’.
Sailors for the Sea and 11th Hour Racing have guidelines for this. These contributions involve little or no cost and, if done consistently and en masse, over time will make a tremendous difference. Recently I have seen some excellent advertisements promoting
a consciousness around the ocean, highlighting the pollution that exists today and promoting initiatives, large and small, to protect
VAN DER BORCH
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