{"id":446,"date":"2019-03-27T11:15:12","date_gmt":"2019-03-27T11:15:12","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.naturetravels.co.uk\/blog\/?p=446"},"modified":"2025-04-22T10:16:31","modified_gmt":"2025-04-22T09:16:31","slug":"make-using-less-plastic-your-new-years-resolution","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.naturetravels.co.uk\/blog\/make-using-less-plastic-your-new-years-resolution\/","title":{"rendered":"Make Using Less Plastic Your New Year’s Resolution"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Many of you probably watched Blue Planet 2 and saw the damage our use of plastic is doing to our seas.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

If you didn\u2019t, here\u2019s a summary:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When plastic was invented and introduced in 1907, it was celebrated for being durable and that it couldn\u2019t be destroyed. But that\u2019s the problem with plastic \u2013 once created it never disappears, it always stays around. The problem with throwing plastic away is that there is no \u201caway\u201d, it has to go somewhere, and a lot of it ends up in the environment, and particularly in the sea.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Plastic
Plastic is unsightly and very harmful to animals, humans and the wider environment. Photo: Nature Travels.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

In the sea it gets mistaken by animals for food and they eat the plastic. Plastic is the opposite of food \u2013 it can\u2019t be digested and it stays around in the animals\u2019 stomach and the stomach gets fuller and fuller. In some dead seabirds, over 250 pieces of plastic have been found.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Toiletries
Toiletries and cosmetrics are one area where plastic usage could be cut drastically. Photo: Nature Travels.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n

On top of that, many of the toxins in plastic get absorbed into the animal\u2019s system and become more concentrated the higher up the food chain it gets. Some plastic gets broken down by the sea into tiny small particles that are mistaken by food and eaten by small fish. The small fish are eaten by larger fish and the larger fish are eaten by even larger fish, and then it gets eaten by us. And the higher up the food chain, the greater the concentration of toxins.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This is starting to be one of the biggest environmental problems of our time apart from climate change. So what is the solution? For all of us to start living by the principle \u201cReduce, Reuse and Recycle\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n

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\"Huge
Huge amounts of plastic are used for the packaging of fruit and vegetables – getting your veg delivered is a great way to cut this out. Photo: Nature Travels.<\/figcaption><\/figure><\/div>\n\n\n