Finding Nemo Is Nearing Impossible

It’s sad to imagine the underwater world of beauty in the coral reef that Nemo of Disney’s Finding Nemo calls home, cluttered with plastic. But without significant action, there may be more plastic than fish in the ocean, by weight, by 2050. This attention-grabbing statement in the January 2016 Ellen MacArthur Foundation report: The New Plastics Economy: Rethinking the Future of Plastics, points to 150 million metric tons of plastics residing in the world’s oceans.

The report was the product of input from environmental groups like Ocean Conservancy as well as companies important to packaging such as Dow, the consumer products company Unilever, and the packaging firm Amcor. It attempts to reconcile industry and activists on the packaging issue.

Over two years after the report has come out, are we any nearer to reconciliation or plastic production reduction? An emphatic NO is the answer. In CNN’s March 21, 2018 report, they sight that without an intervention soon, the amount of plastic littering the world’s oceans is expected to triple within a decade. (Ocean plastic predicted to triple within decade)

At frego we’re even more fired up to build awareness and share better ways to live that don’t harm our environment. At the global level, we continue to watch the World Economic Forum to see if the United Nations resolution to ban microbeads by 190+ countries and counting will have an impact. We look to businesses to take responsibility and think creatively as possible to avert the use of plastics.

At the consumer and individual level, we know people have made the commitment to compost, bring paper bags back to groceries stores for reuse (not just recycling) or use canvas or mesh bags, bring their ceramic mug to their barista and omit plastic use. All of these actions are intentional on the part of the consumer, driven by awareness and care for their environment.

However, habits and the way our society functions even in 2018, does not always make it easy to make the best choice. And practices in food and product consumption are demonstrating that they take generations to shift, despite frightening evidence of global harm. At frego, we’re plastic free and we offer a lifetime warranty on our glass and silicone containers. We’re trying to do our part and we applaud those who are doing their best for the environment and serving as creative role models for others.

We want to hear stories from you. Where are there opportunities to do better, no matter how small? Maybe you’ve stashed an empty frego in your purse to take leftovers or a food item purchased at a café to-go. We have! Maybe you’ve prepped plastic-free lunches and snacks even when disposable would have been easier? What other practices and tips do you have?

Please share and help the world continue to fight plastic production and consumption and find Nemo.

Find a link to another great article here: https://www.itsafishthing.com/plastic-in-the-ocean/