Help save our oceans this tax time
Over 8 billion tonnes of plastic have been made since mass production began in the 1950s. Only 9% of this plastic has been recycled, the other 91% sits in landfill, floats in our oceans or has been burned. What’s more, an estimated 8 million additional tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year.Â
Many animals mistakenly ingest plastic believing it to be a food source. This can cause injury, suffocation, starvation and often death. Plastic contaminates our air, land, sea and can enter the human body through the food we eat, the water we drink and the air we breathe.
- Up to 75% of these masks will end up in landfills or floating in the ocean
- Disposable masks contain plastics such as polypropylene, polyethylene and vinyl
- The plastic in masks can take hundreds of years to break downÂ
- The masks could be releasing chemical pollutants and nano-plastics into the environment
What can you do?
- Disposable masks can’t be recycled so don’t put them in the recycling bin. Put them in the rubbish (landfill) bin
- Cut or break the loops before you throw them away so animals won’t get entangled in them if they do accidentally end up in the environment
OUR INSPIRATION: The Turtle
Turtles are truly ancient beings. The oldest known fossil is 120 million years old, making them one of the oldest creatures to inhabit the planet. Turtles represent the continuous connection between land and sea. Their lives are a constant cycle of nesting on land before travelling the seas for thousands of kilometres. Female marine turtles return to their birthplace when it is time for them to lay their own eggs.
Plastic pollution is devastating marine turtles through entanglement in debris and contamination of their food chain. Turtles can become entangled in plastic items like disposable face masks. When soft plastic enters the sea it has striking similarity to jellyfish, a main food source for turtles. Too many turtles are innocent victims of our careless management of plastic. We owe it to the sea turtles to make plastic pollution a thing of the past.
DONATE TODAY
Your tax deductible donation will enable Take 3 to educate 1 million school students and remove 50 million pieces of rubbish from our oceans and waterways by 2025.
