This week the Royal Society Te Apārangi reported that a truck load of plastic is dumped into the oceans every 38 seconds! The plastic doesn’t disappear, rather it photodegrades into smaller and smaller particles and eventually a microplastic soup which gets swept by ocean currents into 5 main gyres in our ocean. Plastic waste is a huge problem around the world including in New Zealand, but it doesn’t have to be that way.
Click here to read the full article on Stuff.
Below are a three simple solutions we think can make BIG difference to this ENORMOUS problem:
- Allow consumers to return waste to the manufacturer – only when the cost and hassle of dealing with the plastic waste is shifted back to the company that makes it will they quickly make different decisions to reduce plastic in packaging or make products out of more sustainable material. The cost MUST sit with the maker not the planet.
- Focus on REDUCTION not Recycling – no amount of recycling will keep up with the amount of plastic being generated, the only real answer is to reduce plastic wherever possible.
- Use catch pit devices in populated areas – Catch pit inserts such as the “Drain Guard” are low cost, easy to install into existing catchpits and stop rubbish entering our oceans. The picture below shows what 50 Drain Guards stopped in just two weeks!
It’s time we stopped ignoring the problems we create as a species. Making a difference is not that difficult. If your school, business, organisation has a stormwater drain on your property, install a Drain Guard today and see what a difference you can make.
For more information about your requirements and or to talk through how we can help, contact us on 0800 323223, enquiries@dilnz.co.nz or via the website.
