14.12.17
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Death of our Oceans:
Merton joins the fight against plastic pollution
The final episode of Sir David Attenborough’s popular Blue Planet II series highlighted the serious harm we are inflicting on our oceans by dumping 8,000,000 tonnes of waste into these precious ecosystems every year.
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Much of this waste is made up of plastics which, by their nature, do not readily break down but linger in our oceans causing death to millions of fish, birds and mammals. This can’t continue.
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What can we do about it?
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Here in Merton, you can join the fight against plastic pollution by supporting Sustainable Merton’s new #PlasticFreeMerton campaign to reduce single use plastics in the borough, launching in January 2018.
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Led by Sustainable Merton’s Community Champions, the campaign will seek to support residents in reducing the amount of plastic waste they produce, encourage businesses to do the same, and to lobby local and national government to develop plastic reduction strategies.
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The campaign will culminate in an epic row from California to Hawaii in June 2018, as Community Champion and Merton resident - Emma, takes on the Great Pacific Race to highlight the seriousness of the plastic pollution crisis.
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“My passion is to reduce the prolific use of single-use plastics which contaminate our oceans, and rowing through the North Pacific Gyre will give me first-hand experience of just how serious the problem is. The monetary cost of the row is high (equivalent to a house deposit per crew member), but the cost of not raising awareness is even greater.” – Emma
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Diana Sterck, Interim CEO of Sustainable Merton added “If every one of us committed to doing 5 actions next year to reduce our personal use of plastic, people in Merton could make a big difference.”
Do your bit - join our #PlasticFreeMerton weekly challenges starting in the New Year!
Follow us:
Twitter @SustainableMert and Facebook.
For further information
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-ENDS -
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