• Question: how does plastic get into the sea

    Asked by anon-190409 to Liam on 16 Nov 2018.
    • Photo: Liam Taylor

      Liam Taylor answered on 16 Nov 2018:


      Plastic gets into the sea in lots of ways. There is the obvious, when we go to beaches or rivers and leave our rubbish there and it washes out to sea. But if we drop litter on the street and it goes into the drains and sewage, then that goes out to sea too.
      There are lots of ways we might not realise too. For example, every time we use the washing machine, tiny fibers of plastic from our clothes are washed out, into the sewage and out to sea. There are also microbeads (very very small pieces of plastic) that are found in make-up, shampoo and toothpaste that all go down our drains. These have been banned now in the UK, but are still used in lots of countries around the world.
      Then there are times when we think we are doing good – for example by recycling. Lots of our recycling is sold to other countries so that they can make new products out of it. But if the material isn’t good enough, or is dirty, or not sorted properly, then they may dump it in the sea.
      The very best way to stop plastic from getting into the sea is to use less stuff. Recycle, reuse and reducing our consumption of all of the plastic in our lives is super super important.

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