#PointlessPlastics is an awareness-raising initiative to highlight instances where plastics were completely pointless or could have easily been replaced with a more sustainable alternative and to praise where change has been made to reduce or improve plastic use. It aims to put pressure on the whole supply chain, from manufacturer to consumer, to reduce use of single-use plastic.
See our selection of The Good, The Bad and The Learning Curve or just search the hashtag #PointlessPlastics for more examples.
To take part and support the campaign, simply tweet your pictures to @GlobalGoodAward using #PointlessPlastics. A selection will be showcased on a ‘hall of fame’ on the website (all with the aim of helping us with examples of how we can reduce our single-use plastics).
On Sat 18th November, Paula Owen – founder judge and supporting partner of the Global Good Awards was asked onto BBC News to talk about #PointlessPlastics ahead of the launch.
Read the press release.
Read Karen’s blog post about why she launched the campaign.
So, what are we looking to see?
1. Examples of the worst uses of plastics, where it was either pointless or could have been easily replaced with something more sustainable.
2. Great examples of where an organisation has replaced plastic with something more sustainable, making positive steps towards change!
3. Examples of where you have reduced and refused single-use plastics.
4. Hints and Tips to encourage others to make positive changes.
Here are some examples of #PointlessPlastics:
Straws in drinks when they aren’t needed or asked for – especially when there is more than one!
Individually wrapped fruit and veg – especially those with their own skin!
Single-use bottles.
Double-wrapping of products.
Plastic packaging that could have easily have been paper or card.
Electrical appliances with all accessory items individually wrapped in plastic.
Here are some examples of positive change towards a reduction in plastics:
Delivery packaging with 100% cardboard or easily recyclable material.
Supermarket products packaged in cardboard (or not packaged at all!) that used to be plastic.
Eco-friendly, biodegradable products.
Up-cycled or examples of a plastic product that has been given another life of use.
Here are some examples of where we think there may be a need, but we need to seek an alternative:
Prepared and packaged fruit and vegetables; useful for those with accessibility needs.
Products that may have a health & safety regulation, meaning it requires packaging that some may consider to be pointless.
Positive example of change…
Positive consumer choice…
Definitely pointless!
Plastic Stats!
It is predicted that plastic will out-weigh fish in the ocean by 2050 than fish, if we continue on current trend.
Over 500 million single-use straws are used EVERY DAY in the US alone. That’s 1.6 per person!
We’ve produced more plastic over the last decade, than in the whole of the last century. (EcoWatch – 2014)
In July, a floating plastic mass was found in the Pacific, and it is larger than Mexico. (National Geographic – 2017) This is one of 4 discovered since the 70s, and they are getting bigger.
Over 50% of the plastic we use, is single-use. (Plastic Oceans – 2017)
The top 10 plastic polluters are… Find out who, and more from It’s a Fish Thing
Only 9% of all the plastic we produce is recycled (National Geographic – 2017)
If present trend continues, by 2050 there will be 12 billion metric tonnes of plastic in landfills. 35,000 times as heavy as the Empire State Building. (National Geographic – 2017)
More than 8 million tonnes of plastic is dumped in the Ocean every year.
From the 300 million tonnes produced, over 40% of it is packaging.
The process of producing water in plastic bottles requires 6 times as much water as what is in the bottle! (Plastic Oceans – 2017)
Annual consumption of single-use plastic bottles is set to top half a trillion by 2021. That’s 1 million a minute. (Guardian – 2017)
Only 1/3 of UK consumer plastic packaging is recycled. (Guardian – Nov 2016).