Ocean Plastic Initiatives

Earth is indisputably an incredibly beautiful planet, and as far as we currently understand, life has been evolving here for more than 3.8 billion years. Her infinite variety is awe-inspiring! As a species we are particularly fond of her stunning coastlines – we like to think of them as the Welcome Mat to the Ocean.

The Tutukaka Coast in Northland Aotearoa New Zealand is no exception and we are blessed to live there: picture perfect beaches, rocky reefs, dramatic cliff formations and cosy coves, with the great Pacific Ocean, Moananui A Kiwa, rolling away into the blue beyond.

But we have a problem. A persistent problem which we share with all coastal communities and it will only get worse unless we do something about it:

Plastic

Our pervasive use of plastic packaging and single use plastic items has created a crisis on the Planet.

The Ocean is fast becoming a plastic soup, where our throwaway ingredients are serial killers. Fish, whales, turtles, seals, birds, plankton etc ingest it, get tangled in it, die and decompose releasing it to float towards its next victim.

A crisis we are all responsible for, which incidentally is the good news, because it means that we are equally responsible for being part of the solution.

Although coastal communities worldwide are in the front line of this catastrophe, we as a species are all involved.

When it comes to our use of plastic, it’s time we created a new normal. There was a time not so long ago when it was normal for people to smoke in airplanes, pubs, cafes, buses, work places etc. That normal is unthinkable now and the ‘new normal’ is that these places are smoke-free zones. In 2008 I wrote an article that started with: “Walking along the beach last week I was overtaken by a plastic supermarket carrier bag which filled with wind and took off as I reached out to grab it.” We now have a new normal – we bring our own re-usable bags.

Taking this further – we need a progressive new normal – NO more plastic in the Ocean.

There are now many initiatives around the planet ‘fighting’ ocean plastic pollution, some of whom you will find on our Kindred Spirit page.

So what are we as a Trust doing? We currently have three Ocean Plastc Initiatives – The Tutukaka Marina SeaBin, a Facebook page Just-Pick-It-Up and Tutukaka Coast Plastic Free: