Melville Bin Hire | Rubbish in Our Oceans | What can you do to help?

You’ve probably heard by now about the worldwide problem of human rubbish and waste polluting our oceans (lakes, and rivers).

The main aspect of this problem involves plastic – a material that is used in almost every product we consume – from glasses and televisions to cars and aeroplanes.

So why is plastic so bad for the environment, including us? 

It is non-biodegradable – it doesn’t break down for a very long time (a fishing line, for example, might take 600 years to break down)

• It is made of toxic chemicals that affect human health and spoil groundwater
• It poisons the food chain

The list goes on.

Millions on tonnes of plastic waste finds its way into our oceans every year. As plastic travels out to sea, it is ground down into tiny pieces that can then be ingested by marine life who confuse tiny pieces of plastic for food such as krill and plankton. Ingested plastics can cause blockages in the gut or perforation in the intestines. Toxic chemicals can also leach into the bloodstream. This process then continues up the food chain in a process called bio accumulation.

Another huge problem for marine life is becoming entangled in plastic products – including plastic bags, bottles, fishing nets, balloons, and more. Sea birds and turtles are the most commonly affected animals.   We at Melville Bin Hire are right behind the cause the clean up.

What can you do to help?

 One of the best things you can do to help minimise the impact of plastics polluting our oceans is to try to limit the amount of plastic you use and consume. For example, choose to buy fruits and vegetables that don’t come pre-wrapped and displayed on plastic trays. Unnecessary plastic wrapping makes up a huge amount of the waste that ends up in the sea.

The responsibility also falls to retailers to stop using plastic packaging. Many communities have been able to drive change on this front – as we have seen recently in Western Australia with the banning of single-use lightweight plastic bags.

Any plastic that you do end up using and throwing away should be properly recycled. You can find out more about how to properly recycle your plastics in Perth, Western Australia by visiting the Recycle Right website

You can also help the oceans and your community by organising or participating in a shoreline clean-up event.

Unless we keep working towards reducing (and, hopefully, eliminating) our plastic consumption, the amount of this highly toxic material in our oceans is set to increase tenfold by 2020, and outweigh all the fish in the ocean by 2050. Humans are already experiencing the negative health effects of consuming seafood contaminated with plastics. If we want to save our oceans and marine wildlife, and allow future generations to continue to enjoy our planet (and seafood!) as we do, then we need to address our plastic habits now.

Here at Melville Bin Hire we strongly advocate the correct disposal of all rubbish, including plastics and other recyclables. If you need to hire a skip bin or require other rubbish removal services, contact us today.