For the majority of marine organisms, plastic is an enemy that is stealing their environment, their food sources and their existence. The Saving Our Blue campaign hopes to end that.

Don’t you just love it when you go to the beach and you end up wading in floating plastic or feeling its crunch under your toes?

No, right? But imagine if you were one of the organisms living in the sea and there was no way of escaping this kind of reality. 

With more than 150 million tonnes of plastic estimated to be in our seas, this is not merely a nuisance but a very real threat to marine life. Indeed, organisms that live in the sea face starvation (while their stomachs are bursting with plastic), entanglement (mostly due to abandoned fishing gear), smothering (due to discarded plastic bags), exposure to toxic chemicals (leaking from litter), and threats from the transportation of alien species and microbes from one place to another. 

Plastic also affects human economies and health, negatively impacting different sectors including those of tourism and fisheries. 

Daily human activities are intrinsically tied to this phenomenon. Apart from being unsightly, the inappropriate disposal of plastic products near beaches causes harm to the environment and to the surrounding community. 

Unfortunately, plastic items take years to decompose – sometimes centuries. Research shows that even when plastics break down, they release microplastics (smaller than 5mm), which are harmful to marine life through toxicity and suffocation.

This age of single-use plastics (SUPs) has led to the alarmingly rapid and voluminous production of plastic waste in the sea. From recent studies carried out by the European Commission on single-use plastics and fishing gear, it resulted that up to 85 per cent of all marine litter is plastic, around half of which comes from single-use plastics. 

The studies also identify the top ten litter items found on European beaches, with the number one product groups being drink bottles, caps and lids, and cigarette butts (yes, these too contain plastic). The other items, in order, were crisp packets and sweet wrappers, sanitary products, plastic bags, utensils, drink cups and lids, balloons and food containers.

Curbing the use of SUPs is an environmental priority action for Malta. Several such items are set to be banned in Malta as of 2022 through the incoming Single-Use Plastics Strategy. And this is imperative, because it is our action on the ground which will save our blue from plastics.

Through small changes in our daily choices we can all contribute to Saving Our Blue. For practical tips and information on ongoing marine-related environmental initiatives, follow the Saving Our Blue Campaign on Facebook and Instagram, and stay tuned to find out more about our beach clean-ups taking place across the season.

This summer, be part of the solution not the pollution.

The Saving Our Blue Campaign is an initiative run by the Ministry for the Environment, Climate Change and Planning with the aim of preventing the negative impacts of littering and the consumption of single-use plastics on the coastal and marine environment.

For more information visit https://environment.gov.mt/.

A bird caught in plastic netting.

Practical tips on how to avoid plastic during the daily routine, especially while at the beach

• When preparing food and when buying from food outlets, use reusable food and beverage containers. These include drinking bottles and cups, plates, containers and cutlery.
• Avoid SUP items like stirrers or plastic straws, as well as items with excessive or unnecessary packaging when buying on the spot. You can easily do without these items.
• Ask for the right products, such as reusable straws or cloth bags.
• Dispose properly of all items including cigarette butts. A portable pocket ashtray can do the trick!
• Carry waste bags with you (including those for recyclable waste) when at your annual family beach barbecue tradition so you can avoid littering at all costs.
• Also, while you’re at it, why not use organic waste bags to dispose of unwanted leftovers, too?