Friends

For the love of oceans, let’s act now

While many of our New Year’s resolutions may not last, our imprint on the ocean will. Here are a few ways you can reduce your impact on the ocean and ultimately, on the planet itself.

1. You can recycle

Recycling is important in today’s world if we want to leave this planet for our future generations. The great thing about glass packaging is that it can be recycled and remelted into new glass over and over again – usually to make new bottles and jars. Glass produced from recycled glass reduces related air pollution by 20% and related water pollution by 50%. Glass is never rubbish – it’s a valuable resource.

2. Choose sustainable packaging alternatives

Wherever you live, the easiest and most direct way to reduce your impact on the ocean is by reducing your own use of single-use plastics. Single-use plastic straws are not just unnecessary but are in the top ten items found on beaches and are a hazard to sea creatures.

There is always a more sustainable alternative for your food and drinks – such as glass! Glass is a non-toxic material based on natural ingredients (sand, soda ash, limestone) and doesn’t release any chemicals into your food products. When recycled, glass is one way to help reduce pollution and waste.

Have you heard of Blisshaus? They make it easy for you to cut down on trips to the grocery store, throw out less food, and eliminate packaging waste. And they use glass!

3. Take on a positive challenge

Simply spend just two minutes doing a litter pick down on the beach, or if you can’t get to a beach then a litter pick anywhere will help to improve your environment. You can even document your efforts online using #2MinuteBeachClean and share your efforts on Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

If Blue Planet II has recently inspired you to help our oceans, check out some links and information on the issues our oceans face and how small changes you can make really can make a difference.

5 ways you can help close the glass loop

We all have a part to play in building a more sustainable world, starting with how we shop, all the way down to how we get rid of our rubbish. This summer, organisations involved in all stages of the glass collection and recycling value chain have launched Close the Glass Loop – a major glass recycling action plan for Europe.

Raising your recycling game

Glass is an incredible material. It’s made from recycled glass and raw materials found in nature – sand, soda ash and limestone – and it’s 100% recyclable, in a closed loop. This means it can be endlessly recycled as long as we keep collecting it properly.

10 things you might not know about recycling

There’s no denying that recycling is having a moment right now: images of marine litter are a constant on our TV screens thanks to series like Blue Planet, ‘buy-in-bulk’ retail outlets and circular living shops are popping up in cities across Europe, and #ZeroWaste influencers are all over our Instagram timelines.