As more people head to the beach this summer it is important that you take care of the oceans and make sure they stay clean. Ireland led the way with the plastic bag tax and now we can do more with deposit on return schemes for plastic bottles, banning once off plastic and ensuring research is focused on developing recyclable containers. The impact on our oceans and marine life will be catastrophic unless we act now.
I also welcome the initiatives which are underway in the EU in relation to single use plastics. Under these new initiatives single use plastic products will be banned from the market where alternatives are readily available and affordable. These initiatives are certainly moves in the right direction and I welcome them.
We can all play a part in making sure the oceans stay clean. Plastic production is 20 times higher now than in the 1960s and is set to quadruple again by 2050. We cannot continue to produce and use this amount of plastic, which is impacting hugely on our environment.
World Ocean Day is an international day celebrating the oceans across the world.
World Ocean Day is also a reminder that we all need to do our part in protecting the oceans. Across Ireland there are lots of events taking place to mark the day including beach clean-ups, film screenings and family fun events.
A study by researchers in Germany found that sea ice floating on the Arctic Ocean contains large amounts of plastic waste. This could be released as the ice thins because of global warming.