On Tuesday 20th November, Manchester Friends of the Earth invite people to a screening of “A Plastic Ocean” – a film that powerfully presents the problem of plastic pollution. The film shows the devastation caused to our environment and how its impacts are felt all over the world. [1]
Released in 2016, the film begins when journalist Craig Leeson, searching for the elusive blue whale, discovers plastic waste in what should be pristine ocean. In this adventure documentary, Craig teams up with free diver Tanya Streeter and an international team of scientists and researchers, and they travel to twenty locations around the world over the next four years to explore the fragile state of our oceans, uncovering alarming truths about plastic pollution.
A study by the University of California Santa Barbara’s National Center for Ecological Analysis and Synthesis found between 4.8 and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic material end up in the oceans every year. [2]
Half of the 300 million tons of plastic produced each year is used only once. [3]
Seb Dot, Manchester Friends of the Earth’s waste campaign co-ordinator said:
“Recycling is not the answer. The solution to the plastics pollution crisis is to dramatically reduce how much plastic we are using.
Friends of the Earth are proposing an ‘End Plastics Pollution’ law that will guide government action to phase out of all but the safest and most essential plastics.”
Following the film screening, Corin Bell from the GM Mayor’s Plastic Free Greater Manchester campaign and Doug Robertson from the local SeaStraw campaign will talk about the ways people in Greater Manchester can help reduce plastic pollution.
The film screening is free to attend.
Donations welcome.
Refreshments will be available.
ENDS
Contact for comments: Pete Abel, Manchester Friends of the Earth, mobile: 07951 642858
Notes for Editors
[1] The film screening is at 6.30pm, Tuesday 20th November, MMU Business School (room BS 3.13 – 5th floor, North Atrium), Oxford Road, Manchester
See Facebook event for more details. A Plastic Ocean film trailer
[2] See http://www.news.ucsb.edu/2015/014985/ocean-plastic
[3] See https://plasticoceans.org/the-facts/
[4] Manchester Friends of the Earth is an award-winning environmental campaign group, raising awareness and lobbying for policy changes at a local, regional, national and international level. The group consists entirely of volunteers, and its campaigns are funded by membership fees and individual donations. Up-to-date information is available on the group’s website: www.manchesterfoe.org.uk. Manchester Friends of the Earth is a Licensed Local Group of Friends of the Earth, England, Wales and Northern Ireland.
