Plastic pollutes the ocean long before we use it. And for a long time afterwards. It is harmful throughout its entire life cycle – from its production and use, to its disposal.
The problem begins with oil and gas exploration as raw materials for plastic: Oil and natural gas deposits in the ocean are located with seismic airguns that are so loud that marine animals can die or become deaf. When oil and gas are extracted or during transport, the risk of accidents is high and the hazardous chemicals can spill into the ocean.
The production of plastic is also bad for the climate: Plastic production requires a lot of energy and releases large amounts of CO2. A large part of plastic waste is in turn incinerated, thereby emitting carbon dioxide – or it ends up in the environment.
Around 9 million tonnes of plastic waste get into the ocean every year. Millions of marine animals die because they mistake the plastics for food or get entangled in it.
OceanCare tackles the plastic problem at its roots. We advocate for a global legally binding plastic treaty that regulates plastics at each stage of its life cycle.
PETITION
Our nature is not a waste dump!
Stop unnecessary single-use plastics.
We call on the Swiss federal government: Stop shifting away your responsibility, but apply the instruments already in place within the Environmental Protection Act! Under this law, the Federal Council can ban the single-use plastic items, such as take-away items and plastic bags from the Swiss territory, independent of the material used, and can stop the sale of cosmetic and personal products containing microbeads in Switzerland.
