Friday, March 29, 2024
OceanSea Turtles Rejoice! EU Parliament Bans Single-Use Plastics

Sea Turtles Rejoice! EU Parliament Bans Single-Use Plastics

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Sea turtles and other ocean denizens can rejoice!

The European Parliament this week approved a ban on a variety of single-use plastics by a 571-53 vote.

Among the plastic items included in the ban are straws, balloon sticks, drink-stirrers, cotton buds, plates and forks and knives.

The European Commission had proposed such a ban this past spring in the wake of documentary films like the “Blue Planet” series.

After the vote, the European minister who originally sponsored the legislation, Frédérique Ries, said:

“We have adopted the most ambitious legislation against single-use plastics. It is up to us now to stay the course in the upcoming negotiations with the Council, due to start as early as November. Today’s vote paves the way to a forthcoming and ambitious directive. It is essential in order to protect the marine environment and reduce the costs of environmental damage attributed to plastic pollution in Europe, estimated at 22 billion euros by 2030.”

For more info about the legislation, check out the European Parliament website.

To get an idea of the effect of plastics in the ocean, check out the video below of a plastic straw being removed from a sea turtle’s nose, if you can stomach it.

Sea Turtle with Straw up its Nostril - "NO" TO PLASTIC STRAWS

SourceBBC
John Liang
John Lianghttps://www.deeperblue.com/
John Liang is the News Editor at DeeperBlue.com. He first got the diving bug while in High School in Cairo, Egypt, where he earned his PADI Open Water Diver certification in the Red Sea off the Sinai Peninsula. Since then, John has dived in a volcanic lake in Guatemala, among white-tipped sharks off the Pacific Coast of Costa Rica, and other places including a pool in Las Vegas helping to break the world record for the largest underwater press conference.

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