The Great Australian Bight may not be as pristine as you think: plastic waste has been found in deep, remote waters off the coast of South Australia.
The Bight is a marine treasure. It's where species like southern right whales, bottlenose dolphins, and little penguins live.
Scientists say this is a wake up call -- and that Governments, including ours, and corporations, need to take action now to stop the plastics crisis.
Malcolm Turnbull is ignoring the calls to end plastic pollution. Will you please help turn up the pressure?
Time is running out to save our oceans. Over 90% of seabirds have plastic in their stomachs, which can cause starvation and poisoning. 1 million birds and 100,000 marine creatures are killed by plastic waste every year.
A garbage truck full of plastic is dumped in our oceans every single minute!
Countries and companies are starting to take action but Australia is not.
Britain’s Government has pledged to eliminate plastic waste within 25 years. Prime Minister May plans to introduce bans on straws, stirrers, and cotton buds, and she’s asking that Commonwealth governments, like Australia, do that too.
And just this year McDonald’s announced that it would be phasing out plastic straws in their UK stores.
This came after 388,000 SumOfUs of you signed the petition and 21,000 of you sent emails to McDonald’s executives demanding action.
With the world's third largest ocean territory, our country needs to lead by example. There's a clear solution that Turnbull can implement: stopping companies from using destructive, single-use plastics that are choking our oceans and marine life.
Now is an unprecedented moment for getting real action on plastics. To seize it we need the pressure of thousands of SumOfUs members like you. So please, add your voice now.
Image: Wikimedia Commons
More information
Guardian Australia. 23 April 2017.
Sydney Morning Herald. 20 April 2018.
SBS. 20 April 2018.