P lastic was invented less than a hundred years ago, yet in this short amount of time, single-use plastic in particular has become one of the biggest made-made threats to our planet today.
From the amount of oil used its manufacture, the toxic leachate produced when plastic is buried, to the millions of tonnes of plastic entering our oceans per year – single-use plastic is misused and abused with severe consequences.
Some quick facts about single-use plastic
- Over the last 10 years humans have produced more plastic than during the last century.
- For every single-use plastic bottle of water, the equivalent of around 1/5th of its capacity of oil – a finite resource – is used.
Did you know? The UK alone uses 2.5 billion disposable coffee cups per year!
In numbers, that’s: 2.5,000,000,000,000
- It is likely that the seafood we eat contains microplastic in its gut or nano plastics in the meat tissue
- Microplastics in the ocean attract toxins from the water around it.
- Toxins in sealife are persistent, and biomagnify up the food chain we are the top of.
- Toxins and chemicals from plastics are thought to cause cancer and disrupt hormones.
- Around 60% of the plastic we use is single-use – used once and then thrown away, and about a truck’s worth of plastic enters the world’s oceans every single minute.
- By 2050 scientists believe there will be more plastic in the sea than fish (in weight terms)
- It is estimated that 100,000 sea mammals die from entanglement and suffocation caused by plastic marine debris.
- Around 1 million sea birds die a year from ingesting pieces of plastic found on land or floating in the sea.
- Approximately one in four fish caught for human consumption has pieces of plastic in its gut.
We’ve compiled some resources to promote discussion and raise awareness of just what the issues and concerns regarding plastic are.
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Packs of resources to help save you time.


Use this PDF to find out about single-use plastics – plastic items that are used once and thrown away soon after. NB. This PDF is an extract from Amy and Ella’s…
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It’s important to be careful when picking up rubbish – sometimes there are items or places it is best to avoid. So, here are some of Amy and Ella’s top…
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Plastics are all made from human-made materials, created from lots and lots of chemicals, and some of these chemicals can be very dangerous. Find out more with this illustrated PDF…
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This resource introduces students to the sea turtles of Costa Rica and the importance of their habitat, assesses the dangers that they face and encourages students to consider how they…
DOWNLOADThe UK Plastics Pact are tackling the issue of problematic or unnecessary single-use plastic, changing how we make, use, reuse and recycle these items. 2020 is fast approaching… just over…
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Big corporations that use billions of tonnes of single-use plastic a year globally are a BIG part of the single-use plastic disaster, but as this video shows, when shareholders demand…
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When ATAG (Air Transport Action Group) invited Amy and Ella to speak about single-use plastics at the Global Aviation Sustainability Summit in Geneva in October 2018, the Kids Against Plastic…
Read MoreAmy and Ella recorded this video a couple of years ago when they were invited to speak in schools around the UK but couldn’t make it. The girls might look…
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A thought-provoking photograph showing a bulldozer working on a landfill site.
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When Amy and Ella grilled Iceland supermarket boss about its use of plastic packaging.
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Plastic by numbers (facts and figures) by Will McCallum, head of Greenpeace UK Oceans.
DOWNLOADConcerns about plastic pollution and specifically how it is affecting the health of Albatrosses. A short film made by Blue Planet II.
Read MoreAn excellent video by Algalita a non-profit organisation dedicated to the protection of the marine environment. The video covers plastic (as a material) the issues associated with plastic pollution, and some…
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A funny audiobook, written by Georgina Stevens, narrated by Jeremy Irons, about a Tiger Shark named Finn, who gets into a spot of bother. Also featuring a brand new, beautiful…
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New Research by the University of Hull and the British Antarctic Survey has highlighted the emerging problem of plastic pollution in the Antarctic
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Plastic pollution pictured along the coast of Wadi El Gamal national park, Marsa Alam, Egypt. Credit: Cherie Bridges
Read MoreA mother pilot whale grieves over its dead calf. A short film from Blue Planet II.
Read MoreThe future of our oceans. A short film made by Blue Planet II.
Read MoreKids Against Plastic share exclusive interview footage with Steve Backshall, Simon Reeve, Sylvia Earle and more, shot at the brilliantly inspirational Steppes Beyond Festival 2017 at the Royal Geographical Society –…
Read MoreThe plastic you throw away could end up back in the food chain.
Read MoreThere is so much plastic in our oceans, that you could be eating 11,000 microparticles of plastic per year.
Read MoreThis is the third of three videos about the life of plastic bottles, covering how we can combat plastic pollution, and also the non-plastic alternatives that are out there.
Read MoreThis is the second of three videos about the life of a plastic bottle, covering the consumption and disposal of bottles.
Read MoreThe first of three videos about plastic bottles and their negative impact on the environment throughout their lives. This video covers the manufacture and transportation of a plastic bottle.
Read MoreA news bulletin about a whale that starved to death after consuming plastic, some of it from the UK.
Read MoreA short film made by Kids Against Plastic explain some of the issues with single-use plastic and why we all need to do something about it. Please note: the website…
Read MoreA short film made by Kids Against Plastic highlighting the amount of plastic pollution in our local river, the River Trent in Nottingham.
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How many throw-away coffee cups does the UK use a year?… a day?… a second? And what happens to them? Find out here? Credit: Phoxwater.com
Read MoreSky Ocean Rescue is partnering with National Geographic to give 3 scholars the opportunity to drive research that will raise awareness of the issues surrounding ocean health and advance our…
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An brightly illustrated information sheet full of stats and facts. Credit: The Deep, Hull.
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A thought-provoking resource that helps children understand how our actions on land impact on the sea. Created by The Marine Conservation Society.
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An informative text highlighting the growth of beach litter on UK beaches.. Created by The Marine Conservation Society.
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Bottled water – a fresh-tasting, pure drink that is supposedly bottled from pristine mountain rivers. A beverage that nations spend billions of pounds on every year. And, in reality, a substance that is often misrepresented by the label on the bottle. Here are 6 reasons, though, why the bottled drink is no better than tap water.
Read MoreOn a remote island in the Tasman Sea Liz Bonnin meets the scientists battling to save Flesh-footed Shearwater chicks from the devastating effects of plastic pollution. NB contains disturbing scenes…
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A two-page PDF that explores some of the issues with plastic pollution and the materials the litter is made from. Created by The Marine Conservation Society.
DOWNLOADAn animation of the story of how (and how much of) our rubbish makes it into the oceans. Created by Project Aware.
Read MoreA film highlighting the plastic litter problem in the Scottish village of Arrochar.
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