SUP Mag UK October 2016 issue 11 | Page 36

SUPM issue 11 Oct 2016 digital.qxp_Layout 1 11/10/2016 21:22 Page 36 Marine litter crisis We also had some amazing days, and I feel so fortunate to have had this opportunity to spend so much time in nature. The world and all its issues seemed so far away, apart from, of course, the marine litter crisis, which was staring us in the face at each beach we came to. We found hundreds upon hundreds of plastic bottles in coves and beaches only accessible by water; they had all washed in there from the ocean. We took as many as we could on the front of our SUPs to be recycled, but simply were not able to make a dent on the amount on some of the beaches we stopped at. Each plastic bottle we found was once in someone’s hand; it seems so wrong that something we are using for a few minutes on land can pollute our oceans for hundreds of years. The simplest way to stop plastic water bottles from ending up in our ocean is to stop buying them – ditch the single use plastic bottles for good and use a refillable bottle instead! s t a n d u p p a d d l e m a g u k 36