Reusable Bag Competition |
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PRIMARY SCHOOL COMPETITON The winner of the competition is:
Designed by Scott Robinson and Sam Alfieri Year 4 pupils from Curledge Street School Paignton.
CHALLENGE Design a logo or image to be printed on a new reusable bag for local people in Torbay. RULES The image must be between A5 and A4 size. You can use 2 or 4 colours. It should relate to the issues of plastic litter and the marine environment. It may include the words "PLASTIC FREE TORBAY" or another suitable phrase. A simple eye catching design may be best. DEADLINE The closing date is the 7th March Send your entries to: JUDGING A panel of judges including Nick Bye the Mayor of Torbay will pick the winner. It will be announced after Easter. LAUNCH EVENT Wednesday 28th May at The Seashore Centre Goodrington Sands Paignton CONTACT julian@countryside-trust.org.uk HELP FOR TEACHERS Rachel Hosking inspired the plastic bag ban in Modbury through the BBC Natural World documentary Message in the Waves. This is an excellent film. If you would like to show it or portions of it contact julian@countryside-trust.org.uk to borrow a copy on DVD. There is more information below and weblinks below. Marine Litter – Trash or Treasure? The first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes, who launched his discovery in 1862. Since then the use of plastic has exploded, it can be found in many things including your clothes and tooth fillings. Plastic takes a very long time to breakdown – apart from a small amount that has been incinerated, every bit of plastic ever made still exists. In June 2006, the United Nations reported that there are, on average, around 46,000 pieces of plastic litter per square mile of ocean worldwide. Causing the death of over 100,000 marine mammals and turtles and one million seabirds each year as a result of eating or getting entangled with plastic debris. Plastic litter ends up in the oceans through many causes including beachgoers, sewers, ships and inappropriate disposal on land. In the middle of the Pacific Ocean lies a floating rubbish patch twice the size of Britain. Plastic litter can be found on every beach in Torbay – in a recent beach litter survey 90% of the rubbish found on Goodrington beach was plastic. Plastic Bags The world uses over 1.2 trillion plastic bags a year. That averages about 300 bags for each adult on the planet. That comes out to over one million bags being used per minute. (BBC Hawaii, Message in the Waves). On average we use each plastic bag for approximately 12 minutes before throwing it away, yet this bag can take up to 1000 years to breakdown in the marine environment. Turtles in particular suffer from mistaking plastic bags as jellyfish, their favourite food. Once the plastic bag is swallowed it either chokes them to death or gets tangled in their stomach, preventing them from obtaining food. How can you help? • Use a reusable bag – ensure that it is ethical and friendly on the environment • Adopt-A-Beach with the Marine Conservation Society. Help MCS turn the tide on litter and tackle the problem at source by joining their volunteer beach clean up schemes. Torbay Coast and Countryside Trust and Living Coasts have already adopted several beaches in Torbay , if you would like to join in with their beach cleans please look on their websites. • Spread the word! Useful websites – Modbury Plastic Bag Free – very good website with lots of information BBC Hawaii ‘Message in the Waves' http://www.messageinthewaves.com/facts.php Marine Conservation Society |
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