The War On Plastic Has Begun

2018 is turning out to be the year the world is turning is back on plastic. And for very good reason.  Anyone that watched the Blue Planet 2 last year will know that this, as millions of tonnes of the stuff ends up in landfills and pollutes our oceans every year.  Some of the stuff that I watched on there was heart breaking and it seems since this every day you see more and more companies pledging to reduce the amount they use and produce.  Even today I read that ASDA and Tesco have pledged to reduce their single use plastic items with a look to eliminating as much as they can by the end of next year which is fantastic news.

So, it was only time before the cruise lines caught up and started to pledge their commitment to reducing their plastic footprint.  Royal Caribbean Cruise Line and their sister brands have this week announced that they will be reviewing the amount of plastics they use over their combined 38 ships with the view to eliminate single use plastic.

You might not immediately associate cruises with plastic, but if you look closer you will see it in most places on your cruise.  From the plastic straws and stirrers in you drinks to the little plastic bottles in your complementary shampoo and conditioner (a rare think on most cruise lines these days I know!).  All of this is waste.  And more importantly, waste that doesn’t biodegrade, and can end up in the food chain of many ocean creatures.

The CEO of Royal Caribbean spoke to the Telegraph this week and said:

“We have a newly-formed plastics team within the corporation,” he said. “We manage our waste very well but we have an exciting opportunity to play our part in the overall reduction of plastic, which, it’s becoming clear for all to see, has such a negative impact on our oceans.”

“There are three elements to this – we want to eliminate single-use, disposable plastic, such as straws and drinks bottles and reduce the amount of plastic in the business – chairs, bags, staff belts and shoes for example. we want to influence our supply chain because we have to do this together.”

I did notice that he failed to mention a time frame that they would like to put in place for this, and obviously the sooner the better where the environment is concerned!

Hopefully, this will mean that all the other cruise lines, big and small will follow suit.  Because, at risk of stating the obvious, with cruises obviously sailing on the sea, it is all too easy for plastic an rubbish to blow overboard and into the water, and it doesn’t take much of a strong wind to do this.

Royal Caribbean I applaud you for start this this trend and I hope to see this in place as quickly as you can.