QUIZFINDING SUITABLE SOLUTIONS

TO TACKLE MARINE LITTER.

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This quiz will improve your understanding of the pollution caused by marine litter, and it also proposes avenues for reflection to prevent the proliferation of trash. For each question there is a number of answers to choose from. Participants are invited to select the right answer, but beware: sometimes there is more than one possible solution! The correct answers can be found on the reverse of the cards.

As you are going through the questions, you will discover alternatives or solutions to reduce pollution in our oceans in connection with four specific types of trash. Feel free to pass the cards to the next participant so that everyone can have a turn asking questions, and and after your Ocean Initiative play the game with everyone you know!

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FOODPACKAGING

CIGARETTE BUTTS

COTTON SWABS

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

CIGARETTE BUTTS#01 QUESTION

WHAT IS THE BEST WAY TO DISPOSE OF YOUR CIGARETTE BUTT?

1. Aim for a sewer drain, with style.

2. Extinguish it on the ground and put it in the trash.

3. Let it extinguish itself in a waterproof box and

empty it regularly.

CIGARETTE BUTTS

A cigarette butt takes more

than two years to decompose on

the ground, and it pollutes up to 500 litres

of water. Recent studies show that the majority

of toxic materials found in tobacco remain trapped

in the butt. Stamping it out on the ground and putting

it in the trash is therefore not enough. For smokers,

carrying a flame retardant and waterproof box in

which to dispose of their still-lit cigarettes, and

regularly emptying it, is the best solution.

#01 ANSWER3. Let it extinguish itself in a waterproof box

and empty it regularly.

CIGARETTE BUTTS#02 QUESTION

WHAT TOOLS ARE AVAILABLE TO ELECTED OFFICIALS FOR LIMITING THE PRESENCE OF CIGARETTE BUTTS ON OUR BEACHES?

1. Making more trash cans and ash trays available

on beaches.

2. Putting an awareness raising campaign in place.

3. Expelling all smokers from their town.

4. Prohibiting smoking on beaches in their town.

CIGARETTE BUTTS

Advantages of prohibiting smoking on beaches:• Reduction in the number of smokers and therefore

potentially the number of cigarette butts on beaches.• Reduction of nuisance for non-smokers.

Disadvantages of prohibiting smoking on beaches:• Cigarette butts found on beaches are not exclusively

from being thrown directly onto the sand.. The majority of cigarette butts are thrown out upstream in towns or inland.

• Awareness raising activities could be more efficient. In fact, without information, it is more difficult for smokers to understand the impact that their actions can have on the environment, and they could simply choose to go to another beach and only displace the problem.

• Lifeguards are often in charge of this surveillance, which therefore interferes with their main duties.

• After lifeguard posts are closed, anything goes!

1 and 2 certainly, and 4 is up for debate.

#02 ANSWER

CIGARETTE BUTTS#03 QUESTION

SOME CIGARETTE BUTTS ARE NOW BIODEGRADABLE, IS THIS A GOOD SOLUTION FOR YOU?

CIGARETTE BUTTS#03 ANSWER

Best answer:

Of course not, the danger of cigarette butts resides

essentially in the toxic materials and tobacco that

remain in the filter. Biodegradable cigarette butts

limit pollution from the material itself, but it does

not eliminate the release of toxic material into the

environment.

The notion of biodegradability may lead the smoker

to believe that disposing of it in the environment has

no polluting effects. However, normally, so-called

biodegradable products take time to break apart

and decompose into finer particles that do not at all

exclude the harmful effects that they can have on the

environment (ingestion by fauna, spread of chemical

pollutants, etc.).

CIGARETTEBUTTS

SOME IDEAS TO REDUCE POLLUTION CAUSED BY CIGARETTE BUTTS.

Use pocket ashtrays.

Save cigarette butts for subsequent use (textiles...).

Hold awareness raising activities including input from manufacturers and public authorities. In fact, without information, it is more difficult for smokers to understand the impact that their gesture can have on the environment, and they could simply choose to go to another beach and only displace the problem.

FOODPACKAGING#04 QUESTION

HOW DO WE REDUCE THE WEIGHT OF OUR GARBAGE?

FOODPACKAGING

Minimise packaging

when shopping for our

products, recycling, composting

organic waste, favouring reusable

packaging, etc.

#04 ANSWERAcceptable answers:

FOODPACKAGING#05 QUESTION

DO STORES HAVE INITIATIVES TO LIMIT THE CONSUMPTION OF PACKAGING?

FOODPACKAGING

• Supermarkets without packaging (ex: in Bordeaux:

La Recharge; in Berlin: Original Unverpackt; in Texas:

In.gredients).

• Products sold loose or retail with reusable containers.

• Purchasing with refillable packaging.

• Purchasing in bulk and adapted to consumption.

Several options are offered to manufacturers: limiting

the packaging of their products, working with eco-design

for packaging, promoting the reuse of their packaging and

offering consumers the possibility of refilling them at a

lower cost, choosing reusable and durable materials, and

when this is not possible, recyclables.

Distributors and supermarkets also have a role to play:

using signage to indicate products with less packaging,

making available to clients product packaging for

transporting their purchases (ex: cardboard boxes).

#05 ANSWERAcceptable answers:

FOODPACKAGING#06 QUESTION

HOW CAN CONSUMERS REDUCE THEIR PACKAGING WASTE?

1. It is not possible, manufacturers must provide us

with better products.

2. We must consume less.

3. We have our role to play in choosing our products,

just like manufacturers with packaging and

politicians in regulatory framework.

FOODPACKAGING

A product’s packaging can

represent 80% of the product’s total

final weight and reach up to 65% of its cost.

Similarly, packaging waste can make up

nearly 30% in weight and 50% in volume of the

total quantity of garbage. For these reasons,

we all have an interest in being vigilant in

terms of the products that we choose, which

is an even stronger reason for manufacturers

to be perceptive of our expectations.

#06 ANSWER3. We have our role to play in choosing

our products.

FOODPACKAGING#07 QUESTION

WHAT MEASURES CAN A PUBLIC BODY PUT INTO PLACE IN ORDER TO REDUCE THE QUANTITY OF PACKAGING FOUND IN THE NATURAL ENVIRONMENT?

FOODPACKAGING

• Promoting policies of reuse, namely through the

waste removal system.

• Providing residents with recyclable containers,

especially for their daily meal purchases (eg. fish).

• Putting a pricing system in place for collecting

garbage calculated in function of each individual’s

real production (incentive fee).

• Optimising the recycling of waste.

#07 ANSWERAcceptable answers:

FOODPACKAGING

SOME IDEAS TO REDUCEPLASTIC FOOD PACKAGING.

Use more durable materials, reduce excess packaging.

Use alternative materials (less polluting, reusable,...).

Apply incentive measures (example of the incentive fee), waste plans, industrial constraints, regulations on packaging.

Implement return systems.

Implement a supplementary taxation for single-use packaging (eco-packaging).

Adopt the 4R behaviour: Refuse, Reduce, Reuse, and Recycle.

Favour these packages:>> Those that are recyclable because they are made of cardboard, glass, or metal.

>> Those that can have a second life! For example, a jar for spreads or mustard can become glassware, the metal biscuit or tea box could hold other biscuits, pasta, rice, or even sugar.

>> Those with a great capacity to be refilled and prevent packaging waste.

COTTON SWABS#08 QUESTION

WHY CAN WE FIND SO MANY COTTON BUD STICKS ON BEACHES?

1. Because they are used on the beach.

2. Because they are being thrown in toilets after use.

3. Because there are public landfills near water

courses.

COTTON SWABS

Small objects thrown away in toilets

are not always retrieved by purification

stations that treat our waste water.

Therefore, these objects travel through the

sewer system until reaching the natural

environment, and finally, the ocean.

A small portion of these are then

found on beaches.

#08 ANSWER2. Because they are being thrown in

toilets after use.

COTTON SWABS#09 QUESTION

WHAT OPTIONS ALLOW AN ELECTED OFFICIAL TO REDUCE THE QUANTITY OF COTTON BUD STICKS SENT INTO WATER BODIES?

COTTON SWABS

Public awareness raising to

stop their being thrown into toilets,

improving waste water collection systems

and networks (namely replacing combined

sewer systems with separate sewer systems),

laws against disposable plastics, pressure on

manufacturers to use alternative materials

(wood, etc.).

#09 ANSWERAcceptable answers:

COTTON SWABS#10 QUESTION

WHAT SOLUTIONS COULD BE OFFERED TO A MANUFACTURER THAT WOULD ALLOW THEM TO REDUCE THE QUANTITY OF COTTON BUD STICKS ON BEACHES?

COTTON SWABS

Use of

alternative materials

for the stick instead of plastic

(wood, dense cardboard, etc.),

awareness raising message on the box,

advertisements, etc.

#10 ANSWERAcceptable answers:

COTTON SWABS

SOME IDEAS TO REDUCE POLLUTION CAUSED BY COTTON SWABS.

Implement a law aimed at stopping the use of single-use plastic cotton buds.

Create a «Toilets are not trash bins!» communication and awareness raising campaign.

Throw cotton swabs in the bin.

Use of alternative solutions for hygiene: cotton balls, hopi ear candles, sweet almond oil, biodegradable sticks, warm water.

TOILETS ARE NOT TRASH BINS!!

PLASTIC MICROBEADS#11 QUESTION

WHAT ARE PLASTIC MICROBEADS?

1. The residue of fragmented plastic waste.

2. Plastic particles used mainly in cosmetic products

for their exfoliating properties.

3. Plastic follicles (the raw material of plastic) lost

during transport.

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

A single «face-wash»

type product could contain

up to 360,000 plastic microbeads.

In certain products, microbeads make

up 10% of the product’s total volume.

#11 ANSWER2. Plastic particles used mainly in cosmetic

products for their exfoliating properties.

PLASTIC MICROBEADS#12 QUESTION

HOW CAN PLASTIC MICROBEADS USED IN COSMETICS END UP IN MARINE ENVIRONMENTS?

1. Through poor waste management in the

manufacturing process in factories.

2. They are lost during sea transport if a container

is lost.

3. They are produced by oysters.

4. They run down the shower or sink drain and are

not filtered by water purification stations.

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

Too small to be

recovered by the majority

of water purification stations,

these microbeads move through the

water purification network and end their

trip in the ocean.

#12 ANSWER4. They run down the shower or sink drain and

are not filtered by water purification stations.

PLASTIC MICROBEADS#13 QUESTION

WHAT MEASURES CAN BE PUT INTO PLACE BY THE EUROPEAN UNION IN ORDER TO MAKE PLASTIC MICROBEADS DISAPPEAR FROM NATURE?

1. Putting forward regulations to prohibit the use of plastic

microbeads.

2. Providing information and raising consumer awareness

on their hygiene product consumption.

3. Putting in place policies that favour natural hygiene

products.

EU

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

Solutions to

the problem of plastic

microbeads exist,

we all have our role to play!

#13 ANSWERAll three!

PLASTIC MICROBEADS#14 QUESTION

WHAT ALTERNATIVES TO PLASTIC MICROBEADS DO SOME MANUFACTURERS USE IN THEIR COSMETIC PRODUCTS?

1. Materials composed of modified cellulose extracted

from wood pulp.

2. Natural shell, nut, mineral, bamboo, rice, and wax

materials.

3. Dehydrated melon seeds from Spain.

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

Numerous alternatives

to plastic microbeads exist,

let’s use them!

#14 ANSWERAll three!

PLASTIC MICROBEADS#15 QUESTION

ARE THERE COSMETIC OR PERSONAL CARE PRODUCTS THAT DO NOT CONTAIN PLASTIC MICROBEADS?

1. Yes.

2. No.

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

Plastic microbeads are mostly found in exfoliating

cosmetic products (facial cleaners, exfoliating body

cream...) or toothpaste with whitening properties.

In order to verify if the product contains them, download

the smartphone application «Beat the Microbead» that

allows for hygiene product barcodes to be scanned,

informing you if microbeads are present or not.

If in the composition of the product you see: polyethylene

(PE), polypropylene (PP), Nylon, polyethylene

terephthalate (PET), polymethyl methacrylate PMMA, it

is a product that contains plastic microbeads.

#15 ANSWER1. Yes.

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

WHAT IS ENVIRONMENTAL LOBBYING?

1. A beautiful utopia.

2. A means of expressing citizens’ demands about

current ecological concerns.

3. A way that you can be involved in putting

pressure on politicians and industries.

#16 QUESTION

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

Today it is estimated that between 15,300 and 30,000

lobbyists are operating in Brussels to influence

European politicians in favour of the interests they

defend. It is also estimated that more than half of national

laws are of European origin.

If environmental NGO lobbying may seem weak in

comparison to private sector lobbying which represents

2/3 of lobbyists, it remains essential for the voice of the

environment and for citizens to be heard at the highest

level of decision-making. Surfrider has had important

success in its work to influence changes in laws to better

protect the marine environment, the coastline, and its

users. There are so many reasons to believe in this sphere

of influence in addition to legal work, raising awareness,

education, and training that Surfrider undertakes with

citizens, elected officials, and manufacturers.

#16 ANSWERThe 2nd and 3rd answers.A means of expressing citizens’ demands.

Pressure exercised on politicians and industries.

PLASTIC MICROBEADS

SOME IDEAS TO REDUCE PLASTIC MICROBEADS.

Research materials with similar yet non-polluting properties.

Ban the use of persistent plastic composites in cosmetic products (American states that have planned for hygiene products containing microbeads to be banned: Illinois, California, New York).

Take part in the citizens’ lobbying campaign to prohibit the use of microbeads in cosmetics.

Take part part in Surfrider’s lobbying campaign during the review of the European cosmetic directive to introduce the banning of microbeads (2015-2016).

Choose hygiene products that do not use micro-beads (http://get.beatthemicrobead.org/). They can be easily replaced by natural biodegradable in-gredients such as nutshells, apricot kernels, or salt crystals (used in place of microbeads because they are less expensive and their surface is more regu-lar).

Program aiming to reduce marine litter at the source. The goal is to achieve a change in people’s behaviours based on this educational campaign, which focuses on local collections of trash along rivers, lakes, beaches, and on the seabeds. During these activities, information is gathered on marine litter, which allows for a general assessment of the situation and, as a result, enables us to work on an adaptation of the European regulatory framework.

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