@hkplasticwaste

We are 3 Form 3 students from Creative Secondary School raising awareness on the plastic waste situation in Hong Kong.
We are posting facts and ways to improve the current situation even during this pandemic. It’s not too late to start taking action now!

For our community project, we have decided to raise awareness on the issues of plastic waste, more specifically in Hong Kong. We’re sure everyone is aware of the COVID-19 pandemic. It has affected everyone and it has also affected our project. Our initial plan was to reduce the use of plastic waste within our school community. As we have noticed that CSS’s canteen produces an alarming amount of plastic waste, mainly coming from plastic straws and utensils. However, due to the pandemic we were unable to conduct our action, so we have decided to do an advocacy and inform our audience about the issues of plastic waste in Hong Kong and how we can deal with it individually through our Instagram account hkplasticwaste. Our mission/goal is to encourage others to reduce and understand the issue of plastic waste!

We can refuse the use of plastics in order to decrease plastic waste. It’s not too late to start taking action now!

Such as,
• refusing straws when you get a beverage. Just a simple “no straw please” will do.
• refusing beverage tops
• refusing packing your food in plastic box

Another easy step we can prevent more plastic waste is to reuse plastics itself.

For example,
• bringing your own reusable shopping bags
• bringing your own reusable cup • using resizable straws over plastic straws
• bring a reusable container for leftover food
• choose clothing and items that are made form earth-friendly materials

• 5.2 millions/132 tonnes of plastic bottles are thrown every single day in Hong Kong
• An average of over 10,000,000 of plastic bags are disposed of in Hong Kong every day
• The raw materials of plastic bags come from petroleum. A study shows that the world’s petroleum resources will become exhausted within 40 years. Therefore, wasting plastic bags is equivalent to wasting precious petroleum resources.
• Recycle plastic you’ve used. Make us if recycling bins and recycle plastic bottles, plastic boxes and plastic tins. Make sure to not throw it away along with your trash. You can also return single-use bags to grocery stores for them to recycle.

Sign the WWF Petition to reduce plastic waste here

Some info about microplastics….

Microplastics are smaller than a quarter of an inch, often a millimeter or smaller; nanoplastics are even more miniscule, measuring less than 0.1 micrometers (a micrometer is 1,000 times smaller than a millimeter).

The biggest sources of human exposure to microplastics likely come from airborne dust, drinking water (including treated tap water and bottled water) and seafood (shellfish in particular, because we eat the entire animal). Plastic in the ocean or bodies of water also attracts pollutants like heavy metals and organic contaminants, such as organochlorine pesticides, which are attracted to plastic’s water-repellent surface. Many of these chemicals and contaminants have potential health effects. According to Rochman, research in animals has shown it’s possible for some plastics to pass from the airway or gastrointestinal tract into the blood or lymphatic system, spreading to and accumulating in other organs. Whether a plastic can make this journey likely depends on its size, shape, type and myriad other characteristics. Once embedded, these plastics could potentially cause inflammation or leach chemicals.

Chiara, Elizabeth and Vienna