A Plastic Ocean - The sobering reality of plastic pollution

Ash Holwell and the Whangārei Branch of the Green Party of Aotearoa are hosting a special one-off screening of A Plastic Ocean, the 2016 film that will demonstrate how plastic pollution has become a man-made global catastrophe.

Over the last 60 year’s plastic has become central to our lives and as a result mankind has subjected the planet to a virtual tsunami of plastic waste. The scale of the problem is exponential - in the last 10 years the World has used more plastic than it did in the previous 100 years. In New York City alone, 24 million plastic bottles are discarded every week and in 2010 alone we produced around 300 million tonnes of plastic; with 50% of it being used just once.

A Plastic Ocean was filmed around the world in stunning and chilling detail. It shows us the harrowing consequences of plastic pollution on our oceans and to those who inhabit or live around the oceans of the world. The film follows the journey of two explorers, accompanied by scientists, conservationists and engineers, as they travel to some of the most remote parts of the world, documenting the environmental issues associated with plastic pollution and its impact on the environment, ecosystems and human health.

“Each year we are consume approximately 500 billion plastic bags worldwide, with more than one million bags being used every minute. A plastic bag has an average “working life” of 15 minutes,” explains Ash Holwell. “It’s environmental abuse which is not sustainable - something has got to give if we are to stop this pointless pollution. A Plastic Ocean provides some answers that we can all learn from to create a cleaner Aotearoa.”

Event: A Plastic Ocean will be screened at The Old Stone Butter Factory, 8 Butter Factory Lane, Whangārei, at 6:30pm on Wednesday 23 August.

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