Make a change and say ‘No’ to plastic!
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues of our times. The increasing production and use of disposable plastics has now reached a point that makes it difficult to deal with, unless we all make a change in our habits.
Single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Many of these products, such as plastic bags, plastic bottles, straws and food wrappers are used for a few minutes only, but they may persist in the environment for hundreds of years.
Plastic is everywhere
Millions of animals are killed by plastics every year, from birds to fish to other marine organisms. Nearly 700 species, including endangered ones, are known to have been affected by plastics. Nearly every species of seabird eats plastics.
In the food chain
The water bottle or the plastic straw we carelessly throw away near the beach reaches the ocean, degrades and breaks down in tiny parts of plastic—microplastics—which are then mistaken for food by fish, who are then eaten by us. What goes around comes around.
At KAUST
At KAUST, Coastline has taken actions to make a change.
- Glass bottles are sold instead of single-use plastic bottles at Al-Marsa and Ya Hala Restaurants.
- Single-use plastics are not used on boats K-Manta, Coastline 1, Coastline 2, and Coastline 6.
Those initiatives mean that 6,000 single-use plastic bottles are spared each month!
You can also make a change!
Use a reusable bag for shopping, carry a refillable water bottle and refuse plastic straws! Each time you say ‘No’ to plastic, you make a change.
An initiative supported by
Bravo!!
Please make it so that you have to ask for a straw at KAUST restaurants, rather than the waiters always putting one automatically in your drink. If KAUST won’t ban straws completely, this is a good start to reduce their use.
I think it would be good if the organizers do not provide any disposable cups, plates, and forks in some activities such as a seminar or group meeting. When they provide both mugs and disposable cups, most of the people here choose the disposable one even they do not need to wash by themselves…
This is a very good starting point. Thanks a lot for taking the feedback and suggestions seriously. I cannot wait to enjoy my next SCUBA diving trip in a plastic-free boat!. Well done Coast Line!!
Bravo Coastline!