The People vs Plastic Protests

On 19th July, and the week running up to it, we’ll be showing up across the UK in the places we love, from beaches to streets and everywhere in between, for #ThePeopleVsPlastic Protest.   

Kicking off on the 14th, our week of action will see Plastic Free Schools taking part in a Nationwide Trash Mob, and other Million Mile Cleans taking place across the UK, to expose the scale of the plastic crisis and which polluters are most responsible.   

Energy and momentum building up throughout the week will culminate in our biggest Plastic Protest, due to take place on the Saturday. This is the day we’re encouraging Ocean Activists to unite and flood our much-loved local spaces nationwide, to take a stand against plastic pollution and demand the UK Government takes urgent action. We want to show up in numbers and in full creative force with placards, banners and creative costumes to send our message to big polluters and Government. 

We’re drowning in plastic. Stuck in a system which allows big brands and retailers to churn out endless pointless plastic, the UK is now the biggest polluter of plastic packaging in Europe.  

But despite the huge public concern, and persistent efforts to free our lives from plastic, the toxic tide of plastic pollution continues to rise; killing wildlife, destroying complex ecosystems, fueling the climate crisis, and putting human health at risk.   

So far, the UK government has failed to stem this flow of plastic polluting the UK. Broken promises and delayed legislation, pushed by industry lobbying from plastic polluters, have left us in a crisis.  

And with pro-plastic lobbyists also flooding the recent Global Plastic Treaty talks in record-breaking numbers, we urgently need the UK government to use their power to block out this lobbying trash talk and instead wake up to the groundswell of people-power demanding an end to plastic pollution. 

There is no time left to waste – but there is hope. The UK Government can set things right this year. With the final Global Plastics Treaty negotiations just on the horizon and the Circular Economy a priority issue to tackle, the Government must step up as an environmental leader and deliver real system change. 

We’re turning up the heat to make sure the government and the polluting industries wake up to the mass public outrage over plastic, while we demand urgent and ambitious action to tackle plastic pollution in the UK. 

We demand that the UK Government lead the world in championing an ambitious Global Plastic Treaty and urgently implement law which brings about a circular economy and holds polluters to account. 

The UK Government must set an example to the world by counteracting pro-plastic lobbyists and introduce ambitious and legally binding reduction targets for plastic production and consumption. We urgently need effective circular economy policies, including an ‘all in’ Deposit Return Scheme and Extended Producer Responsibility, to transition to a fully circular economy with a focus on reduction, reuse and ensuring the polluter pays. 

Plastic is flooding the places we love and it’s showing no signs of stopping. Last year alone, over 400 million tons of plastic was produced globally. And with plastic production set to triple by 2060, polluters are opening the floodgates to a wave of plastic suffocating the ocean and its vital ecosystems.  

Plastic polluting the ocean impacts us all. Every second breath you take is from the ocean, due to marine life producing half of the earth’s oxygen. Our lives depend on a thriving ocean, but plastic pollution is already destroying marine life and putting the ocean and its life-giving abilities at risk. 

But we hold the power to turn the tide. When we come together, we’re an unstoppable force that government and big polluters will have to reckon with. And we won’t stop until we win the fight.