WWF New Zealand: Barrel

Our oceans are choked with plastic. Eight million tonnes of plastic pollution ends up in the ocean each year, breaking down into tiny bits to become microplastics. Now, microplastics are in the food we eat, the water we drink, and the air we breathe. Studies suggest, people are ingesting around 5 grams of plastic a week – the same as one credit card and yet, the scale of microplastics pollution is hard to fathom. Colenso BBDO and WWF-New Zealand have created a powerful series of images to illustrate the extent of the crisis. Microplastics in our oceans now outnumber stars in our galaxy 500:1. This fact has been demonstrated visually through captivating underwater photography. At first glance the resulting images appear to be star systems, but on closer inspection it’s revealed that the ‘stars’ are actually microplastics suspended in water. WWF-New Zealand’s nationwide Stop Plastic Pollution campaign is asking New Zealanders help call on our Government to introduce a global, legally binding, agreement to stop plastics polluting our oceans.