A new report conducted by the Ocean Legacy Foundation revealed shocking results.
More than one million beverage containers and 2.3 million caps go missing every day in British Columbia.
The OLF report outlines how beverage containers and their caps are contributing to the current crisis of single-use plastics.
Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals every single year.
Plastics have been found in the stomachs of birds, fish and whales; in drinking water, beer, seafood, and table salt; and even in the human body.
Based on findings, Ocean Legacy Foundation is now calling on the provincial government to reclaim its environmental leadership.
British Columbia was the first jurisdiction in the world to adopt a regulated beverage container deposit refund system.
The report urges the B.C government to update this system with five key recommendations.
Chloe Dubois, Executive Director and Co-Founder of Ocean Legacy said, “If business goes on as usual and no change happens, we’re looking at there being more plastic in the ocean than fish between 2040 and 2050. The lives of hundreds of thousands of sea mammals and sea birds will depend on these changes, as well as the health of our oceans.”
Ocean Legacy Foundation is a British Columbia-based, non-profit organization founded in 2014 to end ocean plastic waste and reduce shoreline litter.
"It really comes down to refusing single-use disposable plastics. When someone offers you that straw or coffee cup lid, look for an alternative or just say no."
She said it’s no option not to change at this point.