OUR SEAS ARE IN CRISIS
Of the 330 million metric tonnes of plastic consumed worldwide annually, over 12.7 MILLION tonnes of plastic – everything from bottles and packaging to glitter – is dumped in our oceans. According to the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, that's one truckload a minute.
There are an estimated 1.8 trillion bits of plastic in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and an estimated 300 billion pieces of plastic adrift in the Arctic. A million seabirds and over 100,000 marine mammals die from plastic pollution annually. Turtles, dolphins, seals, albatrosses and even whales are being ensnared by nets and plastic bags.
Other marine conservation issues include: over 60 million sharks being slaughtered every year for shark fin soup. Almost all turtle and tuna species are threatened or edging towards extinction. Dolphins and orcas, which suffer huge distress in captivity, are being rounded up for the swim and ‘therapy’ industry in record numbers.
Mass extinction events are on the rise as the plastic soup clogging our oceans filters up through the food chain.
OUR MISSION
As authors, illustrators and artists, we’re passionate about inspiring children, teachers and parents to love nature and wildlife.
Saving our beautiful oceans for future generations is going to take action as well as words. It will take radical, creative choices and stepping out of our comfort zone. But if we come together as a community, as writers, illustrators, booksellers, publishers, literary agents, festival organisers, teachers, parents and young readers and say ‘Enough!’, imagine what a difference we could make.
Imagine if we stood shoulder to shoulder and resolved to make single-use plastic bags, cutlery, straws and bottles relics of the past.
Imagine if we decided that, in no way will we be responsible for overfishing or pushing tuna towards extinction.
Imagine if we agreed never to endorse the buying of tickets to dolphin shows because we believe that dolphins and orcas should be free.
Turning these thoughts into a reality is our mission.
JOIN US
If you’re a bookseller, publisher, literary agent, festival organiser, teacher, student and/or reader, we’re asking you to join us in doing everything in our power to stop the plastic tide.
Michael Morpurgo, Jacqueline Wilson, Katherine Rundell, Chris Riddell, Abi Elphinstone, Lauren St John, Dr Ben Garrod, Piers Torday, Gill Lewis, Robert Macfarlane, Jackie Morris, Tom Moorhouse, M.G. Leonard, Elizabeth Laird, Kiran Millwood Hargrave, Natasha Farrant, Patrice Lawrence, Holly Smale, Nicolette Jones, Jonathan Stroud, Philip Ardagh, Liz Kessler, Catherine Hyde, Rachel Hickman, Marcus Sedgwick, Nicola Davies, Maz Evans, James Mayhew, Jacinda Bilan, Alom Shaha, Emma Carroll, LA Weatherly, Linda Newberry, SF Said, Tamsyn Murray, Catherine Barr, Georgie Adams, Victoria Eveleigh, Christopher Edge, Vivian French, Laura Dockrill, Yaba Badoe, Robin Stevens, Geraldine McCaughrean and Chris Vick are just some of the authors and illustrators who’ve come together to ask you to stand with us to make a difference.
If it’s within your capability to change the way you do things as a company, school, family or individual, we’re hoping to convince you to do just that.
Be the change you want to see in the seas.
