How The Australian Marine Sciences Association Went Plastic Free At Event
September 11, 2019Stay in the know with exclusive industry news, click here and subscribe to our eNewsletter today!
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch — estimated to be three times the size of France — is just one of five offshore zones where tossed single-use plastic swirls in an ever-widening vortex. These massive trash patches have prompted some governments to ban plastic straws and bags and helped spur groups to create sustainability guidelines and pledges — including within the events industry.
But marine scientists know that while every single bit helps, it still can feel like those efforts are just, well, a drop in the ocean. The crisis requires people to adopt wide behavior changes — and where better to start than at their own even
So the Australian Marine Sciences Association (AMSA) “took on the challenge to walk the walk rather than just talk the talk,” according to an AMSA report, going plastic free for its national conference held July 7th–11th in Fremantle, near Perth. By providing 100-percent natural tote bags, attaching name badges to lanyards made of bamboo, and, among many other measures, serving espresso drinks in returnable, washable cups, AMSA went as plastic free as possible for the conference, which drew 570 marine science professionals, academics, and students. They gathered at the Esplanade Hotel in coastal Fremantle, the birthplace of the Plastic Free July campaign led by the global Plastic Free Foundation.