A Future Without Rubbish: Help #BeatPlasticPollution this World Environment Day

The problem

Through The Coastline Runner initiative, I witness the consequences of plastic pollution every time I run along our coastline. Bags, bottles, wrappers — and increasingly, billions of plastic nurdles — are scattered across our shores. Since the North Sea spill on 10 March, nurdles have washed up in vast numbers along the East Coast. These tiny, lentil-sized pellets are mistaken for food by marine animals and birds, causing untold damage to fragile ecosystems.

At Hunstanton, for example, nesting fulmars — already suffering a population decline of over 50% in the past 30 years — are now feeding these plastic fragments to their chicks, mistaking them for fish eggs. This leads to malnutrition, suffering, and often death. It is a tragic and preventable loss.

The solutions

As a Chartered Environmentalist (CEnv) I see it as my role to take leadership – by implementing solutions.

Our work extends well beyond beach clean-ups. At A Future without Rubbish, we work directly with councils and communities, delivering environmental education in schools and inspiring young people to become changemakers. We show them that they can shape their environment — and their future — through knowledge and action.

On a systems level, we have developed the ‘ISRRA’ — the Initial Site Risk and Responsibility Analysis. This framework helps local authorities assess and respond to the environmental risk of historic landfill sites, many of which are still leaching toxins, microplastics, and pollutants into our rivers and seas. These hidden sources of pollution must be addressed if we are serious about protecting our environment.

A call to action

Plastic pollution is not just a litter issue — it is a systemic failure. It stems from poor education, weak accountability, inadequate binfrastructure, and the lack of a real circular economy. Ending it will require an overhaul of our design systems, a culture of transparency in material use and disposal, better education, and meaningful investment in binfrastructure and signage.

That’s why we educate, advocate, and act. Because if we all saw our environment as part of ourselves — not something separate— we would nurture it, protect it, and defend it. After all, it sustains all of us: from the food we eat and the air we breathe. It is us, and we are it.

How YOU Can Get Involved to Make Life Better for Us All

No matter who you are or what role you play in society, there’s something you can do regarding this year’s world environment day’s theme —today—to help build a better, more sustainable future. Here’s how you can take meaningful, practical steps:

For Environmental Practitioners:

Be a lighthouse—guiding us to safety in the storm of this plasti-crisis.

If you’re an environmentalist or practitioner, your example is powerful. Share what’s working. Show the practical paths to change. Inspire others by demonstrating real-life solutions—not just theories.

For Schools:

Start small—plant seeds of change.

• Encourage children to say “our environment” instead of “the environment”—language shapes mindset.
• Make classroom clean-up a shared daily habit.
• Explore affordable, achievable alternatives to everyday plastic items.

Small actions build habits. Habits build a culture of care.

For Employers:

Harness the ideas already in the room.

Ask your team:
“What’s one thing you personally do for our environment that others could try too?”
You may be surprised how simple, effective, and low-cost the answers can be – they could become a ‘norm!”

For Policymakers:

Flip the thinking on labels.

Instead of relying solely on expensive certifications like “organic” or “free range,” why not insist on clear labelling—e.g., “made with x, y, z chemicals in packaging”?

Let consumers choose. Let transparency lead. And this could go further, to the food production processes itself?

For All of Us:

Rethink everyday choices.

Before you buy or use something, ask:
“Is there a more environmentally friendly option that’s just as easy or affordable?”
Chances are, there is—and small shifts add up fast.

No one can do everything—but everyone can do something.
Let’s do what we can, where we are, with what we have. Together.