It may have become obvious to all of us at this point that our planet is holding onto devastating volumes of plastic. We use the phrase ‘holding on to’ as that’s all our environment can do. The plastic that has been increasingly filling our supermarkets and homes is now finding an eternal resting place in our oceans.

Plastic now accounts for 90% of all ocean waste with 46,000 tonnes covering every square mile. Once here, the plastic can decompose but slowly and only so far. Ultimately, it becomes worn down into tiny toxic-laden bits floating innocuously in the sea until it is either swallowed by marine life or makes its way into the food chain. Ocean plastic is estimated to kill millions of marine animals every year. At a global summit in Nairobi last December, the head of the United Nations Environment Programme spoke of an “ocean Armageddon.”

  So what can we do?

 In short, we need to produce less plastic. Lottie Dolls MD Ian Harkin took inspiration on June 5^th – World Environment Day to pledge that Lottie Dolls will commit to removing unnecessary plastic from our products going forward. He made the announcement in this short video which he posted online:

Demonstrating how much plastic is used in the award-winning brand, Mr Harkin said that such plastic will be left out of the manufacturing process in future. Currently sold in 32 countries around the world, this pledge will go some small way towards reducing our planet’s plastic accumulation. During the video, the Lottie MD also acknowledged that disposable plastic is a leading contributor to the plastic crisis and as such promised to remove water-cooler plastic cups from his Letterkenny-based office. He finished by calling on other manufacturers to follow suit, specifically mentioning major toy producers Mattel and Hasbro. 

What you can do? 

If Lottie has inspired you to do something, great! Whether it's to do more recycling, buy less plastic or to go on a plastic pick-up drive, it really is true that every little helps! We'd love to hear about your efforts! Post your photographs using the hashtag #Lottielovesearth and we'll feature them on our social media! There will even be a few SPOT PRIZES for the best photographs!