What's the problem with plastic pollution?

Let's dive into a not-so-pleasant reality check – the plastic problem in our oceans. We know that you know plastic is bad for our planet. But do you know the true extent of the problem?

Did you know that every single day, the equivalent of a whopping 2,000 garbage trucks filled to the brim with plastic are being chucked into the world's oceans, rivers, and lakes? Plastic pollution has gone global, and it's not a fun sight. To add to this, a mind-boggling 19-23 million tonnes of plastic waste is leaking into aquatic ecosystems annually. That's like a plastic avalanche crashing into lakes, rivers, and seas every year, according to the UN Environment Programme.

Now, let's fast forward to 2050 – a time when plastic might actually outweigh all the fish in the sea. Yep, you heard that right. Our fishy friends are at risk of being outdone by plastic invaders. And get this – plastic takes a leisurely 500-1000 years to degrade. Even then, it doesn't disappear; it just becomes microplastics, lurking around without a full exit plan, according to the IOC.

"But it doesn't affect me, right?" Hold that thought. With plastic making its way into seafood, the real question isn't whether we're eating plastic; it's about how bad it is for our health. Microplastics have even crashed the human blood party and, disturbingly, have been found to pass from moms to their unborn babies through the placenta. Yikes!

At BrewBix we use no plastic. That’s right, zero, nil, zip, no plastic at all. We use recycled cardboard for our packaging but this is far from perfect. Recycling isn’t 100% effective, and it takes plenty of energy to farm trees, manufacture the packaging and also recycle it. It’s responsible for 50% of BrewBix’s carbon footprint, and it’s also more expensive to make than the biscuits themselves!

At BrewBix we now pack directly into cardboard. This is better than compostable packaging because everyone knows how to recycle cardboard, meaning we don't have to send it to landfill. We can source cardboard sustainably (either because we can grow trees or recycle paper/card), so we aren't using up natural resources. This means less material will go to landfill than any other packaging option we currently have, and less greenhouse gas will be produced as a result.

Get your fix of sustainable treats here.