“Would you care more if it was you?” Marine Conservation Society’s newest campaign

The Marine Conservation Society (MCS) believes the Prime Minister’s pledge to tackle litter in the Government’s environment 25-Year Plan failed to deliver what's really needed to start solving the plastic litter issue.

MCS is renewing its call for levies on single-use plastic items and says charges must be imposed on items such as straws, cups, lids and cutlery.

MCS feels the report fails to commit quickly enough on items that are handed over free of charge in their millions when shopping, eating and drinking out. 

The campaign aims to demonstrate the issue in a simplistic but graphic way through a series of images captioned “Would you care more if it was you?”

"Humans can be very selfish and self-centred. With these images we are trying to bring the issue closer to home. Simulating ourselves in the same situation as turtles and whales and seabirds, we hope people will feel some of the pain and act accordingly,” explained Luca Bonaccorsi, Director of Engagement and Communications at MCS"The Governments of the UK are finally realising that action needs to be taken to stop plastic litter. Acknowledging the issue is not enough. We must act. We must stop the plastic tide!”

Photographed by Guy Farrow, the campaign responds to the number of media reports, films and images shared on social media that show the suffering caused to marine wildlife.

Bonaccorsi added: "The 5p single-use carrier bag charge has made a massive difference to the number of plastic bags entering our seas. If a charge was placed on single use plastic such as straws, stirrers, cutlery, cups and cup lids, we're confident that we'd find fewer of these items on our beaches.”