BBC The public ignored David Attenborough's request to cut down on plastic, a survey shows

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Attenborough described on TV nature programme Blue Planet how eight million tons of plastic is dumped in the world’s seas every year, causing huge environmental damage and harm to wildlife. However, although public awareness of the issue has risen after the BBC series, it has failed to shift the British public’s behaviour when it comes to single-use plastic. The survey of more than 2,000 people showed that despite the Government’s ambition to eliminate avoidable plastic waste by 2042, only one in three use water containers, with many blaming the inconvenience of carrying and filling water bottles. It also found that only a third of people feel guilty about purchasing a throwaway water bottle, only one in five people who have reusable water containers use them and more than half of people don’t feel bad about the impact on the environment of buying bottled water. Sarah Taylor, managing director of water filtering company BRITA which commissioned the study along with the Keep Britain Tidy campaign, said: “The damage single-use plastic is doing to our marine and wider environment and marine life has been well documented, and it is clear many people are committed to tackling this.

GETTY - STOCK Plastic waste is destroying the oceans

The damage single-use plastic is doing to our marine and wider environment and marine life has been well documented, and it is clear many people are committed to tackling this. Sarah Taylor

“At the same time, this research shows that old habits are ingrained and that often the ‘hassle factor’ outweighs concern about the environment. “What’s clear is that there is much more we can all do to help people swap for good to things like refillable bottles and reduce their single-use plastic footprint.” Other findings included the fact that nearly a third of millennials aged 25 to 34 do not use refillable bottles because they claim they are too heavy. The lack of options at transport hubs appears to be fuelling the single-use plastic crisis, with 63 per cent of Britons prone to relying on bottled water when travelling long distances by car, and two fifths of us likely to purchase it at the airport Lunchtime meal deals were also blamed for throwaway plastic, with 27 per cent of us likely to purchase bottled water when it is included in offers.

Other findings included: Women are more likely than men to own and regularly use a reusable water bottle, with 40 per cent doing so compared to 31 per cent of men. Half of millennials do compared with just 27 per cent of over 55s. 78 per cent of us think there should be greater availability of free tap water across the UK 73 per cent of us would view a business more favourably if it gave free tap or filtered water on request 27 per cent of reusable bottle owners purchase bottled water because they are unsure whether there will be somewhere to fill up

GETTY Sir David's Blue Planet II argued for less plastic use

Although 64 per cent of us say we don’t buy bottled if tap is available, under half of us are willing to go looking for it, and only 17 per cent strongly agree we would do so 61 per cent say if we could be sure water out and about is safe to drink we would be more likely to use reusable bottles 43 per cent would be more likely to use reusable bottles if more were designed to filter tap water 59 per cent of us worry about the cleanliness of water fountains 69 per cent of people uncomfortable asking for a glass without buying something else and 27 per cent feel uncomfortable asking for their reusable bottle to be refilled even when making a purchase.

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