When footage of a turtle with a plastic straw lodged its nostril went viral in 2015, people around the world were happy to start ditching plastic straws. It’s inspiring to see so many people choosing to make small changes, with the environment in mind.

The anti-straw movement has shown the power of the individual in influencing the market; consumers are saying no to plastic straws, and companies are beginning to listen. Worldwide, more bans are taking off. Starbucks has pledged to ban plastic straws by 2020, while McDonald’s is to replace them with paper straws in all its UK branches. New York City is also considering banning plastic straws in eateries.

Ways to reduce your single-use plastic Show all 6 1 /6 Ways to reduce your single-use plastic Ways to reduce your single-use plastic Plastic water bottle for a reusable beverage container Instead of continually buying drinks in plastic bottles you can switch to a reusable beverage container and reduce your single-use of plastics. Selfridges' Bobble 550ml filtered water bottle costs £12.95 and includes a replaceable carbon filter that filters water as you drink, removing chlorine and organic contaminants in the process. You can buy it from selfridges.com Getty/Selfridges Ways to reduce your single-use plastic Coffee cup for a Travel coffee mug It is estimated that the UK throws away around 2.5bn disposable coffee cups a year and almost all are incinerated, exported or sent to landfill because their plastic lining makes them expensive to recycle. The new Latte Levy in the UK means there will now be a 25p charge on every disposable coffee cup bought by consumers. Pret A Manger announced that it will double its discount to 50p in an effort to reduce waste. By swapping to a reusable cup you will be able to help cut the cost of disposable coffee cups. This Keep Cup Brew, cork edition, travel cup in Fika is just one of the many available to purchase. It fits under most commercial coffee machines, is splash-proof and ideal for transporting your coffee whilst on the go. You can buy this particular cup for £19.99 from trouva.com. Getty/Trouva Ways to reduce your single-use plastic Plastic bags for reusable cloth bags An eco-friendly alternative to an ordinary plastic bag is this lightweight shopping bag. It comes with a practical pillowcase pocket and features a black and white ink splatter design. Convenient and durable it also has a matte black spring clip to attach it where you need it. You can buy this from paperchase.co.uk for just £5.00. Getty/Paperchase Ways to reduce your single-use plastic Coffee pods for a pot of coffee Cut your plastic coffee pod usage with a cafetiere. This Barista and Co, 3 Cup Gold Cafetiere, from Habitat offers a simple way to brew and serve in style. Made from borosilicate glass and plated stainless steel with an ergonomically designed handle, the cafetiere is built to last and a pleasure to use; a fine metal filter produces a smooth coffee that retains its natural oils. You can buy it for £30 from habitat.co.uk. Getty/Habitat Ways to reduce your single-use plastic Balloons for eco-friendly decorations Instead of using plastic balloons at your party try swapping them for some eco-friendly bunting. Handmade in Scotland, the bunting comprises thirteen brightly coloured pennants which spell out the words 'Happy Birthday', and uses lettering that has been printed onto 100 per cent recycled card. Included is 11ft of natural jute twine to hang the pennants on, and everything comes packaged in a cello bag. You can buy this bunting from Little Silverleaf on notonthehighstreet.com for £12.50. Getty/notonthehighstreet Ways to reduce your single-use plastic Plastic straw for a reusable bamboo one Swap plastic straws for reusable ones made of bamboo. These straws are handmade in Bali and crafted by local balinese artisans. Made of organic and natural materials they are the best eco-friendly alternative to plastic, steel or glass straws. You can purchase them from Bali Boo on Amazon.co.uk for £13.99. PA/Bali Boo/Amazon

This anti-plastic movement is important. The world consumes plastic in alarming quantities – 320 million tons are produced every year. Unfortunately, the plastics we throw away end up in landfill and the natural environment – plastics don’t fully degrade, they just erode into smaller pieces, known as microplastics. These microplastics contain toxins which can kill or maim sea creatures when ingested, while uneroded plastic debris can destroy marine habitats and cause animals grave bodily harm.

“Straws are something anyone can give up easily without having it affect their lifestyle,” said Diana Lofflin, the founder of California-based strawfree.org. But can we really save marine life without radically changing our lifestyles?

While the anti-straw movement should be lauded for its role in raising public awareness about plastic pollution in our oceans, some commentators have criticised it as ableist, given the independence straws allow some disabled people.

Another growing concern is that the movement might encourage complacency. There’s more to plastic waste than straws. Estimates from five years of beach cleaning on US coastlines suggest that there are up to 8.3 billion straws on global coastlines. A crazy figure, but it equates to about 0.03 per cent of all plastic in the ocean. This begs the question – where is all the rest of the plastic coming from?

One of the greatest overall threats to marine wildlife and sources of marine plastic, according to Australian scientists Chris Willcox and Denise Hardesty, is fishing gear – this includes nets, fishing lines and buoys. According to a more recent survey, at least 46 per cent of the rubbish found in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a major ocean plastic accumulation zone between California and Hawaii, comes from discarded fishing nets.

This all-women team are tackling plastic pollution in the Pacific Ocean

“Entrapment in nets intended for other species, and in gear left behind by fishing boats is the prime threat to marine turtles,” said diver and underwater photographer Francis Pérez. His photograph of a loggerhead sea turtle entangled in abandoned fishing gear off the coast of Tenerife won first prize in the nature singles category at World Press Photo 2017. It’s a beautiful, albeit distressing picture to look upon.

“I hope that it raises public awareness about plastic pollution, and about what we are doing to our oceans. Everybody empathises with sea turtles – had it been another marine creature, perhaps a shark, it probably wouldn’t have got so much attention. My friend and I first checked to see whether the turtle was okay – it wasn’t injured, so after taking the photo and a short video, we cut it loose.”

Overfishing causes harm beyond the discarded nets and buoys which make up a sizeable proportion of marine plastics, and it’s apparently inevitable given our insatiable desire for fish suppers.

Today, around 90 per cent of the world’s fish stocks are exploited. More locally, about 41 per cent of assessed fish stocks are subject to overfishing in the northeast Atlantic. It’s estimated that we kill between 1 to 2.8 trillion fish each year, more than all the humans that have ever existed.

Yet taking too much does not just reduce or endanger target fish stocks – it also means that we are reducing the food supply for other marine life. The unsustainable overfishing of bluefin tuna in the Strait of Gibraltar, for example, has threatened orcas that migrate to the region to feed by dramatically reducing their main food source.

Unsustainable practices like trawling also haul out more sea creatures than they intend to – and then throw them back into the sea dead or dying. Bycatch mortalities include dolphins, marine turtles, juvenile fish, sharks and seabirds. WWF estimates that about 40 per cent of fish caught worldwide are caught unintentionally.

In July this year, a viral tweet from a university student questioned why people stop using straws to save fish, but won’t stop eating them to save them. It was funny, but also a valid question. Is the straw ban fuelled by compassion towards marine life, or rather a desire to safeguard a food source?

Marine Conservation Society UK recommends that those who do eat fish make an informed choice and look for the most sustainable options, such as those that are green-rated on its Good Fish Guide.