Yahoo News Sky Ocean Rescue: Two-thirds welcome single-use plastic charge
Nearly two-thirds of people would welcome a charge for single-use plastics similar to the one for five pence shopping bags.
The survey for Sky Ocean Rescue also found 87% of people are concerned by the UK's plastic usage - with eight million tonnes polluting the world's oceans every year.
To highlight the problem, a 10-metre whale made from single-use plastic has been unveiled in central London.
The whale has been covered with 250kg of plastic, the same amount that pollutes the ocean every second.
Over the next two weeks it will visit a number of iconic beaches and waterfronts across the UK, as part of the Sky Ocean Rescue campaign.
CEO of the Marine Conservation Society, Sandy Luk, said: "Our research repeatedly finds items such as plastic drinks bottles, wrappers and bags on UK beaches.
"So much of this has been used just once and thrown away. Small charges on packaging items, and deposit return systems can help bring the problem under control."
The explorer Sir Ranulph Fiennes is helping launch the project and described his first-hand experience with plastic pollution in our seas.
"Between 1979 and 1982 my team completed the first surface circumpolar navigation of Earth, during which both the Atlantic and the Pacific voyages from ice to ice we witnessed the amount of pollution, much of which was plastic and that was just on the surface."
Much of the plastic on the whale model was pulled from the UK's beaches and seas.
Single-use items like straws, bottles and cups typically do not biodegrade.
If they end up in the sea they can entangle and suffocate animals, and post mortems often find smaller, micro plastics inside the stomachs of many species.
The former supermodel and passionate supporter of the oceans, Jodie Kidd, said: "As a mother I want my son to grow up in a world where oceans are vast and beautiful, not damaged and under threat.
"It is vital that we all make changes, even in the smallest of ways, to help save our oceans."
The marine mammal expert, Natacha Aguilar de Soto said: "It is in the hands of the governments to put taxes on the single use packaging so that we as consumers, can buy our food and the things we need without consuming so much plastic."
The Plastic Whale tour will be visiting London, Newquay, Instow, Cardiff, Birmingham, Blackpool, Leeds, Livingstone, Edinburgh, Newcastle and Ipswich.
:: You can find out more about Sky Ocean Rescue and get involved by visiting the campaign's website.
