William Shatner and other celebrities go plastic-free. | Daniel Boczarski/Getty Images
In light of World Environment Day, celebrities from a variety of professions are flocking to social media to promote a plastic-free planet.
Plastic is an all too prominent pollutant nowadays. Recent data said a staggering 89 percent of all plastic in the ocean is single-use, meaning the plastic issue is a global matter to address.
The #BeatPlasticChallenge gained popularity online during the lead up to World Environment Day; the hashtag has since gone viral across social media. Those challenged have 24 hours to share their support for the initiative with a video of themselves pledging to forgo at least one type of single-use disposable plastic.
Anyone can join the challenge and support the plastic-free movement, with or without a public announcement. Making small changes to actively reduce, refuse, and reuse plastic items helps to create a cleaner, greener, sustainable Earth, for now and for generations to follow. Here are 10 celebrities pledging their support for the plastic-free movement.
Vegan musician, Moby, ditched plastic water bottles in favor of a reusable one and challenged fellow influencers to follow suit. He asked Miley Cyrus, Ru Paul, Jimmy Fallon, Ellen DeGeneres, Snoop Dogg, and Barack Obama to join him in beating plastic pollution with a creative video shared on Instagram. “Horrifying fact: we use one million plastic water bottles, every minute of every day and by 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish,” Moby explained. “And giving up plastic water bottles is really, really easy. You just replace it with a reusable water bottle.”
This actress shared a compelling video to her Twitter account, urging people to ditch plastic straws in favour of reusable alternatives, or none at all. The celebrity challenged a plethora of fellow high-profile people to join her and started a Twitter train of others following her lead. “They’re [plastic straws] are really hard to recycle. And most people don’t even bother, they just get thrown away. Plastic doesn’t go away. It doesn’t biodegrade so it just breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces and it stays here. They’re bad news and so we gotta’ get rid of these bad boys,” she stated.
Canadian actor, director, and producer, William Shatner, accepted Ryan’s challenge and vowed to ditch plastic water bottles. “You see this?” he questioned whilst holding a plastic water bottle to the camera. “It’s plastic. We don’t like that. Plastic is bad. Get rid of plastic – I have, you will… Spread the message: Plastic. Bad… No plastic.”
“This World Environment Day, all of us can help beat plastic pollution. Did you know that 500 billion bags of plastic get used all over the world every year? And many of them are ending up in the ocean, killing fish, whales and even birds!” the Brazilian actress stressed. “And also, ending up in our food. Plastic is everywhere and if we don’t stop plastic pollution right now there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish in 2050. So can we all commit to making it our last? It’s easy. See. Switch to something reusable and tag your loved one, a friend and a company. Come on! Together we can beat plastic pollution. I’m counting on all of you.”
“Our Earth is in crisis because human activity is destroying the environment,” said the vegan animal rights activist and “Babe” actor in a heartfelt video posted to Twitter. “We’re addicted to fossil fuels and most of us are blissfully unaware what happens to these plastic water bottles when we throw them away. Worldwide, a million of these are purchased every day. So, what’s to be done? Since human beings have the capacity to destroy all life on the planet, we are therefore responsible for its survival. Taking responsibility creates a paradigm shift. That’s a change in the way we think so that we can survive on this glorious but finite planet… Join me. Take the pledge to replace any and all single-use disposable plastics for a reusable alternative.”
“We have to do something about it. We have to beat plastic pollution. I’ve given up plastic and you should too. All you have to do is replace it with something reusable – like this canvas bag,” said the raconteur while showing viewers an example. “When they say ‘paper or plastic’ at a grocery store, you say neither ‘coz you got your own bag.” Begley added that forgoing plastic bags will also save people money since many outlets are implementing surcharges for the unsustainable material.
HGTV host, J.D. Scott, was challenged by William Shatner to take on the challenge. In his video, Scott said, “It is World Environment Day and we are trying to beat plastic pollution, which we can do if we work together. The idea is: you need to remove one plastic item from your life, such as plastic bottles, which I did a while ago.” He added, “You can also do something like plastic straws or plastic cups. So, finish one of those and you have successfully completed this challenge… Plastic, we’re coming for ya’!”
“I just learned, recently, that every minute a truckload of plastic waste pours into the ocean,” Hershey opened. “And it can take up to 1,000 years before it completely disintegrates. So, I’d like to get all single-use plastic out of my life. Starting, with plastic wrap. which is a tough one because even the biodegradable plastic isn’t quite there yet: it just breaks into smaller pieces.” Hershey continues to discuss a new favourite product of hers: silicone stretch wraps to use in place of single-use plastic cling wrap.
“This is a plastic straw,” Spiner explained. “Did you know, that in America, we use half a million of these a day? A day!… In every possible way, these things suck. I pledge, never to use a plastic straw again. And it’s easy.” The video promoted metal straws as a replacement and was shared on Spiner’s Twitter page to his 1.5 million followers.
Beloved environmentalist, primatologist, and vegetarian, Dr. Jane Goodall, shared a video on Twitter explaining her passion for Sea2See’s sunglasses that are made using repurposed plastic from the ocean, as well as a South African initiative that compresses plastic into bricks to be reused. The eco-conscious celebrity went on to talk about her go-to planet-friendly products, and said: “I hope everybody is doing something for the environment on this World Environment Day and good luck to you but make it every day.”
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