AN ANTI-PLASTICS campaigner from Bude is spreading the vital message, of how enforcing small changes in people’s lifestyles can make a difference to the planet, through his latest book, No. More. Plastic.

Surfer, writer, campervan man, qualified lifeguard and anti-plastics campaigner, Martin Dorey, from Bude, first came up with the idea for #2minutebeachclean in 2013 after seeing the devastating effects a storm had on the local beaches.

With plastics and man-made waste littering the beaches, Martin tried to encourage one and all to take two minutes out of their day to pick up some litter from the beach.

Since its introduction five years ago, the #2minutebeachclean hashtag has been used across the world thousands of times on social media.

Now, in 2018, Martin has released his first book on the ever-controversial topic of tackling plastics, something that has come to light in recent months through media coverage and campaigning from people who are trying to make a difference.

In an interview with Steve Wright on BBC Radio 2, along with authors Kate Mosse, Sarah Breen and Emer McLysaght, Martin said the BBC’s coverage of the plastic crisis in Blue Planet II, presented by David Attenborough, has ‘accelerated people’s thinking on plastic’.

The conversation also touched upon manufacturers and supermarkets’ part to be played, with the idea of fruits and vegetables, with their own ‘natural packaging’, being stocked on shelves in plastic bags and packets.

Martin said by making the decision to actively ask shop assistants for loose produce, rather than picking up the next best thing, which would be a bag or packet of tomatoes, for example, this may gradually get the message across to manufacturers that consumers want to see a change.

He said: “Eventually they’ll get fed up with us. They’ll think, there’s another complainer, let’s try selling this without plastic.”

Audiences also heard that people have been thinking about what is ‘convenient’ for them for too long, and that they need to think about the planet more, and with the #2minutebeachclean app, this could be possible.

Martin said the seven main culprits contributing to the plastic crisis include plastic bottles, bottle tops, straws, cutlery, wet wipes, crisp packets and sweet wrappers.

He said: “These seven things make up one third of what we pick up on the beach.

“So if we stop buying these things, we will stop that in the ocean.”

Plastics don’t just cause an eyesore for people wanting to enjoy the beaches, they also have a detrimental effect on marine wildlife.

“If a turtle eats a plastic bag, because it looks like a jellyfish — its favourite food — that plastic bag will sit on its stomach, and it won’t be able to feed off anything else because its stomach is full. Regrettably, it will die from starvation.”

Martin gave presenter Steve Wright a copy of No. More Plastic. whereby he commented on the checklist which is available to readers, allowing everyone to contribute to making positive changes in some way.

Through ‘clever buying decisions and voting with our wallets’, everyone is able to do something for the planet, however small, fitting in with Martin’s ‘2-minute solution’ idea, which encourages people to make a decision to make a difference.

“My agenda is to get people to think, inspire people to think about the way they’re living, and to inspire people to say, ‘I make a difference, I matter’.

“Governments do what’s popular, so we need to make anti-plastics popular, and then they will follow us.”

To finish the show, Steve Wright said about his own copy of his book: “I will keep it forever and I will use it.”