Fish and chips, seafood linguine, traditional fish pie, and seafood paella. Mmm… simply delicious, right? Indeed, they are but, if the world keeps buying single-use plastics, these dishes might soon be plastilicious! Well, this doesn’t sound tasty nor healthy…  20 years from now, the plastic waste in our oceans could triple. By 2050, there will be more plastic than fish in the globe’s waters.

Teaming up with marine conservation charity PADI Aware Foundation, water filtration system Virgin Pure aims to raise awareness about the dangers posed by plastic waste at sea. By continuing to buy bottled water and other single-use plastics, the world keeps all marine life under threat. In an effort to prevent this process from evolving and warn consumers about the risks of continuing to rely on plastics, Virgin Pure “contaminates” their suppers with plastics to show how the future dinners might taste like if people don’t act immediately.

With a mission to reduce the number of single-use plastics people consume in the UK, Virgin Pure reimagines four popular fish and seafood dishes Britons love. Instead of pampering their taste buds with delicious fish, consumers are presented with plastic, retrieved from the ocean by PADI Aware Foundation. Although this might sound extreme, fish replaced by plastics could be a reality in 2050 if we continue to buy this material at the current rate.

Each year, the world produces around 275 million tons of plastic waste; between 4.8 million and 12.7 million tons of waste is either washed or dumped into the waters. An average London citizen buys more than three water bottles every week. Around 7.7 billion plastic bottles are bought across the nation each year, which leads to substantial amounts of single-use plastic waste.

Even though the recipes created don’t look appetizing for us, they work as a wake-up call not only for Britons but for the rest of the planet as well. Targeted at bottled-water buyers, the campaign shows that some of these plastics can contaminate not only marine life but can also affect us through the water we drink or the food we eat. Experts say that between 10 and 30% of fish in any sample will ingest fragments of microplastics.

For example, despite living deep in the Pacific Ocean, a “shrimp-like” amphipod experiences the destructive actions humans do above sea level. To highlight the urgency with which the world has to act, the team who discovered the marine creature has named it after what contaminates it: Eurythenes plasticus.

Tom Stazicker, CEO of Virgin Pure, comments: “None of us want to be consuming plastic, visible or not. Our products filter out harmful substances like chlorine, rust, and microplastics that are commonly found in regular tap water, giving a better reason than ever before for people to stop buying bottled water. We’re delighted to be supporting the work that PADI AWARE Foundation does by partnering them and proud to be able to offer a solution for those who want to kick the plastic bottle habit for good.”

Danna Moore, Global Director, PADI AWARE Foundation, adds: “We hope this campaign helps bring to life just how severe the problem is, and encourages people to do better, get involved in ocean conservation, and cut down on single-use plastic bottles. Whether you are a certified diver, a fisherman, or a small child building a sandcastle at the local beach, the declining health of the oceans affects us all.”

Since starting in 2012, Virgin Pure — part of the Virgin group — has provided plastic-free ways to help people stay hydrated as part of a healthy and sustainable lifestyle. The current initiative places the brand as a great ally people can rely on to drink free-of-impurities water and fight for cleaner oceans.

Credits: Virgin Pure // PADI Aware Foundation