![Tottenham warmup, Wigan Athletic v Tottenham Hotspur. - [Image credit – Dan Farrimond / Wikimedia Commons]](https://staticr1.blastingcdn.com/media/photogallery/2018/6/1/660x290/b_502x220x82/tottenham-warmup-wigan-athletic-v-tottenham-hotspur-image-credit-dan-farrimond-wikimedia-commons_2019393.jpg "Tottenham warmup, Wigan Athletic v Tottenham Hotspur. - [Image credit – Dan Farrimond / Wikimedia Commons]")
Soccer is a game that has a huge fan following and when there are important league matches, the stadiums are chock full of supporters. They shout themselves hoarse as they cheer their teams and they need water to wet their throats. Obviously, they carry drinking water in plastic bottles. At the end of the match, these empty bottles add to the litter and become an eyesore. They not only destroy the environment but also disturb the ecological balance. Sky News reports that the Premier League has decided to phase out single-use plastics over the next two years and teams are urged to follow suit.
Tottenham will ban such material from its new stadium that is to open next season.
The game of soccer can help the cause
Sports can influence the decisions of the people, and soccer attracts thousands of fans to the stadium. If there is a ban on single-use plastics at such venues, the accumulation of litter can reduce drastically. That is the objective. Britain has taken up this issue in real earnest and wants to put to use the power of sport to end the menace of plastics. Apart from banning such substances, the leagues could consider introducing a bottle return scheme to encourage the people to return the empty bottles instead of discarding them in the open. Plastic litter is a menace to the environment and it chokes the seas and endangers wildlife.
In the opinion of experts, the amount of plastic in the oceans could treble by 2025 unless action is taken to check the trend.
Link plastic waste to soccer
Any major outdoor event like soccer attracts people in large numbers and it is difficult to avoid the entry of single-use plastics. In order to check this, the administration must take the initiative and evolve suitable measures.
The ban could be extended to any event that sees thousands of footfalls. According to the BBC, items like plastic cups, bottles, bags, stirrers, trays, and cutlery are all by-products of soccer matches. The English Football League is the single largest body of professional clubs in European soccer. Therefore, they should make use of the love of this game to gradually discard single-use plastic.
Realizing the effect of plastic pollution on the environment, a number of companies have agreed to cut down this evil over the next seven years. The firms are toying with ideas to eliminate single-use packaging by incorporating a better design of the containers. Plastic has invaded our lives and to come out of its web, it is necessary to pursue revolutionary concepts.
