Attenborough’s Blue Planet may well have saved it

Sir David Attenborough has long been revered for his talents as a broadcaster; a man who has the ability to make us watch in wonder as he reports from the remotest parts of the world.

However, it is some of his latest work that will, most probably, have the biggest impact on our vulnerable planet.

By highlighting, through his programme Blue Planet II, the awful devastation being caused by plastics in our oceans, he is turning the tide of public opinion against our throwaway culture from a mere trickle to a torrent.

We are now all questioning the consequences of using new inventions that seemed harmlessly convenient.

Our use of straws, plastic bags, wet wipes, and cling film – to name just a few – are rightly being scrutinised.

It’s also encouraging to see an increasing number of people in Scotland returning to the humble milk bottle instead of picking up a plastic container.

It makes complete and utter sense given a glass bottle can be reused 20 times before having to be scrapped.

It is hugely gratifying to see so many people start to change their habits.

However, it is also worrying that, for so long, multinational companies were able to develop new plastic products without ever paying for the consequences.

Surely, the makers of such items should now be made responsible for helping to deal with those products once they have been used.

Perhaps, a levy should be paid towards supporting more recycling schemes or developing new waste management systems.

It really isn’t good enough for firms to produce billions upon billions of tonnes of plastic and then wash their hands of any responsibility when it turns up in our countryside or the sea.