Let’s Rethink Plastic Use, Seriously

Today, the world’s oceans face a massive and growing threat from something we encounter everyday: plastic. Plastics are the number one source of pollution in the ocean. According to stats, approximately every square mile of ocean has more than 45,000 pieces of plastic floating in it. Scientists think that the amount of plastic in the ocean might triple by 2050— meaning that there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish! This is shocking and terrible news.

But, not all plastic is bad. Materials such as bike helmets, car airbags, and many medical supplies are made with plastic, which helps save thousands of lives each year. Plastic water bottles can bring clean drinking water to people who don’t have access to clean drinking water, and plastic straws can help people with disabilities drink.

The problem is that most of us use and then toss way more plastic than we need: things like grocery bags, plastic bottles, straws, food wrappers, and plastic packaging. This kind of single-use plastic makes up more than 40% of all plastic trash, and this includes plastic microbeads (used in some personal care products). The 5 most common items found in coastal cleanups around the world are all single-use plastics.

How does plastic get into the oceans? Plastic left on the ground as litter often blows into creeks and rivers, eventually ending up in the ocean. The plastic debris that reaches the ocean is capable of absorbing toxic chemicals, thus polluting the water. The sea life that consumes the plastic is then poisoned. Because plastic never completely disappears and breaks down into smaller pieces, it is often seen as food to marine life, and stays in the ocean for a long time. Abandoned fishing nets, which float for thousands of kilometers each year, trap many animals such as turtles and dolphins, causing them to drown. Plastics cause more than 80% of the negative effects on animals associated with ocean trash. Plastics can persist in the environment for a millennium, pollute our beaches, entangle marine life, and get ingested by fish and seabirds: Over 100,000 marine animals die every year from plastic entanglement and ingestion —from zooplankton and fish, to sea turtles, marine mammals and seabirds

How can you help to stop this plastic pollution? These are some helpful, simple tips:

• Say no to straws. Animals can get sick after mistaking them for food, and instead, carry your own paper straw or reusable version. Also no matter what your favorite ice-cream flavours , always choose to have it in a cone. 

• Fill up at a fountain. Drink out of a reusable water bottle instead of a plastic version. That way you won’t be buying one of the nearly one million plastic drink bottles sold every minute around the world.

• Pack sandwiches and snacks in reusable containers instead of plastic bags. Bring a reusable bag for shopping (i.e. grocery store, retail shops, etc.) Remember: Reduce, Reuse, Recycle. Reduce your usage of single-use plastics. Reuse plastic packaging as many times as you can. Recycle rather than throw away.

• Buy in bulk. Shop for snacks, cereal, and other foods in the bulk section of your grocery store to avoid waste from plastic packaging, and then store it all in reusable glass jars. Avoid products with excessive packaging.

• Ditch microbeads. Don't use face wash or toothpaste with microbeads (ingredients listed as polyethylene or polypropylene). These tiny plastic beads go down the drain, eventually flowing to rivers, lakes, and the ocean. There they can be mistaken for food by fish and sea turtles—a dish that could be deadly.

• Never litter. Trash left on the ground often blows into creeks and rivers, eventually making its way to the ocean. Pick up the trash that you find in your local creek or river or help organize a neighborhood clean up. Any time you see litter, regardless of what it is, pick it up and properly dispose of it.

• But, recycling alone is not enough to solve the plastics crisis. Even though it is a popular solution to plastic pollution, only 9% of all plastic waste generated has been recycled. To have a larger impact, we must reduce the amount of single-use plastic being produced at the source. Let’s campaign for companies to adopt alternatives for single-use plastic packaging. Educate those around you. People can’t change what they don’t know about, so help spread the word.

Hope you enjoyed this blog! And seriously, let’s do our part to help protect our beautiful oceans and the many wonderful and unique creatures living in it!

Images:

https://www.waste360.com/legislation-regulation/us-reps-unveil-next-step-remove-prevent-marine-pollution


https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sciencetech/article-7703541/Manta-rays-whale-sharks-Indonesia-consuming-63-PIECES-plastic-pollution-hour.html