Plastic in the Ocean

Plastic waste has been put into our Oceans, this has to come to a stop before it damages us all. Every year loads of plastic gets dumped in the middle of the ocean further out into the seas where people believe it wouldn’t affect us that way. Individuals aren’t educated on the fact that not only does the plastic that’s being dumped is a waste of resources but also affects life in the ocean and on land. Most of the plastic we use today can be recycled to be reused and renewed as a new product. Dumping loads of plastic into the ocean not only destroys wildlife but habitats as well , this could also lead rarely found species to get extinct. Abolishing plastic from our lives isn’t the choice but being able to decrease the amount of plastic made and to stop the dumping in the oceans will bring big changes to our life as a whole ecosystem.

Dumping plastic into the ocean will affect habitats and affect animals negatively. Any type of resource that does not belong to the ocean life gets put into the ocean will bring changes to life under the water. Plastic bags can get stuck and destroy “homes” of the animals. Tiny plastic waste can get swallowed by fishes, sharks, turtles etc., where the plastic gets stuck in their body which slowly leads them to death due to the plastic blocking parts of the organisms body which leads it to stop functioning normally, then leading to death. When a sea creature does consume these products and still continues to thrive in its environment and later gets hunted by us humans and gets put through factories to be consumed by us, this will affect us because we are also consuming the plastic the organism has first ingested. One organism gets affected and the food chain/web will get affected.

Lorin Hancock says, “ In the U.S, even though we collect almost 100% of the most common type of plastic polyethylene terephthalate, or PET (your standard soda bottle), only about 30% is recycled”. There are multiple ways to reduce the dumping of plastic in the oceans. One way could be to reduce the amount of plastic being used. Another way would be to reuse and recycle so it can be renewed back into a new product. Many people might ask; “if all plastic is being collected why is such a little amount being recycled?”plastics have different types of densities, there are more than 50 types of plastic which makes it harder and to process faster due to its various densities. In order to make it easier to recycle plastics, companies that use plastic should use completely recyclable types of plastics which take less effort and can get recycled much faster.

Individuals should be able to understand and practice better ways on using less plastic to better the environment. We use plastic in our daily lives; plastic water bottles, jewelry, bags, clothing, and many more materials and objects contain plastic. Most of us can’t avoid objects that have plastic because we would use them in our daily lives, one thing we can do is reduce our usage of plastic water bottles, recycle them. Donating plastic will not only be counted as recycling but also be an easy free source from people in need or homeless to contain their objective resources to help sustain their daily lives. Are you creative? Use that creativity and try to reuse the plastic as much and as long as possible. Try to purchase items that have less plastic used(look at the labels). Stand for change, work with companies that are trying to use products that contain easily recyclable plastic, bring the change.

In conclusion, loads of plastic is being dumped into the ocean every year. The plastic affects habitats, ocean life and the sea organisms where it leads to death. No animals can “adapt” to this type of life. To reduce and help the ocean life, reduce plastic usage, reuse, recycle. Aim to purchase products that use less or no plastic, this will not only help reduce plastic usage but also reduce the amount of plastic that gets put into waste. To make the environment a better place, strive to protect its organisms and their habitats, work/ support with companies that have goals to help keep life in the ocean healthy and safer. Help spread the word and educate the uneducated. Seek to get individuals to decrease the quantity that they purchase. This will not only save so many lives but also better us as humans, because we will strive to make it safer to our environments as well.

Citations

- https://www.reuseplastics.org/news/no-longer-lost-at-sea

- https://www.iucn.org/resources/issues-briefs/marine-plastics#:~:text=At%20least%208%20million%20tons,causes%20severe%20injuries%20and%20deaths.