We all know that there is a lot of litter in the ocean, unfortunately, most of it is plastic litter. Plastic waste can be seen everywhere, whether on the sea floor or on the sea surface. These plastic wastes are of different types, shapes and sizes. We can find plastic waste on the beach, in the stomachs of animals, or see plastic waste wrapped around animals. That's really bad news for our oceans and the animals that live in or near them, and it's also bad news for us humans.
A recent study by the University of Georgia estimated that about eight million metric tons of plastic waste enters the ocean each year. That's the equivalent of putting 5 bags full of plastic on every foot of coastline in the world. That's quite a lot of plastic for the ocean! The reason why plastic waste is in the ocean is because we humans throw plastic waste into the ocean.
The 5 most common types of plastic found in international coastal cleanups are plastic cigarette butts, food packaging bags, plastic beverage bottles, plastic bottle caps, plastic straws and mixing sticks. Did you notice anything in common between these items? That's right, most of them are single-use plastics.
Needless to say, we produce too much garbage. When we litter or don't recycle it, it ends up in the ocean. Plastic is very important to our modern life and we do many good things with it! When we're done using plastics, we're responsible for how much we use every day and what to do with them. Of course, this also requires each of us to practice.
Reduce the amount of single-use plastics you use, the ones you throw away after only one use at a time. Just use less of these single-use plastics. Reuse single-use plastics if possible. A plastic bottle makes a great coin piggy bank or watering can. There are so many possibilities for you to discover. Recycle everything that can be recycled so they don't have to be used for landfill. Because when used as landfill, there is a possibility that the garbage will be blown away.
If we don't change our ways, ocean plastic waste will become a huge problem and will only get worse. We can do better, for the ocean and for ourselves.
Source: NOAA