Nature does a lot of things for mankind, But how do we repay it? It is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. That’s more than 5 trillion pieces of plastic. I was not aware of this growing issue until I traveled to Hawaii and went snorkeling. I saw a reef with tons of plastic in it. The fish were still going about their everyday lives. Our lives upgraded but their lives downgraded. So WHAT is happening to all the plastics?
» “Of the 8.3 billion metric tons that has been produced, 6.3 billion metric tons has become plastic waste. Of that, only nine percent has been recycled. The vast majority—79 percent—is accumulating in landfills or sloughing off in the natural environment as litter.” A quote from National Geographic
» Animals are dying from eating plastics. The plastics kill 100,000 marine animals a year and one million sea birds
» People don’t know the proper ways to recycle plastics. The plastics end up in landfills and the wind can blow them into nearby oceans, parks, forests.
As people who live on Earth and made this mess in the first place, we need to take action by using fewer plastics in our daily lives. A little bit can go a long way YOU can help by using reusable bags instead, glass containers, reusable water bottles, becoming educated on properly recycling the plastics you do use.
This ongoing issue is being pushed aside because this is not affecting the people NOW but it will very soon if we don’t start to tweak our living habits to be more sustainable to the many species including US that live here on earth. YOU can help this change. ONE person will make a difference.
Parker, Laura. (2018). A whopping 91% of plastics is not recyclable. National Geographic
Evie's Nature Blog 