Plastic in the environment
1. Plastic is everywhere. A lot of it ends up in the ocean. Most plastics in the ocean break up into very small particles. These small plastic bits are called “micro-plastics.” Other plastics are intentionally designed to be small. They’re called micro-beads and are used in many health and beauty products. They pass unchanged through waterways into the ocean. Aquatic life and birds can mistake micro-plastics for food. Research is being conducted. But there’s still much we don’t know. Plastic is the most prevalent type of marine debris found in our ocean and Great Lakes. Plastic debris can come in all shapes and sizes.
2. Micro-plastic introduce several biological and chemical hazards in marine food webs. With all the future investment into our country one wonders if any mind will be paid to the effects of plastic on the environment and in particular to the ocean. 70% of the Earth is water. Most of the world food supply, recreational activity and economic survival stems from the ocean. The thought of consuming plastic is an unfortunately inevitability. This is as result of fish eating plastic, humans eating fish; or birds eating plastic, humans eating birds.
3. So while the laws regarding plastics will are amended to suit the world’s standards (a very length process); in the meantime the rivers, dams, lakes and streams are collecting plastic. Marine life and animals continue to die, fresh water supplies are continuously contaminated, micro-organisms are infused with the micro-plastic and will consequently mean that fish lose nutritional value of diet, physical damages, exposure to pathogens and transportation of alien species.
4. As the most influential mammal in the eco-system we have single handily destroyed in less than 50 years what took millions of years to create. And it stands to reason that the only way for our depleting ecosystems to recover is if we, mankind, removed ourselves; then and only then would life on planet Earth continue to flourish and bloom. We are destroying all our resources through mass consumption and ignorance. Blatantly pretending a problem isn’t there doesn’t mean it goes away. We kill more than we need and eat more than we kill; greenhouse gaseous, high levels of carbon in the atmosphere and micro-plastic will make for a tasty meal in the future, by the looks of things.
5. It matters most if it happens to a human, but if it happens to an animal it does not matter.
You are what you eat!
Remember: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
You can help keep plastic out of the ocean. Remember: Reduce. Reuse. Recycle.
WRITTEN BY:
LANA SAMUELS
