Would you mind eating a 4m hose for dinner? What about two lovely flower pots for dessert? In a stomach of a beached whale in 2012, amongst its partially digested prey, such plastic materials were found along with 30m2 of tarpaulin and a 9m plastic rope. That is quite unusual. You, yes you there behind the screen, you disperse around a hundred kilograms of plastic a year. To our knowledge, landfills are being dug and used to get rid of the huge amounts of waste; however, little do we know about the insane amount of plastic that are being discarded in the sea.
A hundred million tons of plastics are found in the Pacific Ocean and due to its currents, it’s forming a mass of plastic waste almost the size of Europe. Plastic, as to common knowledge, doesn’t rot and it is stated that it may last up to five hundred years, if not even more. Exposure to natural elements in the sea, such as sun, wind and water, breaks it down into microscopic parts. These plastic particles have absorbed high concentrations of industrial and agricultural toxins. Such particles are then eaten by marine creatures since it is mistaken for plankton. In fact, there is 60 times more plastic than there is plankton.
The sad part is that in a year, hundreds of thousands of marine animals, birds and turtles die a slow and painful death. These animals either starve to death with a full stomach, or their digestive system raptures. Others, if you might say, are "fortunate’ enough to become seafood on our plate. The big question to ask is, what are we eating, food or plastic? It is hard to say. Plastic undergoes a lot of processes to which hazardous chemicals are added. In the last 10 years, hardly 11 out of the hundreds of thousands of additives used in plastic were identified.
That is a small number compared to how much plastic is being produced. How does this happen? Plastic factories look like fortifications with secretive concoctions trying to make it better but they are only making it worse. Did you know that shower gels and toothpaste, basic things us humans use to keep ourselves clean, have micro plastics? These micro plastics cannot be filtered and eventually end up in the sea as well. On an even more serious note, plastic is not only a danger to animals in general but it is also harmful for us humans.
Ingestion through airways and even the mere touch can lead to asthma, cancer, infertility and developmental disorders. Remember that when you’re drinking out of a plastic bottle when you’re running late for a lecture or for work. The manly voice over the cute animation, if it is considered cute, says that there is hope. Hope you say? Intelligent robot nets and fishing boats converted to recycling factories are being created to cleanse the ocean and biodegradable plastic made of maze or starch might be a different alternative however, the global demand of plastic will overwhelm such productions.
You might tell me, but I how can I, me, a human being, living on this big planet, help? Well, as I tell you this, imagine a little animation of a shopping cart. Basically, when buying products in a supermarket take notice of their packaging products and opt for paper instead of plastic and this also applies to using paper bags instead of plastic bags. Also, recycling old plastic and using plastic free products would help a lot.
This message ends with a disclaimer. Be the change you wish to see in the world. Do this not by speaking in public or holding an assembly, but by doing small acts that might spark up interest.
