In the last post we talked about the problem of litter in our oceans. It is literally a huge problem. So how is this litter getting into our oceans? There are a variety of ways pollution enters our oceans. Below is a list adapted from marinelittersolutions.com.
Causes of Marine Litter Pollution
· Poorly managed or poorly resourced landfill sites
· Sewage treatment and combined sewer overflows
· People using beaches for recreation or shore fishing
· Manufacturing sites, plastic processing, and transport
· Shore-based solid-waste disposal and processing facilities
· Inadequately covered waste containers and waste-container vehicles
· Inappropriate or illegal dumping of domestic and industrial trash or waste
· Street litter that is washed by rain or snowmelt, or blown by wind into waterways
Sadly, when looking at this list, all of these causes are preventable. They all revolve around the lack of respect for our resources. Out of site out of mind. We figure that once it is out of our hands it will be someone else’s problem. We take no personal responsibility for the waste we generate, what happens to it once it leaves our hands, and how it ultimately effects the environment. The instant gratification we get from the fast food burger outweighs any issues the wrapper might pose to the environment when we throw it out. The wrapper becomes someone else’s problem. The bottle of water we are drinking is convenient and safe yes. But we also have a tremendous responsibility to ensure that plastic bottle is disposed of properly and makes it to a recycling facility. According to earthday.org we use approximately 1,000,000 plastic bottles per minute globally. Only 1 out of every 5 plastic bottles gets recycled. Taken on a global scale this problem is massive to the point it seems insurmountable. But if we look at it from the perspective of our own personal life we can do something about it. Doing nothing is not an option.
In the next post we are going to take a closer look at microplastics, what they are and how they are created as well as their effects on marine life.
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