Plastic Is Killing Our Oceans

Plastic Is Killing Our Oceans

D. S. Mitchell

Plastic is one of the most common materials in our daily lives. We eat and drink from it. Stuff is packaged in it, stuff is shipped in it. If current practices continue plastic dumping into the ocean is expected to double by 2025. That’s only seven years from now!

Ninety seven per cent of the Earth’s livable habitat is found in our oceans.  The oceans of the world are home to more than 700,000 known species and they generate more than half of the oxygen that we as living organisms breath.  Something must be done soon. We are standing by, seemingly paralyzed, as our oceans are becoming the biggest waste dump in the world. Our oceans are choking on plastic. We dump the equivalent of one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute of every day, non-stop.

We produce more and more throwaway plastic garbage, much of which we don’t really need. Recycling projects are failing to keep up with the threat. Plastic pollution is quickly transforming our seas into the biggest waste dump on the planet.

Plastic does not break down naturally. Things that had a useful life of just a few minutes or hours remains in the environment for 100’s of years.  These plastics kill ocean wildlife and enter the food chain, as plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. Plastic bags, cosmetic micro-beads and other types of plastic trash have spread throughout the ocean, from the surface to the deepest ocean canyons. Plastic debris washes back on to our beaches creating an ugly reminder of this ongoing environmental disaster.

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