Plastic !
What's so bad about it ?
There´s hardly any issue discussed so widely in media all around the world like the plastic pollution of the oceans. We read that whole beaches are submerged by plastic waste, and that animals die because they have plastic in their stomache. But how come plastic is such a big problem?
1. Plastic never decomposes
Plastic gets smaller and smaller but never vanishes completely. Big pieces of plastic such as bottles, plastic bags, fisher nets and any other item made of plastic become small particles, called microplastic.
Microplastic is passed for food by small organisms but also birds, fish and molluscs can take in plastic when grabbing for food.
2. Plastic spreads everywhere
Even in antarctic and the deep seas plastic has been found. With wind, rivers and the currents of the oceans, plastic finds its way to the most remote places. It stresses sensitive ecosystems in oceans and shores such as corals, mangroves but also gathers at all the beautiful beaches where we love to spend our holidays.
3. Plastic harms
Plastic contains and gathers different kinds of pollutants such as toxines or chemicals. Those are able to negatively influence the hormone balance of animals who accidentally feed on the microplastic. But plastic can as well be harmful because of sharp edges, which arise when bigger plastics break into small peaces. Animals feeding on these particles can suffer from micro-injuries, which can further cause infections and inflammation.
4. Plastic kills
Animals get stuck in sixpaacks, strings, plastic bags or other plastic compounds and die a cruel dead. They can also pass plastic bags and microplastic for food and starve to death because they can neither digest nor excrete the plastic. Plastic also can gather and contain toxines, whicht influence the hormonal balance of organisms which get in touch with it.
What's that got to do with me ?
Now you might wonder what has all this got to do with you. What can you do about it, you might ask.
You bet a lot !
The simple reason why everybody of us can make a change is that we are all consumers. Whatever is being produced, shipped or fished on this planet, it is to provide us with food, clothes and convenient stuff. While consuming, we produce a lot of plastic waste, some of us more, others less, depending on lifestyle and the economic circumstances in which everyone lives. So everybody of us carries the responsibility for what happens to this planet. Every single one of us carries the responsibility, to clear our environment of the dirty footsteps we have left on it.
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For that reason, it is just fair that everybody of us
makes a contributionto clear up with the consequences
of the environmental pollution we have caused!
