The Effects of Plastic Pollution by Maya Felix

Image Source: Sims Lifecycle Services

I know how easy it can be to throw a plastic bag or cup away and not think about the impact it can have. And how easy it can be to throw massive amounts of garbage away that can be recycled. These “habits” can lead to something way larger than we know. 

Plastic on advantage takes 450 years to decompose, and the amount of plastic on this planet is overwhelming. Plastic covers 40% of the world's ocean surface and 8.3 billion tons take over our earth. Today we rely heavily on plastic and almost all of our materials consist of plastic. And we are blind to the amount of effects that plastic causes to our environment and society. 

Plastic pollution reveals it’s harmful effects to our world by killing and capturing marine life in nets and debris, and by ingestion that concern the food chain. A team of scientists and workers known as The Ocean Cleanup, unload massive amounts of plastic from the Pacific ocean, which shows the results of how much plastic covers our earth. So far the team has 63,000 pounds of garbage out of the sea, and they are just scratching the surface. The patch of pollution known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch covers an area twice the size of Texas or three times the size of France.

Plastic has littered our world and continues to do so as we overlook the problem. Some ways to eliminate plastic from our everyday uses are: Metal straws, reusable bags, reusable containers, reusable silverware, reusable water bottles, and limit your use of plastic produce bags. The list can go on, and limiting the amount of plastic used can have a progressive impact. 

So if we turn a blind eye to the effects of plastic and don’t do anything about it, we can destroy our earth and affect our ways of living. 


Source:

https://www.usatoday.com/story/news/world/2021/10/29/great-pacific-garbage-patch-ocean-cleanup-nets-63000-pounds-trash/6138815001/