A Human Role

By now, I’ve realised that actions so slight compose no such difference on the grass I walk on or the sky I gaze. Still, to feed my moral compass, I walk to college, recycle aluminium cans, recycle food waste, recycle glass bottles, recycle paper and cardboard, recycle batteries, never drop litter and use reusable face masks. Perchance just yesterday, living in the belief that fellow actions like these made such change. The world saw no change. No improvement.

Nonetheless, if the power does arrive with age, I wish to change this. In the period of the pandemic, forming plans accessible to transformation. Using psychological research on which generations are the most open-minded to adjustment and development, solving problems that may or will become events in the future. As a reader does not expect a perfect plan, remember one mind alone can not fix the world.

Presently, according to National Geographic, 91% of plastic does not get recycled. A sorrowful reminder that only 9% is recycled. By 2050, 12 billion metric tons of plastic will be sedentary in landfills across the globe in this pathway development. To scope that to the imagination, that amount of plastic weighs relatively 35,000 times more than the whole Empire State Building. They were slowly breaking down into feasibly more alarming microplastics. Metal, in terms of recycling, demonstrates an improvement compared to plastic. With 32% of metal recycled worldwide. Being much easier to recycle, Glass found to be recycled 31.3% of the time during 2018. On a higher note, 5% of glass appears in landfills. When not handled densely with chemicals, paper is one of the most recyclable materials to date. Currently, 68% of all cardboard and paper is recycled. With the lack of restoration to the recycling supply chain, a backwash of a failing environment is soon to reach us.

Beyond land, the sea remodels battered habitats due to the expense of human life. Overfishing forces many species into near extinction as a product of industrial fishing. Direct results from overfishing include Atlantic cod. In the 1960s, new technologies like sonar radar permitted the power of anglers to catch in the more bottomless sea at a faster rate. With the rapid increase in sales not beyond a few decades, the 1990s witnessed the collapse of said fishery practice. Newfoundland, once the largest cod fishery in the world, estimated cod biomass decrease of 99%. Dredging, a form of harvest, induces habitat destruction. They are decreasing water quality and inflicting damage on burrowing animals. Seafloor trawling reduces biomass and the generation of benthic species. Causing damage on other life forms such as; corals, oysters, and sponges assemble protective marine habitats. Without protection, unethical fishing processes result in fast past widespread die-offs of marine life, alongside the harvest of fish, a standard incredibly harmful side product in bycatch. Animals caught, killed or injured with no frequent use in the daily human diet. Sea turtles being most prone due to a biological need to reach the surface for oxygen. As well as lines are trapping marine animals like sharks and most dolphins. Birds that fly over the open sea are attracted to the bait. As lines are placed in water, once seized by the cord or gear, they soon drown.

Given the power I wish so, how would I plan to change the impacts on the globe.

Goals of mine include a significant focus on the materials we recycle. To complete a near carbon-neutral world, we must become less dependable on hard-to-recycle products. If not, pollution and corruption will continue to heighten to irreversible levels. Another goal I wish to complete would be direct impacts on our dying oceans through unethical fishing processes.

Within the internal society of plastic production, some are single-use, and some are recyclable. In a group of recycling plastics, some are more so than others as not all plastics are created equal. With the Resin Identification Code, numerical divisions inform the type of plastic. Water bottles (#1 - PET) have the highest recycling value. According to health risks, keep out of the sun to avoid a toxic leak. Other plastics (#7) demonstrates many dangers due to being non-recyclable and corn-based (PLA). Following the effects of health, plastics link to disrupting hormonal growth and carcinogens. Affirmed by Science History Institute, “current health concerns focus on additives (such as bisphenol A [BPA] and a class of chemicals called phthalates) that go into plastics during the manufacturing process, making them more flexible, durable and transparent.” Experts agree to avoid #3 PVC (regularly found in pipes) and #6 PS (Styrofoam, often with food/drink containers). Plastics are either thermosets or thermoplastics. Thermoplastics can be re-melted and re-moulded, thus recycled. Thermoset plastics hold polymers cross-linking to create an irreversible chemical bond, thus non-recyclable.

Causing a development in plastic production needs time but also efficiency. Change must happen now, not later. Within my belief, 2030 should be the year to manage only recyclable plastics in materials—leaving nine years to prepare to improve this production plan. Type #3 PVC, #6 PS and #7 PET will no longer be legal. They are benefiting the health of the earth and its people. By 2025, layering materials in packaging that display harmful risks and can not be recycled will be illegal. Plastic is not recycled over 2-3 times as the length of polymers shorten. In a period of recycling plastic, additional virgin material added to increase the quality and durability. However, what can be recycled continuously? Glass and metal can be recycled continuously without losing quality or the need for additional virgin material. On the other hand, plastic primarily used within recycling due to safety and profit. With research, we should try to discover new ways to implement glass and metal into the recycling chain further.

What can make protection of our oceans through a change in fishing practices? Diver harvesting of oyster demonstrated a less damaging effect on the structure of coral reefs compared to dredging. Diver harvesting gathers those only with commercial value. Dredging collects all oysters, including ones dead on the reef. Diving furthermore has been shown as holding higher effectiveness. Oysters harvesting an increased per time of fishing.

Bycatch can reduce using the research portraying that some hooks on lines do not get stuck in the mouths of sea turtles, resulting in belittling the risk of capture and injury or death. How can we divert marine animals? With the use of acoustic pingers. Demonstrating positive research and results in reducing bycatch in grill net fishery. The use of light is employed in many fishing techniques to attract fish. Different light frequencies can execute into fishing practices. Turtle light perception has been explored through research, exposing how some frequencies are not visible to turtles—offering a system that does not attract turtles. What can also reduce bycatch through renovating ideas of new biodegradable gear? For example, nets left behind after usual fishing routines. Including biodegradable elements in yields will reduce bycatch like dolphins and sharks. 2026, fishing practices similar as to have stated and including so will have active use in our society. There resulting in making unethical methods illegal.

Finally, educating our current and future society will immediately support the elevation of the environmental world. Undoubtedly, educating those when the most open-minded and impressionable in an ethical way would be most practical. Psychologically, 12-18 and 19-24 show most modifications to behaviour, belief and values, hoping that great minds will be formed and think together in healing the earth due to selfish human expense.