Plastic Oceans: We need to do better

The growth of plastic production is seriously damaging our planet. Over the past sixty years, plastic production has skyrocketed by a massive 1220%, and it's estimated that more than 100 million tons are dumped into our ocean each year. It is now projected that there will be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish in the world by 2050. The detrimental impact on marine life and sea animals has been extensively documented, as well as its adverse effects on human health.

Plastic threatens marine life

Think about the last time you went to the ocean, lake or river. Did you notice that one of the things that stood out was plastic? Plastic threatens marine life because it tends to break down into smaller pieces and are difficult or impossible for marine animals to get rid of.

Governments need assert stronger polices to deal with the existential threat to our oceans and seas. The British government announced it would press ahead with plans to ban the tiny pieces of plastic found in everyday products such as shower gels and face scrubs. Environmental campaigners have been calling for a ban since a study revealed that more than 800 species of marine life are at risk from the beads. Hawaiian monk seals and Pacific loggerhead sea turtles are among nearly 700 species that eat and get caught in plastic litter. The ban on the production of microbeads came into effect in January 2019. It's astonishing manufactures had to be told they could manufacture the offending plastics.

Conservation groups are cleaning up the oceans

A number of conservation groups are helping to clean up the oceans from all the plastic that has been accumulating for years. It's a daunting task, but with the help of volunteers and donations, they are making progress. 4Ocean is one of my favorite clean up operations. Friends, Alex and Andrew took a surfing trip to Bali. The amount of plastic on the beaches alarmed them. This is their story.

Devastated by the amount of plastic in the ocean, they set out to find out why no one was doing anything about it. One afternoon they came across an old fishing village where fishermen were literally pushing their boat through piles of plastic that had washed up on shore. The two surfers realized that the proliferation of plastic threatened both the ocean environment and the fishermen's livelihood.

Could the fishermen use their nets, they wondered, to pull the plastic from the ocean? This idea stuck with the 2 surfers and they knew it was time to hit the drawing board. After realizing that the demand for seafood was driving the fishermen to focus on fish instead of plastic, they knew they had to create something that could fund the desired cleanup efforts.

Head over to 4Ocean today, they need our support. The plastic soup will grow unless we do more to help them.

Governments must take action against plastic

Governments around the world have taken immediate action against the use of plastic, but it's not enough. According to Global Citizen, governments around the world have taken several steps to reducing ocean plastic;

Plastic bag bans. Supermarkets up and down the UK banned the the single use plastic bag, better late than never. Bangladesh implemented a ban in 2002.

Microbeads: We've discussed the menace, but it raises the question as to how many beads entered global water streams.

Reuse of plastic: According to Tech Startups, India has built 21,000 miles of road using plastic waste. That's a phenomenal achievement, but it goes to show how much plastic waste exists.

Company responsibility. Look closely at the next plastic bottle you hold, because you might see the words RECYCLE ME printed on the side. The US state of Maine introduced a law in 2021 making companies responsible for packing.

Facts on plastics in the ocean

In the ocean, plastics can be mistaken for food by fish and other marine life. Once ingested, the plastics can block the digestive system, leach harmful chemicals into the organism's tissues, and ultimately kill them. Plastic Oceans, US-based 501 (c)(3) non-profit organization, claim 100 per cent of mussels tested contained micro plastics. Moules mariniére anyone?

McKinsey Insights published an alarming report, stating by 2025, a staggering 250 million metric tons of plastic are projected to be in the ocean unless action is taken. That is one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish. Holy smokes. It strikes me that there is a big lump underneath the carpet. We're not heading towards an environmental disaster, we're in the eye of the needle.

Bag the trash but don't ship it

I couldn't end this article without discussing shipping. Tens of thousands of shipping containers-worth of plastic has been sent from one continent to another. Romania are the latest country to say no to waste arriving from afar. Romania said it would not allow 20,000 tonnes of mixed plastic for recycling to be sent there from the UK. The national authority for environmental affairs and protection of territory (ANPA) said the waste was a “risk to public health”.

The authorities in Romania are so concerned about the quality of the material that they have said it will be burned in incinerators, rather than recycled. It's a depressing situation. The only hope for marine life, the oceans and the planets is for us humans to do better, by changing our behaviour.

Thank you for reading my blog - come and say hello on twitter @JWozniak16