Single - Use Plastic

Single - use plastics are arguably the hardest changes to make. Single - use plastics include plastic straws, cups, lids, packaging, silverware, and bags, plus hundreds more. Everyday people use them and throw them away without even a thought about what effect it has on the planet. 6 million tons of single - use plastics are thrown away every year30. This is a devastation that will take thousands of people's help to fix it. A devastation that has killed and obliterated so many animals and ecosystems. I am praying that you will take the information that I give you and use it to change the world.

Human Consumption

You may not be big into saving animals or even saving the ecosystems but let me ask you a question; do you like yourself? Do you care about your health and well being? Humans, every lifetime, consume an average of 40 pounds of plastic. Humans also consume an average of one Lego brick of plastic every week, a dinner plate of plastic every year, and a lifebuoy of plastic every decade. Animals that we eat have consumed plastic pollution, which in turn causes us to consume it. We even breathe it in the air, plastic pollution is what we inhale when taking a deep breathe. How old are you? Are you two decades old? Three? Four? How many weeks on top of that? Ponder on how much plastic you are consuming and care enough to keep reading and make a change.31

Forest

Microplastics are creeping into the forests, affecting the soil. Microplastics are extremely small pieces of plastic that widely pollutes the earth. They contaminate the soil and ecosystems through sewage and trash. The soil then carries bacteria, viruses, and protists that act as a course for disease. This contamination changes the habits of inhabitants of the soil, which in turn affects the food chain. 32

Animals

Not only are animals being endangered by plastics through the destruction of their homes, but they are also hurt directly too. When wandering their habitats, animals get interested in the plastic they see. Their limbs can become entangled in the plastic rings, nettings, and bags that litter the area. This will cause disability, like not being able to move which means not being able to find food, water, shelter, or their families. They are also at risk of getting their heads and throats caught, which causes them to suffocate, and starve. Plastic that is consumed roots jamming in the intestines. 32

Ocean

The damage of plastic in our oceans are serious. Every year 8.8 million tons of plastic enters our ocean. This affects at least 700 species around the world, including 84% of sea turtle species, 44% seabird species, and 53% of marine mammal species. One in three marine animals have been entangled in marine litter. All of this plastic creates obstacles in the marine life. Marine life will get entangled in the stuff, which causes them to not be able to move, or not be able to breathe and eat. Plastic being dumped into the ocean causes ocean acidification, which is acid in the water33. This is even more damage to the water and the marine life living in it. 34

Other Ecosystems

You can assume the effect on the other ecosystems, since they are similar in each one. Plastic destroys everything. It is plain and simple. Animals mistake it for food, which causes the food chain to go bad. Plants and animals alike are all affected negatively. Not to mention the once beautiful areas now littered with plastic. Whether it is a swamp, a desert, a grassland, or any others, plastic will destroy it.

How to Stop It

There are an endless amount of ways to stop and reverse the single use plastic pollution. Using decomposable plates, cups, and silverware is a start. Using reusable straws, bags, and sandwich baggies are also simple ways to start. Reversing the pollution is a little harder though. There are lots of programs and missions that physically take plastic out of the ecosystems, and we can support them. Many of us can also take plastic out of the ecosystems. Just going into a nearby forest, lake, or ocean and collecting the trash will make a huge difference.

Top photo from: https://www.flickr.com/photos/okinawaphotos/50253684813/