Plastic in the ocean and marine life:

Today, most of the products are packaged in plastic and people will keep producing and adding the plastic into our environment. You may think it will end up in a recycling center or reuse in new products. But guess what, over 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into the world’s ocean every year.

According to “A Plastic in the Ocean'' film, one whale died because of a 6 square meters plastic sheet in its body. The sea turtles mistake plastic bags for jellyfish, this can cause the problem with their breathing and floating because plastics produce gases in their stomach. An estimate of 90% of seabirds have microplastics in their body which are the main cause of their death. Microplastics were created when the UV light, salt, and wave action in the ocean breaks down large pieces of plastic. The North Atlantic has an estimate of 3,440 metric tons of just microplastics. This is not all the problems our lovely sea animals have faced. In fact many of the sea animals are affected by plastic because of its shape and its characteristics. For example, the seals mistake plastic rings that are used to keep the bottles together for seaweeds. Besides that, the scientists are trying to fix this issue. The seabirds pick up the plastics from all over the ocean and return it to their nesting grounds so the scientists can research it.

There are re-circulate water ways in the ocean which are called the gyre or garbage patch. The reason why they called it a garbage patch is because most of our garbage and plastics ended up in this re-circulate cycle. Many garbage also ended up around Manila Bay and Smokey Mountain I in the Philippines. Smokey Mountain I has too much garbage, when it reaches a certain temperature it catches fire. This garbage creates methane which is very harmful to living things and the environment, it can cause pulmonary disease such as tuberculosis and emphysema. The children in Manila Bay can’t afford to go to school, instead they collect these plastics and sell them for money to buy food.

People may think that we cannot turn these dirty places like Manila Bay and Smokey Mountain back to a healthy environment to where they are supposed to be. This is not true, we can turn it back by using the method called bioremediation and phytoremediation. Bioremediation is the use of natural organisms to break down hazardous substances into less toxic or non-toxic substances. Phytoremediation is similar to bioremediation, instead it uses green plants to detoxify soil and water. In conclusion, there are ways to help turn everything back to a healthy and clean environment. But we cannot do that if we still produce more and more garbage. The most important thing that we can do and will completely change it is our behaviour. So please think before you buy or throw everything away. Think about our health, marine life, every single animal, and lastly, the new generations. Let’s make it a behaviour and teach the new generations to do what’s right.

Sources: “A Plastic Ocean” film, https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=57jv8vBIUHI