Lets save our world!

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5 years ago

Solving a Huge Problem - Alternatives to Plastic

The plastic pollution in the oceans is truly astonishing. An
estimated 8-10 million tons of plastic enters the oceans every year.
Most people do not know how big a problem this really is as they don’t
interact with the oceans much, only as holiday makers once a year. That
is why the problem isn’t widely known.
My granddaughter mentioned her wish to become a vet working with
ocean life, as no-one look after the fish in the see. She made me
think, we focus on land issues, but we can, if not more, impact in the
ocean live as well. For most people it’s so far away, it is so out of
sight, out of mind, and really inaccessible for the majority of people.
When going on vacation we search for clean shores and clear water to
have fun during our weeks visit to the beach. Does it ever cross our
minds what is really happening to our oceans?

The Problem is Bigger then what we can Imagine

Straws might seem like a superficial place to start, but in the US
alone, 500 million straws are used per day, coffee stirrers, cocktail
straws, big, bendy straws and much more. Most of these straws end up in
the world’s oceans, where they clog shorelines and gather in thick
ringlets which we cannot even imagine.

The straws with other plastic garbage, gradually break down into
micro plastics that release toxins into the water and eventually cover
the sea floor. The plastic pulp ends up, being mistaken, for food by
marine life, which, when swallowed, can cause injury or even death. Seen
from this macro-perspective, minimizing straws would be a pretty
effective way to start in the quest to clean the oceans.

Quantifying plastic pollution in the world’s ocean requires a deep
understanding of productions. It is commonly accepted that most plastic
found in or near the marine environment is coming from rivers. Rivers
particularly play an important role in transporting mismanaged plastic
waste from the land into the ocean. Coming from the African continent I
experienced this myself. Living in the mountain areas, next to a river,
when rainfalls, I saw masses of garbage floating down with the water to
our ocean. In South Africa, some people, even call the colorful plastic bags, stick to the fences, our African Flowers as you are greeted with different color bags along the high ways of our beautiful country.
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The World's 5 Problem Areas

Many plastics, for instance, do not wear down; they simply break into tinier and tinier pieces.   For many people, the idea of a “garbage patch” conjures up images of an island of trash floating on the ocean. In reality, these patches are almost entirely made up of tiny bits of plastic, called microplastics. Microplastics can’t always be seen by the naked eye. Even satellite imagery doesn’t show a giant patch of garbage. The microplastics of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch can simply make the water look like a cloudy soup

Ongoing Research and Cleanup

With all the campaigns, and efforts to reduce plastic I hope globally
we can make a difference. I fully support any type of action that would
minimize the production of plastic.

In 2017, the campaign, Lonely Whale launched, #StopSucking, got
restaurants, bars, sports stadiums, brands, and more, to limit how many
plastic straws they use and to switch to sustainable alternatives. Most
damningly, producing and throwing away plastic in the first place is not
getting to the problem.

Over 5 trillion pieces of plastic currently litter the ocean. Trash
accumulates in 5 ocean garbage patches, the largest one being the Great Pacific Garbage Patch,
located between Hawaii and California. If left to circulate, the
plastic will impact our ecosystems, health and economies. Solving it
requires a combination of closing the source, and cleaning up what has
already accumulated in the ocean. The “Ocean Cleanup” project, is just
one part of the puzzle, cleaning the oceans will take an immense global collaboration.

An Alternative Non - plastic Product can Make a Difference

Stop producing the plastic will make a difference, start today and change to alternatives for plastic! Please check out my link in the text for an alternative for straws if you have to have them.

A lot of the time, straws are unnecessary and you can drink right out
of a cup. Lids designed for a straw make this a little harder (iced
coffee lids, for example), but brands can develop lids that don’t need
straws. Starbucks, recently tested out an “adult sippy cup” for its iced
coffee and it works! I would know, I tried it out with their Iced
Coffee.