How plastic is shaping the future of our oceans
Plastic pollution is a major cause of many environmental problem.
The real impact of plastic bag litter is felt on wildlife both in the marine environment.
Every piece of rubbish we drop can kill 15 animals, both on land and in the sea! Putting your rubbish in the bin can save 500 animals lives!
All we have to do is walk over to the bin and put in the bin! Also try to reduce the amount of plastic that you use. Here are some ways that you can help
When shopping bring your own bags.
Try to recycle plastic and use plastic bottles,instead try to buy a reusable bottle.
Bring your own reusable grocery bags with you when you go to the store
Use a refillable dispenser for your hand soap and dish washing liquid, one large bottle is better than using a bunch of small ones
Use a reusable container instead of sandwich bags
Bring your own mug with you to the coffee shop
Animals die every day because of plastic! Please try to reduce the amount of plastic that you use!
More than 30 marine animals species are endangered because of plastic!
For example:
Animals are disappearing!
In August 2000, an eight metre Bryde's whale died soon after becoming stranded on a beach. An autopsy found that the whale's stomach was tightly packed with 6 m2 of plastic, including many plastic bags. Such problems in animals can cause severe pain, distress and death.
Bryde's whales, like many other types of whales, feed by swallowing large amounts of water. If the Bryde's whale had died at sea, it would have decayed, releasing the plastic to kill other marine life for hundreds of years to come.
.Animals mistake the plastic for food and then swallow it down. When turtles swallow it, it stays in their stomach, then when they eat fish the 2 gases mix and the turtle floats helplessly to the surface . Here they are easy prey for sharks and other large fish.
Plastic doesn't go away It is manufactured to be hard in hard to destroy. .It is made to last longer and not disintegrate. In this way tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals and turtles are killed every year from plastic bag litter in the marine environment as they often mistake plastic bags for food such as jellyfish.
Plastic bags, once ingested, cannot be digested or passed by an animal so it stays in the gut. Plastic in an animal’s gut can prevent food digestion and can lead to a very slow and painful death.
As plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down, once an animal dies and decays after ingesting plastic, the plastic is then freed back into the marine environment to carry on killing other wildlife..
Plastic pollution doesn't just affect animals, It can also affect us!
When the small particles from degraded plastic bags get into the water, they are ingested by filter feeding marine animals. Bio Toxins like PCBs that are in the particles are then passed up the food chain, including up to humans. These can affect the human body. Also diseases like malaria will spread more easily since people and animals will be drinking deadly, polluted water.
Animals don’t deserve this. What have they done?
Walk to the bin and put it in.
Its as simple as that.
