It is necessary to take a stand for the earth and respect not only ourselves and our environment but the wildlife living around us. At the rate we are following, society is looking at a future surrounded by garbage filled oceans and irreversible damage to the environment.
Every day, five hundred million plastic straws are used by people in society, most of which ends up in the oceans and puts marine life at risk. 8.3 billion straws pollute the shorelines worldwide and more than eight million metric tons of various forms of plastic end up in our oceans every year. As a result, over one hundred million marine animals die every year because of pollution in oceans. One of the most affected marine animals being sea turtles.
With plastic bags and other waste littering our oceans, it is easy for sea turtles to mistaken them for prey to the point where their stomachs fill with garbage they cannot digest and they starve to death. In addition to this, millions of other marine life are put in danger by the extreme waste we leave in our environments, whether it be from swallowing too much plastic, getting suffocated by plastic bottle rings, or getting trapped in plastic bags.
A big step we can take to lessen the numbers of plastic entering our oceans is to cut back on plastic straws. Even though there are bottles, bags, Styrofoam and other garbage in the oceans, plastic straws are a major contributor and one of the most life threatening. You can buy reusable straws, substitute them for biodegradable paper straws, or not use any at all. Even one person reducing their use of plastic straws adds to a bigger overall action.
In addition to this, cutting back on all uses of plastic in society would be greatly effective in reducing the negative impacts our waste has on the environment. Plastic surrounds our towns beaches and nearly everywhere we go and the issues it poses are a threat to the planet and the life it holds.
If you take a walk through coastal towns and cities or along the shore of the ocean you will find endless plastic bottles, bags and straws. Our environments are being trashed with leftover waste that we create every day and there are only a handful of people taking a stand.
Pick up a bottle if you see it on the ground, stop using plastic bags at the grocery store, start recycling more, buy a few reusable straws and start being more efficient and create less waste. Whatever actions you choose, it is time to take a stand and start caring for the environment before it is too late.