Plastic is destroying our world
Plastic is one of the most versatile materials in the world and our race has depended on it for many years. But have you ever thought about the impact it has on our world? Plastic now fills the world’s oceans and pollute the soil in which we grow our food.
According to Ian Johnson, the environmental correspondent for the Independent, “it is estimated there will be more plastic than fish by 2050” (Ian Johnson, 2017). It cannot be denied that this fact is startling to hear and without change, we may looking at worldwide extinction of certain species of fish which we rely on for food. Fish are not the only creatures being harmed by our use of plastics. Many seabirds and large mammals such as whales and seals also consume vast amounts of plastic which they mistake for food. In an article about plastic pollution on the Coastal care website, the author talks about the Midway Islands. The author states “thousands of bird corpses rest on these beaches, piles of colourful plastic remaining where their stomachs had been. In some cases, the skeleton had entirely biodegraded; yet the stomach-size plastic piles are still present, intact” (Le Guern, 2018).
- More than 8 million tonnes of plastic gets dumped into the sea every year
- Estimates suggest that by 2050, more than 99% of seabirds will have consumed some
- The sea now contains 51 trillion plastic micro particles in it
- The arctic now contains 300 billion pieces of plastic
- Plastic acts like a magnet for other poisons and pollutants
- To a sea turtle or gull, a piece of plastic may look like an easy meal
- Marine plastic is known to harm more than 600 species
- Plastics are hard to destroy and so many waste disposal companies shred it up or put it into landfills
- Plastic that is left in landfills will start to decompose very slowly and will leach toxic chemicals into the surrounding soil
- Earthworms are at risk of being harmed by chemicals that get into the soil via plastic pollution
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