Hi its Cocoa and I know it's been a while but today I want to talk about how much plastic destroys the ocean and what you can do to help.
Last year I went to Punta Cana and I was swimming in the ocean and we were walking along the beach looking for cool rocks. Instead I found loads of plastic bags and other plastic garbage. I was shocked and back then I wasn’t even fully aware of the huge damage plastics do to our environment. Not only does this affect the animals, fauna and the entire ecosystem. It affects us and that is scary, since it is our future.
Greenpeace says that more than 267 different species have suffered from getting tangled or from ingestion that means swallowing of plastic garbage. For example, whales think that plastic bags are squids swimming in the oceans. They eat them and basically starve themselves to death, since the plastic bags are causing their tummy to feel full.
Unfortunately it is a long and painful death. With sea turtles plastic packaging can get stuck around them, not letting them move or swim freely. They also mistake plastic bags or cups for food and will suffer from similar painful deaths as the whales.
Seagulls are eating plastic as well confusing it with food. Dolphins are getting hurt and tangled in fishing line, sea lions are getting parts of their bodies stuck in fishing nets… I could go on and on…
Have you heard of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch? It is pretty much a huge patch of plastic garbage between Hawaii and California, more than twice the size of Texas…
Everywhere you go you will see plastic these days. Did you know that only 5% of the plastic gets recycled. Makes me wonder where the other 95% goes? Plastic is super durable and does not decompose. It breaks down into smaller pieces but it does not disappear and is contaminating our oceans and environment. So what can we do to fight this? How can you make a difference? Below are some tips and ideas.
1. Use reusable water bottles and STOP buying plastic bottled water.
2.Take a reusable water bottle/tea or coffee cup when you go to Starbucks or Tim Hortons.
3. If you see a plastic bag on the street pick it up and throw it in a closed garbage bin
4. DON’T use plastic straws. There are reusable once.
5.Try to re-use and recycle as much as possible.
6. Use fabric shopping bags instead of plastic
7. Help or organize a beach cleanup. You can join us or if you are in Canada and want to do your own, here is a website that can help and guide you: https://shorelinecleanup.ca/
All these little things help if you do this more often you might save a whale or a turtle’s life. As environmental activist and author Severn Suzuki said during her speech to the UN in 1992 "You are what you do, not what you say."
Below are some documentaries about plastic pollution in the ocean that I really like:
A really cool article is:
Comment below and share some ideas of how you help our environment!