The world’s oceans are under attack by plastic waste. A 2016 study conducted by the Institute for European Environmental Policy and the MAVA Foundation found that the world manufactures and produces of 300 million metric tons of plastic every year and approximately 5-12.5 million metric tons of that plastic finds its way into ocean waters (ten Brink). This plastic debris ranges from microbeads, which are the tiny pieces of scrubbing and exfoliating plastic found in textured personal care products like shampoo and body wash, all the way to discarded fishing nets, which pose a serious threat to marine wildlife, and even abandoned boats. Over the years this plastic waste has built up in the ocean to point that there are giant floating trash fields such as the Great Pacific garbage patch. It is imperative that the ocean waste problem is immediately address and reversed or else the world’s primary water supply and life source may be irreversibly contaminated.
In support of the Institute for European Environmental Policy and the MAVA Foundation’s findings on plastic waste, another 2016 study by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation found that approximately eight million metric tons of plastic waste is put into the ocean every year. This “is equivalent to dumping the contents of one garbage truck into the ocean every minute. If no action is taken, this is expected to increase to two per minute by 2030 and four per minute by 2050” (MacArthur, 2016). This is a strong visual that is nothing short of daunting. The effect of all of this pollution has a direct influence on the everyday activity of marine life. A 2015 study by S.C. Gail showed that ocean trash has come into contact with over 690 marine species (Gail). Further, 92% of those encounters were related to plastic. Finally, 17% of the species studied were threatened species or higher according to the IUCN Red List, which is a comprehensive and well-respected list that compiles the names of different species and determines the overall risk of extinction those species face.
Use your promo and get a custom paper on
"Ocean Waste".
It is important to measure and to combat ocean waste and plastic litter. Countries that have shown dedicated efforts to reducing plastic waste have seen great success, and this is success that has occurred in a very short amount of time. For example, researcher Dr. Erik Van Sebille reported on a plastic bag tax that was implemented by the Welsh government. Plastic bags, because of how common they are, are among the greatest polluters of ocean waters. Sebille found that the tax implemented in Wales resulted in a 71% decrease in the use of plastic bags (Sebille, 2016). This means that there were 71% fewer plastic bags that could make their way into the seas near Wales. This is a dramatic decrease. According to Mike Gaworecki, a reporter for mongabay.com, other countries have also started taking steps to reduce the effects of plastic waste. “Indonesia, for instance, pledged to reduce marine litter by 70 per cent by 2025, while Uruguay announced a tax on single-use plastic bags slated to take effect later this year” (Gaworecki, 2017).
Human beings are at a crucial time in their environmental exploits. At the heart of these exploits is plastic. It is important that humans take actions and enacted laws that limit the use of or at least attempt to control the final resting place of plastic. All countries and governments should follow in the footsteps of Wales. If every country is able to reduce at least a portion of their plastic waste by 71%, then human’s effect on the stability of the ocean will drop significantly. If actions are not taken to reduce the amount of plastic that enters the ocean, marine life will greatly suffer, our waters will become polluted, and the environment will be irreversibly altered for the worse.
Humans can take and are taking various actions to reduce the amount of ocean pollution and the effects of ocean pollution. One way humans can reduce the amount of ocean pollution is perhaps the simplest way: pick up trash. Whether it is simply trash on the side of the road, trash in one’s yard, or trash on the beach, the reason ocean litter is a problem is because humans negligently or even purposefully leave their plastic packages, soda bottles, or other assorted unnatural items in improper disposal sites. Due to this negligence, many of these items eventually make their way to the ocean.
Therefore, the onus is on the individual to pick up his or her own trash and recycle it or reuse it. However, there are more scientific efforts underway to attack the problem of ocean pollution at its source. A few years ago, a Dutch teenager by the name of Boyan Slat recognized the severity of the ocean pollution problem. In response to this perceived atrocity, Slat began brainstorming ideas for methods to create what is known as the Ocean Cleanup Array. The Ocean Cleanup Array, which is a technology Slat and others at his foundation The Ocean Cleanup have been developing since 2013, is a passive cleanup unit that is 100% powered by ocean currents (Slat). The array is a sixty-two-mile long (100 km) floating barrier that, when strategically placed, is slated to cleanup almost half of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch in 10 years (Slat). Not only is the barrier efficient in its trash collection, but also the truly ingenious aspect of the technology is that it requires no nets. Therefore, the barrier, which uses solid underwater screens, allows marine life and currents to move below it while trapping debris on the ocean’s surface. Essentially, instead of “fishing” or hunting for ocean trash, which can further pollute the ocean with the uses of boat engine fuel or harm marine life with nets and boat propellers, Slat has construed an idea which allows the trash to come to him and his technology.
Slat’s foundation and the technologies within show that the problem of ocean trash is one that can be defeated. Further, the fact that a teenager developed such revolutionary technology gives precedent that perhaps pollution concerning ocean trash and the environment in general are problems to which future generations will give great and revolutionary attention. Currently, ocean trash is a significant problem. However, if humans stand in the way of the current with the right strategies and technologies, problems like the Great Pacific Ocean Patch will soon become a thing of the past.
- Gaworecki, M. (2017, March 31). UN launches campaign to take out ocean trash. Retrieved from http://www.eco-business.com/news/un-launches-campaign-to-take-out-ocean-trash/
- Gall, S. C., & Thompson, R. C. (2015). The impact of debris on marine life. Marine pollution bulletin, 92(1), 170-179.
- Macarthur, Dame ellen, Dominic Waughray, and Martin R. Stuchtey. “THE NEW PLASTICS ECONOMY RETHINKING THE FUTURE OF PLASTICS.” N.p., 2016. Web. https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/assets/downloads/EllenMacArthurFoundation_TheNewPlasticsEconomy_15-3-16.pdf
- Van Sebille, E., Spathi, C., & Gilbert, A. (2016). The ocean plastic pollution challenge: towards solutions in the UK. Grantham Institute, Imperial College London https://spiral. imperial. ac. uk, 8443.
- ten Brink, P., Schweitzer, J. P., Watkins, E., & Howe, M. (2016). Plastics Marine Litter and the Circular Economy. A briefing by IEEP for the MAVA Foundation.
- Slat, Boyan. “Technology.” The Ocean Cleanup. N.p., n.d. Web. https://www.theoceancleanup.com/technology/
