The oceans are filled with plastic. But what happens when that plastic waste circulates and comes back around? It ends up back on land. According to Sustainability-Times, they have some of the answers to this question.
They say around 90% of marine debris that enters the ocean remains in the “littoral zone” (the area of ocean within 8km of the coast). According to their research in Australia, 56% of debris recorded was plastic, followed by 17% glass, and 10% foam.
This type of debris kills and maims aquatic life when they think it’s food or they get tangled up in it. They suggest plenty of solutions to this issue, including water refill stations (for reusable water bottles), more trash bins that get collected more often, incentives, and just more awareness of what we’re doing to the ocean with our waste.
That last one is exactly why we started Save Our Pacific. In addition to lobbying for the ban of single-use plastics, it’s something that more people need to know about. The sheer amount of plastic waste that pollutes our oceans is staggering.
Much of that waste in the ocean eventually comes back to our beaches and land. We’ve got more work to do, and more waste to focus on than just what’s in our oceans.
Source: Sustainability-Times
Photo Credit to: Clifton Beard
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