We walk the beach often and I am becoming more and more concerned with all the plastic we find.
Each year, one million sea birds and one hundred thousand marine mammals die from ingestion of, or entanglement in plastics.
In some places of the Pacific Ocean, the amount of plastic suspended in the water outnumbers plankton six to one! There is a section of the Pacific Ocean twice the size of the continental United States called the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Within it, 100 million tons of plastic swirl in a vortex of currents. There is so much plastic in the water that it outnumbers zooplankton by six to one!
This plastic ends up in the stomachs of marine birds and animals. Again, one million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals die globally each year because of us!
Plastic is forever, with virtually every piece of petroleum based plastic ever made still in existence. That's why it's so critical to our oceans and beaches that we dramatically reduce our use of plastics, especially single-use plastics, starting today.
You can make a difference for our world's oceans, waves and beaches -- pledge to rise above plastics today.
THE PLEDGE
I commit to do my part to rise above plastics and protect the world's oceans, waves and beaches from plastic pollution. I will do this by:
- Using reusable bottles for my water and other drinks. By using just one reusable bottle, I will keep 167 single-use plastic bottles from entering the environment.
- Using cloth bags for groceries and other purchases. For each reusable bag I use, I will save approximately 400 plastics from being used.
- Recycling the plastic bags and bottles I already have. For every thirteen plastic bags I don't use, I will save enough petroleum to drive a car one mile.
Surfrider Foundation now has over 50,000 members in the USA; in addition, International Surfrider Foundation chapters and affiliates have been established in many foreign countries including the Surfrider Foundation Europe (with ongoing programs and Chapters in France, Germany, Spain, Portugal and Italy) as well as Japan, Brazil, and Australia.
Information provided by http://www.riseaboveplastics.org/ and http://www.surfrider.org/
21 comments:
Indeed! People must be aware of this!!!!!! Well done!!!!
Good post. I think too many people do not pay enough regard to the consequence of our daily use of plastic and it not really being biodegradable.
This is quite a coincidence! While I was walking today on the beach I was amazed with the amount of plastic (and others) the sea has given back during the last storms! Awful!
P.S. Answering to your question, I have done nothing on that photo, the 'white' is just the top corner of the building in front of my house, contrasting with the dark grey sky. :-)
Thanks for commenting. It is sad to think that people need to buy bottled water just to take a drink and then throw away that bottle. Buy a pur water filter and filter your water and drink from a glass or something you can re-use over and over forever.
Yes you are so right Connie. It took me a long time to get this message as I never threw the bottles away. We are now doing just what you are suggesting and our recycle bin is far less full.
It's very sad isn't it?
That's so sad that people throw their trash in our beautiful oceans,my husband just bought cloth bags for us to use at walmart....Barb
Nice post Nancy. I take the pledge.
How right you are about plastic. Drinking water bottles are the probably the worst culprit.
Fortunately, we do not have much plastic along the beach in Costa Rica because our coast line is still not heavily populated. There are only 4 million people in the entire country, most of them live in the Central Valley, not along the coast. But this is a global problem and it will become a bigger issue in Costa Rica as we continue to develop and grow.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch?
The politicians in Sacramento!
Great post! I recycle, I use big bags when I go shopping, I drink water from a spring..... Many people do all this in my area but still more people throw their waste on streets and beaches!
I love these pictures! they show us that there is work to do
hmm..lovely pics...
harry
do viist ma blog
www.arenaoflife.blogspot.com
Most excellent post.
Thanks for bringing this to our attention. It is crazy how much plastic our culture uses and discards on a daily basis. I've curtailed my use of plastics significantly, but I'm still amazed how much is used to package such simple, small objects. I'm sorry you had to find that garbage on your lovely beach. We'll all keep spreading the word. Have a good week...
P.S. You have terrific photos on your blog!
Thanks for this important post! We have the same problem on our beaches here in Italy...and not only plastics, but all kinds of garbage.
Thank you. I had heard about the Garbage Patch, and what strikes me is that this is, incredibly, almost totally ignored by the media, while EVERYBODY should know about it. So, thank you for sharing.
I have grown up near the sea and I know well about the plastic garbage scattered on the beaches. I've always asked myself how all this stuff has got into the sea? So, I guess we certainly should care more about the plastics we buy but obviously that's not entirely the point. If I have a plastic bottle I'll throw it in the recycle plastic bin. If I don't it will go to the general trash mount. But not into the sea.
Maybe boats and large ships throw their garbage into the sea?
Thank you for visiting my blog!
This mask picture could be so beautiful if the subject was not taht sad....
Excellent post.
Thanks for the info. Just this week I started using fabric bags and I love it better. We all can do our part and every little bit helps.
Hi,
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Warm Regards
greenatmos.com Team
http://www.greenatmos.com
Shame on us! People are selfish all the time and don't realise that the planet need us to care about it... Everytime I see things like these I become sad but, I don't do anything so, It's my fault too.
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