With the constant littering of garbage, the excessive amounts can often find their way into the ocean. Some substances can biodegrade, such as papers and cardboards, but others, such as plastics, cannot biodegrade. Unfortunately, these plastics often congress in the oceans, and they wreak havoc on many of the oceans’ fragile ecosystems. Throughout the oceans, currents draw in these plastics into concentrated spots, which can devastate the marine life. These materials block the sun from reaching the plants below, which disables them from undergoing photosynthesis, an important process of plant life.
Without these plants, many of the marine animals which rely on them for survival will struggle. Many marine animals mistakenly ingest pieces of plastic, and can be physically caught in larger pieces, such as nets. Both these processes can be fatal. As the main dwellers of planet Earth, it is humankind’s responsibility to protect and prolong the existence of the fragile and complex oceanic ecosystems. To combat the large amounts of plastic in the oceans, recycling should be more available, and people should be better educated on the importance of recycling plastic.
Recycling can definitely help to minimize the amount of plastic that ends up in the oceans, but there is still room to improve upon. Often times, throwing plastic in a garbage bin is much easier than recycling. In fact, sometimes, to recycle a piece of plastic, one must search for a recycle bin, whereas garbage bins can be found with ease. In today’s day and age, few people want to take time out of their day to search for a recycle bin, so many take the easier route, and dispose of plastic in a garbage bin instead. To avoid this, cities should place recycle bins next to every garbage bin. If cities placed recycle bins next to garbage bins, people would surely recycle their plastic.
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Even though recycling could really help to minimize excess plastic from entering the ocean, many cities and towns still do not put it into action. Unfortunately, in areas near oceans or rivers, this lack of care could make the whole problem worse. A piece of plastic could easily find its way into a stream or river, and then eventually into the ocean. To prevent this, towns should enforce recycling. Towns should require every building to recycle, and it should not cost extra.
In addition to making recycling easier, towns should spread awareness about the importance of recycling, and better educate its people. Perhaps some people do not understand the importance of recycling, or the importance of keeping plastic out of the oceans. Without a doubt, many people unconsciously add to the plastic of the ocean by not recycling and thinking “just one little piece.” People do not understand that “just one little piece” here and there can add up to a titanic amount of little pieces, and that these pieces could do some damage in an ocean. By educating people and spreading awareness, more people will want to recycle and make a difference in the way that they go about their daily lives. In order to successfully increase recycling efforts, it all starts with increasing people’s knowledge, and how they can do their part to keep plastic out of the oceans.
People should be better educated on the importance of recycling plastic, and recycling should be more available to combat the large amounts of plastic in the oceans. Plastic cannot biodegrade, so the problem of plastic floating in the ocean will not solve itself. Rather, changes must be made to the disposal of plastic. It is humankind’s full responsibility to protect the oceans’ delicate ecosystems from obliteration by plastic, a human creation. Unfortunately, until a substitute for plastic is found, its production will likely not stop. Until then, it is up to humanity to not only do their best to reverse the serious damage they have already done, but also to keep plastic out of the oceans once and for all.
