Plastic Waste in Our Ocean Free Essay Sample

70% of our planet is covered by our oceans. The ocean is one of our most valuable resources. The ocean governs the weather, cleans the air, and feeds millions. More than 30% of the world is covered in sewage, littering, and toxic chemicals and spills that pollute in the ocean (circularanotomy_brucker). As concerned citizens, we need to keep our oceans clean from litter. Amazingly, the ocean is home to more than I million different species; however, 1 million sea birds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed by pollution every year. Luckily, there are many ways we can help prevent more ocean creatures from dying or even going extinct. We can use environmentally safe products, recycle, and create awareness surrounding plastic and its interaction with algae enzymes so that we can further prevent the consequences that will come later in the future.

There are many environmentally safe products that we use daily. To start with, reusable grocery bags are a safe product and should be mandatory. More than 10 billion plastic bags end up in our oceans (bioligicaldiversity_2019). If we were to recycle our plastic bags properly, less plastic bags would end up in the ocean. In addition to plastic bags, more than 2 billion plastic straws are found in the ocean (scienceplastic_borenstein). This impacts the ocean by polluting it with many harmful chemicals. One highly toxic chemical found in straws is called BPA. In the article, Chemical From Plastic Water Bottles Found Throughout Oceans, it explains the studies of what BPA is, “A synthetic compound that mimics estrogen and is linked to developmental disorders, is ubiquitous in Earth's oceans” (wired_2020). How BPA affects our environment plays a big role. BPA leaches into the ocean waters and causes reproductive disorders. If we were to use reusable grocery bags and dispose our plastic straws properly, then we can lower the amount of plastic that harms the ocean, including the amount of BPA that is leached into the ocean water.

Recycling plays a major role in the amount of pollution that is found in the ocean. It takes over 5 hundred years for a plastic water bottle to decompose in the ocean. Remarkably 5 trillion pieces of plastic are discarded into the ocean, while 9% of plastic is recycled worldwide, the least we can do is recycle to conserve our ocean. When we recycle, we reduce the amount of living sea creatures that become entangled in, ingest the plastic, suffocated, or drowned. Around 800 species of these innocent sea animals are affected by plastic debris. Seabirds are the biggest case when it comes to eating plastic. They unintentionally eaut plastic; the smell and appearance confuse them. As a result, they end up consuming the inedible plastic (single-use_lm_kw).  A recent study at the University of Tasmania in Australia led by Jennifer Lavers shows a study on seabird intake of plastic. When the seabirds ingested the plastic, it had impaired their kidney functions, raised cholesterol levels, adding to reduced body mass, wing length, head, and bill length (national-geographic_parker).  These problems with plastic not only affect just seabirds but may cause different complications and disorders to different ocean animals. We know that many die to the consumption of plastic being thrown into the ocean.

Prior to ocean pollution, plastic algae blooms have been a crucial problem that disrupts the ecosystem. There are 3 common water pollutants that are released from plastic when exposed to the suns UV ray in the ocean. They are nitrogen, phosphorus, and pathogens. Nitrogen is a gas element that occurs colorless and odorless. What nitrogen does to the ocean is it releases an excess of nutrients into the water and creates an overstimulation of growth of algae blooms (produces algae toxins) and aquatic plants. Once the aquatic plants grow, it looms over the bottom of the oceans floor and ends up blocking light to the deeper waters (sciencedaily_2019). Phosphorus is a poisonous chemical element. It appears in two forms, white phosphorus, a yellow waxy solid which voluntarily ignites in air, and is glow in the dark, and red phosphorus which is less reactive. Phosphorus has the same outcome as nitrogen. Yet in addition to that, it decreases the levels of dissolved oxygen. They call this process eutrophication (sciencedirect_sanz-lazaro). The inefficient one of all water pollutants is the pathogen. Pathogen is divided up into the four most common types: viruses, bacteria, fungi, and parasites. In result it infects unicellular organisms (oceanbites_fontaine). The outcome of all these deadly chemicals is caused by plastic products exposed to the sun and we can prevent this from happening by keeping our waters clean from plastic products.

To conclude, Jacques Cousteau quotes, “Water and air, the two essential fluids on which all life depends, have become global garbage cans.” If we continue to unmindfully pollute our oceans carelessly then the outcome of all our actions will create a ripple effect in our environment. Therefore, by using environmentally safe products, recycling, and educating future generations about harmful chemicals that are extracted from plastic, we can reestablish our ocean. The least we can do is commit ourselves to recovering our most valuable resource, the ocean.