Opinion
The Fight We Must Take to Stop Choking Our Oceans with Plastic
By Hannah Khanshali
Hannah Khanshali is a Freshman undergraduate Pre-Veterinary Biology student at the Macaulay Honors College at The City College of New York
If we do nothing to combat plastic consumption and waste, by 2050, the world’s oceans will have more plastic in fish in them by weight. While reading an op-ed by Maria Garces, I came across this heart-wrenching prediction from a report by the World Economic Forum. It may seem absurd, but following the trends that we are on now, this could be a possibility in less than 30 years. You may wonder: what makes ocean plastic such a threat to marine life? Can we prevent this phenomenon from occurring and protect our oceans?
When ingested by marine organisms, ocean plastic can cause serious damage to fish, sea turtles, whales, birds, and countless others. Sea turtles around the world are ingesting plastic by mistaking it as food, or accidentally ingesting microplastics. According to an article by Karen Weintraub for the New York Times, “While some sea turtles have been found to have swallowed hundreds of bits of plastic, just 14 pieces significantly increases their risk of death”. The article also mentions that more than half of all sea turtles from all seven species have ingested plastic at some point in their lives, regardless of their location. Six of these species are considered threatened. Without action towards reducing the amount of current plastic in the oceans and limiting future plastic waste, sea turtles could be further threatened in the future along with many other species that face similar issues, decreasing biodiversity in two of the most biodiverse ecosystems on the planet: the open ocean and coral reefs. The same issue is happening in large mammals such as whales. In 2019, a young whale washed up on a beach in the Philippines, the cause of death being dehydration and starvation. The whale was found with 40 kilograms of plastic bags inside of its stomach. Marine pollution impacts humans too. According to National Geographic, Microplastics that come from a variety of sources from tires to cigarette debris end up in our oceans, are ingested by fish and even plankton, and the toxic plastic can make their way up the food chain in the fish and seafood products that humans consume.
Currently on a global scale, humans are producing mass amounts of plastic. According to the article Peak Plasticby Dorothy Bloom, “over one million disposable plastic grocery bags are produced every minute on this planet…only one in ten of them will by recycled.” Sadly, the solution to plastic landing in oceans is not proper disposal of waste. About 80% of ocean plastic comes not from litter, but from land sources including waste that is disposed of correctly. This death and destruction of marine life due to plastics cannot go on any longer, or else there will be irreversible damage in the near future: more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050. We must act now while there is still time, and there are many ways to reduce plastic use and pollution both on an individual level and a governmental scale.
One of the most effective solutions is to reduce the consumption of single use plastic such as plastic shopping bags, containers, cutlery, and bottles. These are both very possible and vital solutions, and New York State has already taken the initiative towards reducing one of the largest contributors to marine pollution: plastic bags. As of October 19th, 2020, NYS began a plastic carryout ban, which prevented supermarkets and stores from distributing plastic bags, and charged 5 cents for a paper bag. On average in the past, New Yorkers used about 23 billion plastic bags a year. This one act of legislature will prevent the distribution of billions of plastics. However, worldwide and nationwide governmental action is necessary to mitigate this widespread pollution; waste management is not enough. The IUCN suggests the same necessary solutions: governments, research facilities, and industries must work together and redesign products to reduce the waste from microplastics that come from synthetic textiles, tires, and many other products. Switching most single use plastics to a biodegradable option (which most likely already exist such as biodegradable containers and garbage bags) will be an enormous step in the right direction.
It is very possible to prevent the alarming prediction that our oceans will bear more plastic than fish (by weight) in the next 30 years. However, we have no time to waste: these solutions will take years to develop and implement, so we must act now. If we all commit to changes in our own lives such as using reusable cutlery, bags, and bottles, supporting legislature and politicians who stand for plastic reduction and bans, and recycling our own single use plastics, we can protect the world’s most biodiverse ecosystems.
