Plastic Pollution

By the year 2050, it is predicted that the oceans of the world will actually contain more plastic than fish by weight. The issue of the environment is not just limited to climate change; plastic pollution is almost as significant, if not equally significant to the issue. We’ve all seen the pictures of plastic bags stuck to dolphins and turtles, along with the pictures of the whale completely in plastic. But what are we doing to solve these problems? We use hundreds of millions of tons of plastic each and every single year, and that number is only expected to rise in coming years. A 2017 study finds that between 1.17 to 2.41 tonnes of plastic enters the ocean through rivers alone annually. This plastic debris affects over 600 species, ranging from the top to the bottom of the food chain. The majority of this debris comes from what is known as single use plastics, such as bottles and food containers. So, the next time you throw away a beer bottle, a water bottle, or a bottle of canned soup, thing about where it could be going and who it could be harming.