Marine creatures are among the most impacted by plastic pollution. A huge amount of plastic waste – much of which was originally placed into recycle bins by well-meaning folks – ends up in rivers and oceans.
An estimated 3.5 million pieces of plastic enter our oceans every single day. That is 8 to 13 million tons of plastic each year, killing an untold number of marine mammals, fish and birds who eat it or get tangled in it.
Photo by Plastic Ocean Project
This baby dolphin was saved. Most are not. It’s estimated that for every sea creature found that was killed by plastic, another 50 have fallen to the bottom of the ocean.
Researchers have found that sea turtles and other marine creature mistake the smell of plastic bags for food. Ingesting plastic is most often fatal for these beautiful creatures which many are unable to digest or excrete. Instead, the plastic trash builds up in their stomach and often clogs their digestive tracts, chokes them in the process of eating the plastic.
It’s becoming very clear that the use of plastics is having a devastating impact on animals in every ocean and on every continent in the world. There are many alternatives to single use plastic.
Click on “You’re Not Gonna… Throw That Away and …Buy That, Are You?! on the menu at right for some simple steps you can take to reduce or upcycle plastic.