Are you an oceanlover, a beacher, landscaper or seasider? Then I´ve got something you may know.
We need a wave of change, steemers!
Why are environmental concerns and nature conservation so unpopular in this network? Is it because it´s more comfortable to upvote beautiful landscapes and happy people instead of problems? Is it because people believe real threat just disappears not looking at it? Do you feel better talking about the beauty of the Ocean instead of bringing out the danger marine life is facing nowadays?
"The greatest threat to our planet is the belief that someone else will save it." Robert Charles Swan
Picture: Plastic pieces I found at the beach yesterday
My recent walk along the beach inspired me to write this article. We have a serious problem, steemers. It´s called plastic pollution.
On a worldwide basis human beings are producing almost 300 million tons of plastic every year. Did you know that 8 million tons of them are dumped into the Oceans every single year?
80 million tons of plastic in 10 years!?!
This is an unimaginable number of garbage introduced into the sea. To easily visualize the horrible consequences of this plastic pollution you may have a look at these pictures some of you may already know well:
Picture: Dead sperm whales stranded at the North Sea in January 2016. Photo credit: Jeroen Hoekendijk
On beginning of the year 29 sperm whales where found stranded on the shores around the North Sea (Germany). The results of the necropsies of 13 of the whales showed that their stomachs were filled with plastic.
Picture: German Environment Minister Robert Habeck shows plastic found in whales´ stomachs
They found a thirteen metres long fishing net, a seventy cm piece of plastic from a car and several other pieces of plastic litter in the whales´ stomachs. These poor animals died with full stomachs but hungry, and surely suffering a lot.
These are the facts and proof of a shocking disregard for marine life! We have become an ignorant plastic-oriented society, which doesn´t care about anything but its own convenience.
Stranded whales all over the world have become the icon of ecological threat. But did we wake up? Are we already doing anything to CHANGE this situation? Or do we just feel concerned during some minutes and then skip pages and get back to our daily affairs?
Maybe the fact that life is a circle and that everything will come back to us will call your attention.
Photo credit: http://www.ellabirdbooks.org/protect-whales-from-deadly-plastics/
These Oceans deserve our protection - now!
Picture: North cape of Lanzarote - natural beauty
Picture: Great Barrier Reef. Photo credit: https://storify.com/abotham/australia
How easy everybody of us can reduce plastic day-to-day
Photo credit: http://shop.starbucks.de/
1. Bring your own shopping bag to the supermarket: Don´t use grocery bags, take-away coffee cups or other throw-away plastic items. Take a backpack to the grocery store and a thermos jag to get your Starbucks coffee. It takes you only a minute before leaving home - and the effect will be remarkable!
2. Don´t buy bottled water: Carry a reusable bottle in your bag when leaving home. If you are concerned about the quality of your local tap water, buy a model with a built-in filter or one of these water strainers. Plastic bottles cause the most considerable amount of plastic garbage we produce.
3. Boycott microbeads: Use natural scrub instead of chemical peelings. I am not talking only about facial or body scrubs but also toothpaste! These products are made of little plastic scrubbers which - when introduced into our water sewerage and later into the sea - can become a real danger for marine animals since they might consider them food. Use salt or other natural peelings to maintain your beauty :-)
4. Don´t use plastic straws: It´s chic to drink your mojito with a straw. Forget about it! The drink will be the same without it.
5. Cook at home: Preparing your meal at home means you have control over the packaging of leftovers. You won´t use plastic containers neither doggy bags. When you go out to a restaurant bring your own eco-friendly food-storage.
6. Shop in bulk: It´s still complicated to shop without buying any kind of plastic packaging. But at least try to buy one big pack instead of several small ones.
7. Spread the idea: Put pressure on manufacturers who don´t support the idea of reducing plastic. Support the ones who are working in an eco-friendly way. Talk with your friends, send letters, post your opinion in social networks.
8. Resteem my article :-)
The Plastic Oceans Foundation
There are already several organizations dedicating a lot of time to change our world´s behaviour. I would like to point out one of them.
The Plastic Oceans Foundation is a non profit organization located in the United Kingdom. It is a charitable institution which will make people aware of the plastic pollution problem we are facing worldwide and limit the demand for non-essential plastic.
You should watch their movie - it will open your eyes!
http://www.plasticoceans.org/film/
And now: resteem, spread the idea, change your mind and let´s save our planet! It´s so easy to make the first step.
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Cheers & live your dream
Marly -