Yesterday was World Oceans Day, calling attention to our oceans and how to appreciate and take care of them and inviting us to do so all year long. This year the emphasis is on all the plastic accumulating in those magnificent bodies of water. So I offer you this small reflection:
40,000 garbage trucks filled with plastic = 270,000 tons of it floating around our oceans. That’s what the current estimate is. And that’s a conservative guess, since fish, birds, and other species eat a good amount of it. It’s unsightly and deadly for the critters who eat it or get hopelessly entangled in it. It’s not healthy for humans, either.
This is something to think about next time we’re about to toss a plastic bottle cap, bag, food wrapper, or other item onto the roadway or gutter, where it can wash into the waterways leading to the ocean. Or tossing those items off of a boat or bridge.
The item can’t be that heavy to hold onto until you see the next recycling container.