Did you know that only 14% of global litter is recycled? Did you know that 45% of plastic is not recycled and ends up in the middle of the ocean? Recycling is a sustainable action which is now practised by more and more people, because now everyone is realizing the importance of recycling, although there are people who do not take the time and care to recycle. By recycling, you are reusing materials in a sustainable way.

Nowadays, plastic is one of the most reused materials and it is also very abundant on the planet. Plastic can become harmful for the environment if people decide to throw it away in forests or on the streets. Did you know that a plastic bottle takes more than 150 years to degrade? Most of the plastic we don’t recycle can end up in the oceans. There are around 12 million tons of litter in the oceans. In addition, there is one part of the ocean, called the trash continent or litter island, which is located in the Pacific and contains millions of tons of plastic.

There is a massive amount of plastic in the ocean, which is affecting not only the environment, but also the biodiversity of our planet. Marine animals are being affected by the fragments of microplastics, which are all around the ocean. For every 100 milliliters of ocean water, there are millions of tiny pieces of plastic. Many marine animals mistake small pieces of plastic for food, and end up ingesting the plastic. Each year, more than 100,000 marine creatures die due to ingesting plastic. One example would be sea turtles, which normally eat jellyfishes, and they often confuse jellyfish with plastic bags and end up eating them, which can lead to their death.

I believe that we must notice what is happening with our oceans, so in order to solve this issue, we all need to change our habits. For example, using plastic bags more than once, throwing plastic in the bin, or even better trying to recycle as much plastic as possible. It is not an issue that can be solved right now, but if we all collaborate, even if it’s only a little, we could have less plastic contamination in the future.

Sarah Alonso de Linaje Padilla 1º Bach A