How Plastics Are Ending Up In Ocean?
People may not be aware or realise, we get a lot of oxygen not from the tree but from our ocean. This means, the ocean plays a crucial part in not just the sustenance of aquatic life but also human lives. Thereby, the quality of the ocean needs to be maintained for thriving human lives. Yet, our oceans are filled with waste plastics. As per some estimates, there is more than 150 million metric ton of waste plastics has ended up in the ocean. This waste plastic when ends up in the ocean it hurts our oceanic environment in more ways than one can imagine. This plastic pollution also affects crude oil prices. But how does this waste plastic end up in the ocean instead of recycling plants? Let’s see:
Pollutions from Coastal Areas:
In various developed coastal areas instead of sending the waste plastic for recycling, the plastic and other waste are dumped in the ocean. This gives rise to the level of plastic pollution in the ocean. This metric ton of plastic is dumped daily, thus the level of pollution rises on an everyday basis.
Tourists:
From plastic bottles to chips plastic bags are often thrown on beaches. When the beach is not clean, the high tidal waves bring this waste plastic into the ocean. Thus, it is very important to keep the beach clean and set up waste plastic recycling buckets to push people to responsibly throw the waste.
Illegal Dumping:
Plastic waste is dumped illegally by the roadside, field side, or port side, eventually spilling into waterways and floating downstream. This gives rise to the level of plastic pollution in the ocean. This may not seem a lot, but daily this plastic ends up in the ocean creating pollution.
Waste Plastic Carried By Rivers:
In many areas unmindfully the waste is dumped in other water bodies such as rivers and lakes. River water flows through the ocean, thus the waste plastic instead of ending up in recycling stations end up in the ocean.
These are some of the ways through which waste plastic ends up in the ocean instead of recycling stations. When this plastic ends up in the ocean, it raises the level of pollution in the ocean. Through ocean cleaning drives and us responsibly dumping the waste plastic.