Reduce plastic

Plastic is one of our main resources. We use it in many ways during every day, in today's society it is a supply that we need. Compared to other resources, plastic is relatively young because it did not get discovered until the beginning of the 2000 century and quick became a popular use. It became so popular that our use of it have increased 9%, at a global view. (Wikipedia, 19/2-20)

Because of this very increased use of plastic in all kinds of forms, sizes and many usage areas it has become a problem for our environment. Plastic can be reused, but a huge number of plastic articles end up in nature, especially in our oceans. But have you ever thought of the consequences that plastic brings to our world? We need to reduce plastic now more than ever, but why?

The consumption of plastic and other supplies containing plastic particles is enormous. It is calculated that 13 million tons of garbage, where the majority is plastic ends up in the oceans. It is so much plastic that it is thought to be more plastic than fish in the oceans by year 2050. The problem is not only the huge amount of plastic floating around in our oceans, there is an even bigger problem that is the fact that nature can't decompose plastic completely. Instead of disappearing, the plastic, with help of natural wear and sunlight, decomposes into microplastics which are tiny plastic particles less then 5mm in length. These particles contain toxic chemicals that can affect both humans and animals. (Regeringen.se, Skog 10/2-17). It's been experimental proved that microplastics affect marine life in negative ways. (Stockholms universitet, 06-17)

As mentioned above, microplastics have a negative affect at marine life. Scientists have proof that microplastics, in different amounts, affect marine life such as fishes, zooplankton, oysters and sea lobster among others. Scientists have done experiments with microplastics, that have shown negative affects at marine life. It was clear that it affects their survival, mostly regarding their food and nutritional intake, but it also showed that microplastics had toxic effects on fish's livers (Stockholms universitet, 06-17).

These problems are just because of microplastics, and that's not the only plastic in our oceans. Other than microplastics, there are a lot of "ghost nets", fishing gear that's been either forgotten, left behind or dropped. Animals such as seals, turtles, fishes of different sizes can get trapped in these plastics and die or suffer for a long time. According to World Animal Protection, ca 100 000 of animals either die or suffer from ghost nets every year. Isn't this enough reason to understand that our plastic consumption and carelessness creates a huge problem that we need to fix?

But it is of course something that won't be solved overnight. It will take time, especially since we don't have a sustainable solution for the problem yet. Plastic I also such an important and big resource for us, it would be very challenging to exchange it for something else that is just as useful.

Even though plastic is a resource that is difficult to replace, is a huge problem that will take time to solve completely or at least enough, we need to start now. It is important to know that even small things can make a difference, instead of drinking from a disposable cup, drink from a reusable one. Do you really need that plastic bag to carry groceries or can you bring one from home? Such things is a start for fixing a problem of that size and every little change makes a difference.

Lastly, as a conclusion, plastic causes a lot of negative consequences. Not only for us humans but for a lot of different animals and the earth in general.