? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??Present Situation of Plastic Pollution

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) pointed out on its Web page on World Environment Day 2018 that humans now produce 300 million tons of plastic waste, the equivalent of the total weight of the global population, every year.?

Since the rapid development of plastic industry in the 1950s, human beings have produced more than 8.3 billion tons of plastic waste, and only 9% of plastic waste is recycled.

The Royal Society of Open Sciences published its latest scientific research in the February 27 this year. According to the research, plastics have covered the deepest trenches in the world, which shows to a large extent that the world has no marine ecosystem that has not yet been polluted by plastics.

In 2006, Greenpeace conducted a survey of the world's coastline and found that Indonesia had the highest pollution rate of marine waste, with 29,100 pieces per kilometer. In this densely populated area of the country, 90% of the beaches are covered with garbage.

There are two main garbage belts in the Pacific Ocean and the Atlantic Ocean. And there is even a South Indian Ocean garbage belt between Africa and Australia. These garbage belts occupy vast areas of the ocean where garbage accumulates and floats in a circular motion.

The largest garbage belt is the Pacific garbage belt, which consists of 80,000 tons of plastic garbage, including abandoned fishing gear, plastic bottles, ropes, baskets, plastic packaging, etc.?

On average, 250 pieces of garbage are thrown away by everyone in the world. In fact, plastic waste is 180 times as much as marine life in this garbage belt. The Center for Biological Diversity claims that marine organisms consume up to 24,000 tons of plastic each year.

Unfortunately, because of the low density of plastic waste, it is easy to float over water for long distances. The Center for Biological Diversity claims that there is nowhere plastic contaminants do not exist on the ocean surface.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??? ?Effects of Plastic Pollution on Marine Lives

According to a set of data from the United Nations Environmental Protection Agency, 8 million tons of plastic flow into the ocean every year.?

By 2050, there may be more plastics in the ocean than fish. Toxic compounds in plastics are eaten by animals by mistake and then re-delivered to our table through the food chain.

Large plastic contaminants are bad enough, and microplastics pose a greater challenge in cleaning up the world's oceans. Microplastics are small pieces of large plastic, usually less than 5 mm, often mistaken for food by marine lives.

WWF has published a report that fisheries account for 10% of the total plastic debris. These plastic pollutants usually occur in the form of fishing nets and other fishing gear.

?"Ghost nets" are often used to describe fishing nets lost or discarded at sea, which have strangled and captured marine animals for decades.

Studies have shown that fish and other marine lives do eat plastic and often confuse them with jellyfish. These plastics stimulate their digestive system. If plastic is not discharged from animals, it will make them feel "full" and eventually even starve to death.

Seals are curious and can often be seen playing with plastic debris, such as meshes, and then their necks are netted. The trapped seal will eventually die from hunger or wounds caused by wire.?

In the 1970s, scientists at the National Marine Mammal Laboratory concluded that plastic entanglements kill up to 40,000 seals a year.

In 2015, a study published in the Journal Global Change Biology by the University of Queensland in Australia showed that 52% of turtles had eaten plastic contaminants. Turtles die from intestinal blockage, perforation of intestinal walls, or absorption of chemicals from plastics.

A study published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences found that seabirds had a high risk of ingesting plastic. By 2050, almost 99% of seabird species, such as gulls and albatrosses, will intake plastics.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? How to Reduce Plastic Pollution

1. Say no to the plastic straw

One of the simplest ways to reduce plastic waste being sent to landfills is to refuse to use plastic pipes. When dining out, we can tell the waiter that we don't need a plastic straw.

2. Use environmentally friendly bags

About 1 million plastic bags are used every minute. If you still use plastic bags when shopping in supermarkets, it's time to make a change. Buying environmentally friendly bags for use can help reduce plastic pollution.

3. If conditions permit, bring your own box to pack your food.

Whether you want to pack takeout or take the leftovers home, it is recommended that you prepare reusable boxes instead of disposable lunch boxes provided by the restaurant.

4. Do not use plastic tableware

Say goodbye to disposable chopsticks, disposable knives and forks, disposable spoons. If you often order takeaway at work, prepare a set of tableware in the company.

5. Drink?less bottled juice

Rather than buying bottled juice, it's better to make fresh juice at home or simply taste fresh fruit. Not only will this reduce plastic waste, but it will also be better for your body. You will get more natural vitamins and antioxidants, and you will consume less artificially mixed high fructose syrup.

6. More Use of Glass Containers

Try to put food in glass containers instead of plastic containers. Instead of throwing away used glass containers. These glass cans can also be used when buying bulk food.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ?Conclusion

Portrayed the cartoon above is that two tourists sitting in a small boat are tossing rubbish into the lake, including watermelon rind, fish-bones, banana skin, plastic containers and so on. The two sightseers are engaged in enjoying the scenery without realizing how severe and sustained the damage they have caused to the ecological environment.

This graph illustrates an embarrassing phenomenon that citizens’ environmental awareness fails to have corresponding improvement with the economic and technical progress. While enjoying the fruits of development, we are facing immense amount of environment problems occuring in the surroundings we are living in. Owing to lack of sufficient knowledge, an overwhelming number of people have no consciousness that destroying Earth will eventually result in the revenge of nature.

To get this issue solved, we are bound to heighten people’s concept of environment and make them aware of the evil consequence of ecological destruction. In dealing with a challenge on such a scale, it is no exaggeration to say that environmental problems can be completely resolved only with the joint efforts of all mankind.

We should not be over enjoyed our victory on the nature. For each such victory, the nature will take revenge on us. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??——Friedrich Engels

Earth provides enough to satisfy every man's needs, but not every man's greed. ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ——Mahatma Gandhi

Those who contemplate the beauty of the earth find reserves of strength that will endure as long as life lasts. We must share our planet with other lives.

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ??? ——Rachel Carson

? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ? ?? ? ?Thank you for watching!