By Josie Barker
Did you know that twenty-six to thirty-three billion pounds of plastic, enough to fill 1.7 million Olympic-sized swimming pools, is dumped into ocean habitats annually? Adding on, 50 billion pounds of trash accumulates along roadways and waterways each year. It’s assumed that each U.S. citizen is responsible for adding around 152 items of this trash. Littering, a combination of laziness partnered with the perks of convenience, embodies an act executed by someone who lacks accountability. The continuing choices litterers make (to litter) and the partnering afterthought (not picking up the inappropriately deserted trash) leave yet another plastic bag abandoned on the ground, leading to a deeper issue: the impending dumpster disaster that threatens to permanently disrupt our environment. I’ll admit, it’s easy to assume another person will take up the responsibility of recycling the can of Pringles you previously tossed onto the unsuspecting flowerbed of a nearby residence; however, this isn’t usually the case. Do not blindly assume there is a diffusion of responsibility. Polluting the world with your trash doesn’t only harm the area you recently desecrated; eventually, the ever-growing presence of trash will circle right back to you. Whether it be in your local park or in your front yard, littering is an often-overlooked problem, and it does affect you. In time, that non-threatening pile of 100 Grand bar wrappers ten feet away from the trash will gather into one heaping mountain of waste.
So, that perfectly blue, clear ocean on your annual Bahamas beach vacation? What if it becomes just another murky garbage patch floating in the sea? A previously coveted hotspot dedicated to snorkeling may become a thick, unwadable pool of waste. As you are clawing through mountains of aquatic-based rubbish that used to be your favorite surf spot, maybe then you will recall the Sprite bottle you carelessly tossed onto your neighbor’s yard years ago. Unfortunately, individuals fail to deal with others’ issues until it affects them. Perhaps it will take only an island trip catastrophe to make sense of how inconsiderate acts against your environment eventually impact you.
Additionally, every year, humans alike ingest around 250 grams of microplastics. So I pose the question: if you are okay with a sea turtle swallowing yet another bottle cap, are you ok accepting the idea of a human experiencing the same plastic induced fate? From land to sea, spoon to mouth, trash infiltrates our everyday lives. If collective action does not occur when facing the problem of the accumulation of trash, then, plainly stated, as a society, we are doomed.
On this year’s Earth Day, make room in your schedule to do something beneficial for our planet. No matter how small a deed, whether it be removing trash from a lake or planting a tree (native to the area, of course), an action on your part means a lot.