In May 2015, a cargo ship carrying 18,720 units of hot pink Vanish stain remover bottles was reported missing. The mystery of the vanishing cargo ship was finally solved as thousands of hot pink bottles were recently washed ashore on the sands of a beach in Poldhu Cove, Cornwall. Since then, volunteers from Surfers Against Sewage have been working diligently to clean up the mess. Normally, plastic pollution doesn’t stand out, but these shockingly pink bottles help illustrate the larger issue about plastics in our ocean.
300 million tons of plastic are produced across the world every year.
Currently, there are 270,000 tons of plastic floating on the ocean — and that number just reflects the amount on the surface.
Adding to what is currently floating on the surface, we dump 8.8 million tons of plastic in the ocean each year.
Plastic is forever. Even “biodegradable” plastic never goes away — it just gets smaller.
700 marine animal species that are directly endangered with extinction because of rampant plastic pollution.
The pink bottles really stand out, even in this aerial view, but just think of how much of the pollution isn’t so easily visible.
Seeing from this example and the much larger issue, plastic is a huge problem – but we have the power to change things. By opting to use less plastic in our daily lives, we can reduce its harmful impact. To learn how to reduce plastic and help save our oceans and their residents, check out these articles:
- 10 Life Hacks to Help You Cut Plastic Out of the Picture
- 8 Innovative Ways to Cut Plastic Out of Your Life
All image source: Surfers Against Sewage/Facebook