Garbage in Our Oceans

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Garbage in Our Oceans

How did it All End Up There?



It is not news that our oceans are filled with garbage and most of that is plastic which takes a long time to decay and it has affected wildlife and even our own lives.  The question is, how did it all get there?  There are many causes to this problem and I will go through those here.

 Poor Waste Management


Poor waste management is a big contributor to this issue.  Many countries that are poor have few ways of dealing with garbage effectively like we do in the United States.  They simply do not have the infrastructure to deal with all this garbage.  The countries that contribute the most pollution in our oceans are The Philippines, India, Malaysia, and China.  According to viborc.com, this is how much each country contributes to pollution in our oceans in metric tons!

   

Littering



Littering is another big contributor to the large amount of pollution in our oceans.  This is not just some careless person throwing an empty bottle into the ocean or leaving it on the beach, but also fishermen abandoning nets and other fishing gear in the ocean which can cause real harm to wildlife like the turtle above.  Because of this, many marine species are affected by these careless acts.  

     Natural Disasters 


Natural disasters cause huge problems to our shorelines and cities.  Many homes and buildings are destroyed as wind and water decimate areas on the coast.  That also means that debris makes their way into the oceans where it adds to the already massive amount of trash.  These natural disasters can also cause oil spills if an oil platform is damaged.  
For instance, Hurricane Katrina caused $201.3 billion in 2005 according to Wikipedia.  With that damage, 47 oil platforms and 4 drilling rigs were damaged which caused 7 million gallons of oil to spill into the Gulf of Mexico.  

Solutions to this Problem...

This is a multi-faceted problem that will take the efforts of the individuals, governments both local and national, and the cooperation of corporations.  

  • Educating people about the proper way of disposing of garbage and recycling are great ways of helping alleviate the garbage in the oceans.  
  • Holding companies responsible for oil spills and dumping and enacting stricter penalties when those laws are not inhered to would help. 
  • Reduce single use plastics.  Encourage reusable products.
  • Individuals can organize beach cleanups. 

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