Prevention is A solution
I believe that one solution to marine debris pollution is essentially prevention. (Another solution is to get plastic industry to stop making plastic but that will be for another conversation.) If we can eliminate the items that are harming the oceans from our lives then that would be great. However, the near-sighted truth is that it’ll be extremely difficult, not to mention a long while, to remove ourselves from disposable items. But that doesn’t mean we can’t start making changes in our habits now.
"I'm just one person. What difference will I make?"
There's a common myth that individual actions taken to decrease ocean pollution are not enough to make an impact. However, no action is insignificant; a collection of efforts can prevent a substantial amount of trash from entering the ocean. And while I understand the daunting idea that paralyzes one into thinking they can’t do anything, every single action counts. Think about it. Let’s pretend someone requires caffeine in their system every morning and because they do not bring their own mug or other liquid-containing device, they throw away their cups afterwards. That’s 365 disposable cups being added to a landfill (assuming it even makes it to the landfill). If they brought their own mug, they would preventing 365 cups from going to the landfill or potentially waterways. Some places even give you a few cents off for bringing in your own mug. Here's another idea. Imagine everyone in the world had a plastic bottle in their hand and had to make one of two decisions: throwing it away into a landfill or recycling it to become something else. If all seven billion people said, "It's just this once and whatever I do isn't going to help anyways", the result would be seven billion plastic bottles in the landfill. Moral of the story: think globally, act locally. Just because the ocean may be out of sight, that does not mean it should be out of mind.
Remember the six R's? They provide a sturdy framework for learning how to be more aware of what you use. This message that I'm trying to convey isn't one that says you are a terrible person if you use any sort of throwaway item but one that says usage of disposables with deliberate purpose is a whole lot better than mindless use. I think the most important step in the six-R's framework is rethink where I remind myself of whether or not I really need to use the disposable item before following the remaining steps.
Collaborative efforts of individual actions and spreading awareness are needed to reduce marine debris. So what's a solution to ocean pollution? It all starts with you. See the "What's next" tab for ways to apply the solution to ocean pollution to your own lifestyle.
"I'm just one person. What difference will I make?"
There's a common myth that individual actions taken to decrease ocean pollution are not enough to make an impact. However, no action is insignificant; a collection of efforts can prevent a substantial amount of trash from entering the ocean. And while I understand the daunting idea that paralyzes one into thinking they can’t do anything, every single action counts. Think about it. Let’s pretend someone requires caffeine in their system every morning and because they do not bring their own mug or other liquid-containing device, they throw away their cups afterwards. That’s 365 disposable cups being added to a landfill (assuming it even makes it to the landfill). If they brought their own mug, they would preventing 365 cups from going to the landfill or potentially waterways. Some places even give you a few cents off for bringing in your own mug. Here's another idea. Imagine everyone in the world had a plastic bottle in their hand and had to make one of two decisions: throwing it away into a landfill or recycling it to become something else. If all seven billion people said, "It's just this once and whatever I do isn't going to help anyways", the result would be seven billion plastic bottles in the landfill. Moral of the story: think globally, act locally. Just because the ocean may be out of sight, that does not mean it should be out of mind.
Remember the six R's? They provide a sturdy framework for learning how to be more aware of what you use. This message that I'm trying to convey isn't one that says you are a terrible person if you use any sort of throwaway item but one that says usage of disposables with deliberate purpose is a whole lot better than mindless use. I think the most important step in the six-R's framework is rethink where I remind myself of whether or not I really need to use the disposable item before following the remaining steps.
Collaborative efforts of individual actions and spreading awareness are needed to reduce marine debris. So what's a solution to ocean pollution? It all starts with you. See the "What's next" tab for ways to apply the solution to ocean pollution to your own lifestyle.