Every year, 14 million tons of plastic find their way into the oceans. That’s equal to the weight of
25’000 Airbus A380, 100’000 blue whales or almost 40 Empire State Buildings being dropped
annually into rivers, lakes and seas. Plastic cannot be processed by living organisms and is broken down into microplastic. Microplastic then aggregates in sediments and is so preserved for millions of years. Whales, seabirds or turtles mistake floating plastic for prey and eat the plastic. As plastic doesn’t have any nutritional value for animals, these animals slowly starve, their bellies filled with plastic. The plastic eaten by sea life can also injure them, destroy habitats and accelerate climate change. Finally, plastic hampers the touristic potential of beaches, coastal areas and oceans. Plastic-filled beaches are not a pretty sight and plastic islands aren’t suited for a relaxing holiday.
There are plenty of reasons to do something against plastic pollution. Foundation Tayrona and
Proyecto Marea Reciclo, two NGOs based in the Santa Marta area, strive to clean beaches and coasts from plastic waste. A short walk on the beaches of Santa Marta shows there’s a lot of work to do, so the NGOs set sail on a sunny Sunday morning to Inca Inca beach. On board the sailboat was diving and snorkelling equipment, motivated volunteers and empty bags waiting to be filled with plastic waste. After the rocky sail to Inca Inca, the volunteers equipped themselves and embarked on their mission. Divers, marine biology students and sailors started to skim the shore and the coast for plastic waste. They cleaned Inca Inca beach in the blazing sun for hours. Some groups set off to the more remote parts of the beach to dive for plastic waste, whereas others snorkeled at the beach and some climbed in the bushes to remove the plastic waste there. Neither the flaming sun, the tides nor the lingering tourists bothered the volunteers.
At the end of the day, almost 50 kg of plastic was collected by over a dozen students and volunteers. The sailboat started its return to Santa Mata loaded with plastic waste and equipment. The bags filled with plastic waste were disposed of sustainably and the plastic will be recycled and reused. The amount of plastic collected might seem negligible compared to the total extent of the pollution. Nevertheless, these monthly ocean clean-ups provide a small service to the oceans. The ocean clean-ups manage to sensitise the population to the dangers of plastic pollution and might incentivise a more conscious behavior with plastic. Even though ocean clean-ups only manage to help a little, they can be part of a bigger strategy counteracting plastic pollution and saving beaches, the lives of whales, birds and fish, and ultimately saving our oceans.
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