How Plastic Trash Kills Marine Life

Let's face it, we're a throw-away society. And even though we may be conscientious about tossing our trash into the proper trash receptacles, not all of it stays there. If you live in a coastal community, you know that our beaches get trashed daily with the debris of human life.

The result is a filthy beach and unclean water. But it doesn't stop there. The plastics that we cart our food and water in, which package our products, and entertain our children, also end up in our waterways. Plastics do not biodegrade. They only become smaller and smaller through a process called photodegradation.

That seems like a solution of sorts, right? If the plastic is so small that we don't see it then it sort of goes away, right? Wrong. What happens is that plastic floats just like the food marine life normally eats so they do. They end up starving because they cannot digest the plastic.

The same happens with birds. Because plastic appears as food to them they ingest it, ultimately starving because their body cannot rid itself of the plastic pieces.

If that wasn't bad enough, plastic has the ability to actually attract and absorb oil based or hydrophobic elements like PCB. So not only is the plastic alone a hazard, but it can also contain nasty poisons on top of it adding another layer of danger to marine life.

So what to do? Be plastic aware. Would you believe that only 5% of plastic gets recycled? Do your part and take the extra step to make sure all of your recycled plastic gets recycled. Purchase reusable water containers instead of bottled water. Go on a beach clean up. Refuse to purchase items that are over packaged in plastic.

Learn more by visiting the resource link to Algalita Marine Research Foundation.