The Ocean- the Largest Trash Can in the World

Volunteers clean up Kamilo Beach in Hawaii.

 Do you really know what's in our beaches
                          and oceans?

The skeleton of an Albatross chick shows that it was fed plastic
which caused it to starve or choke to death.

 By: Katherine Lu
Sparkling cerulean water splashing onto pristine, white beaches and a stunning, shining sun is what many may picture when thinking of beaches, but beaches are becoming dirtier and dirtier, as plastic and debris wash up on beaches throughout the entire world every day.
                  Kamilo Beach, which is found on the coast of the island of Hawaii, is possibly one of the most polluted beaches in the entire world, as the beach is covered with plastic and debris. In fact, scientists have found more plastic particles than sand, from the plastic and has been called a “plastic beach.” Due to converging currents, as well as trade winds, various objects wash up on the beach, like debris, though that isn’t what has always happened. In the 1960s, Hawaiians would go find large evergreen logs that washed up from the Pacific Ocean. It would be impossible now, with the amount of plastic and other debris scattered throughout the beach. Though efforts have been made to clean up the beach, there are still quite a lot of plastic there, and some of the plastic deteriorated into small plastic particles or pellets, which can’t be removed. However, the three major clean ups still helped a lot. Before, the debris was eight to ten feet high in several places, but it wasn’t the fault of Hawaiians that this beach became so polluted.
                  Surprisingly, most of the trash found on Kamilo Beach and other beaches doesn’t come from local sources and the garbage actually comes from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Also referred to as the Pacific Trash Vortex, the hodgepodge of garbage was formed by oceanic currents gradually sweeping all the garbage in the sea, collecting trash from all over the world. 90% of all this trash in the sea is plastic, resulting in a huge amount of garbage in the middle of the ocean. In addition, there are four more major ocean gyres, which are rotating ocean currents where debris may be swept up. Marine litter from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, whose size is speculated to have 100 million tons of debris and stretches from California to Japan, may end up on beaches or sink down into the ocean, causing further damage to the environment.
                  This gallimaufry of plastic and other debris can have devastating effects on animals as it may trap them, suffocate them, or poison them. For instance, seabirds may ingest plastic, but they can’t digest it which can take up space in their stomach or starve them by causing an obstruction or possibly even choke them to death. Sea turtles, which are endangered, sometimes also mistake plastic bags as jellyfish, and fishing debris such as nets and traps may trap birds and other marine mammals, killing them. Numerous species are on the brink of extinction due to pollution. Plus, Plastic isn’t the only thing polluting the ocean though. Marine litter also consists of toxic chemicals, oil, and more, which may be dumped into the ocean or leaked out. Recently, an oil rig exploded on April 20, leaking 210,000 gallons of crude oil into the sea each day, which will affect the environment around it negatively. Also, ten percent of the 200 billion pounds of plastic created ends up in the ocean, and many people may not realize the damage they can do to the environment by littering and not recycling.
                  People may assume that oceans and beaches aren’t that dirty and are even fairly clean if they don’t see it for themselves. In fact, Teresa Shaw said she knew little about the amount of garbage in oceans and beaches, thinking that “all beaches were clean and white.” People that do know about it may agree that this is indeed a bad thing, as Angela Zhu commenting that it was “horrible,” and Emily Cress considering it “sad and depressing.” Unfortunately, a lot of them don’t do anything, though they know about it.
                  “I don’t feel or know what I can change,” stated William Lu, which is one of the reasons as to why  some people don’t do anything to help the environment. Conversely, Emily Cress replied “I’m too lazy,” which is another reason why some may refuse to recycle or try to help the environment. Others, however may think like Angela Zhu- “I’ll die before any major changes happen anyways.” Furthermore, there are people who believe just one person can’t make a difference, or that that it’s simply too much trouble to be environmentally friendly.
                  Still, there are easy and simple ways to help the environment. One is to simply recycle aluminum, plastic, and paper, as well as picking up litter. You can also opt-out of receiving bulky telephone books by going t by going to YellowPagesGoGreen.org. Phone books can create a lot of waste, as just in America, up to 19 million trees per year are used to make the 540 million phone books in the USA. Also, it takes 7.2 million barrels of oil, not including delivery, and 3.2 billion kilowatt hours of energy consumption, as well as creating 1.6 billion pounds of paper wastage. Another easy task that will help is to turn off electronic devices and lights when they aren’t being used, which will lower your electrical bill. Also, using a reusable water bottle instead of disposable plastic water bottles will help, as well as taking the bus or riding a bike or even walking, instead of driving everywhere. These tasks are easy ways to help the environment and prevent pollution and hopefully, other beaches will not become as polluted as Kamilo Beach.