Swimming with the Plastic

As another Earth Day passes this year, plastic pollution remains a global problem that only seems to be increasing while the synergy of the ocean is decreasing. Synergy is defined by Covey as "the whole is greater than the sum of its parts," meaning when things work together successfully, they are able to achieve something more than they would on their own, (Covey, p.134). This happens in nature naturally with living things working together in their environments, making them more successful but we are interfering by using the ocean as a dumping ground.  Environments like coral reefs are home to many marine animals and they used to thrive, synergy was everywhere keeping the balance and beauty of these colorful barriers; however, plastics have caused a lot of harm, entangling the reef in debris and exhausting itself trying to repair the damages. With the scary realization that "every minute, two garbage trucks of plastic are dumped into our oceans," it is more evident...

During a five-year cleanup research project, about 7.5 million plastic straws were found on JUST the U.S. shorelines, "e xtrapolated glo bally,   that is 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws   on the world's coastlines," ( Our Last Straw , 2021). Although many companies are coming out with straws that are compostable or recyclable, they are still turning up in our landfills which prevents them from getting the oxygen and sunlight which are both needed to break down.  In order for people to understand innovations that are being created, we need to make straws easy and accessible to dispose of in all locations. Recycling plastic straws can cause harm to recycling equipment due to their size; however, if we could successfully recycle them, it still would take, "approximately 200 years for a plastic straw to decompose into smaller pieces," ( Planet Protector , 2020). To be successful in removing single-use plastics like straws, a little investment in alternat...

Creating a win-win environment is important not only to you but also to the movement. When we think with a win-win mindset, we can accomplish a lot more and reach a lot of people by collaborating and reaching both goals together. When we collaborate together, the solutions we come up with are mutually satisfying, and each benefits from it! Off the coast, we have the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, located between Hawaii and California coming out to be twice the size of the state of Texas. According to a book called Going Blue, "the mass has been growing since the 1950s, and unless people intervene, this hunk of junk will continue to collect more and more waste- including discarded electronics, children's toys, and most of all, tons of nonbiodegradable plastic," (Kaye, Cousteau, p.73). Waste like this affects the daily life of fish and other marine life. Did you know that the trash poses a danger to us as well? Microplastics are a huge issue, they are less than five millimet...

Habit three focuses on the act of putting first things first by, "developing our own proactive nature," and, "practicing effective self-management," ( Covey , p.74). As a leader of the project, I have established that the first thing we need to do is to hold ourselves accountable and figure out what part we personally play in the plastic accumulating along our coastlines and ocean waters. By doing this, we can find ways to increase sustainability with an easy transition and innovative ways to remove plastics from ocean environments. "Plastic doesn’t decompose, that means the plastic can stick around indefinitely, wreaking havoc on marine ecosystems," ( National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration , 2022). The beauty of reducing plastics means preserving the ocean for future generations while saving the lives of marine wildlife. To start we need to realign our values, beliefs, priorities, and purpose while leading with empathy, realizing we are not perf...