“Are you still using plastic garbage bags? Plastic drink bottles? Zipper lock bags? Plastic wrap on your food? Do you buy toilet paper wrapped in plastic instead of paper? Do you put your fruits and vegetables in plastic bags when you shop? “
After capturing shocking images of plastic cutlery, bags, bottles and packaging floating near the tranquil Caribbean island of Roatan, photographer Caroline Power shared the images on social media and wrote an impassioned Facebook post urging everyone to reconsider their use of plastic.
“Think about your daily life,” she wrote. How did you take your convenience food last time? How was your last snack served? It was probably Styrofoam and served with a plastic fork and then put in a plastic bag.”
She said they drove “almost five miles” through floating trash, adding, “Everywhere we looked, plastic bags of all shapes and sizes: Chip bags, ziplocks, grocery bags, trash bags, snack bags, other packaging. Some were whole, and the rest were just pieces. Unfortunately, many turtles, fish, whales and seabirds will mistake these pieces of plastic for food.
“We then reached an area about two miles wide with several lines of trash stretching from horizon to horizon.”
“There were also a seemingly endless number of plastic forks, spoons, drinking bottles and plates. There were broken soccer balls, toothbrushes, a TV and so many shoes and flip-flops.”
It’s estimated that by 2050, there will be more plastic than fish. By making small changes in our daily lives and reducing our personal plastic footprint, we can already make a big difference in our environment.
Sources:
- https://truththeory.com/2017/10/31/shocking-photographer-captures-sea-plastic-floating-near-caribbean-island/
- https://www.facebook.com/caroline.power3/posts/10155101848243861
