Things often found in the ocean, causing immense damage, are things that can be recycled. One example is that throwing plastic bottles and other plastic away, can get it to be thrown into the ocean, landfills etc. But bottles can be turned into clothes, bags, fabrics, car components, and more! It reduces the plastic in the world, into things used on a daily basis.

Yes, I agree with you. Bottles are very damaging to the ocean, especially to the creatures inside. For example, people have cut open the corpses of whales and found it filled with micro-plastics, which the whale cannot digest. Even though recycling might be tiring to some, we should still do it, considering the lives of the others sharing this planet with us.

Yes, I agree. Love this ?❤️??

Yes. I agree. All of this goofy plastic is damaging to the ocean life and our future. We should protect our own environment to protect our world.

I totally agree and I think people should be more careful to recycle plastic especially if they know what is happening in the oceans.

Totally agree with you. Recycling is vital to our earth and if we perform it correctly we can have some good benefits. First of all, recycling is important because it reduces waste sent to incinerators and landfills which can further populate the earth. Recycling also conserves our natural resources such as minerals, timber and water because these recycled objects have already been processed and refined, making them cleaner for our environment. Recycling benefits our environment by saving energy, helping to create jobs in recycling, and increasing economic security by using domestic materials. We can all do our part in recycling and making our earth better for future generations. Also if you want to learn more about recycling benefits copy and paste this link into your search bar:https://www.epa.gov/circulareconomy/us-recycling-system#:~:text=For%20the%20environment%2C%20recycling%3A,and%20process%20new%20raw%20materials.

I completely agree with your statement and ideas. Plastics are causing a detrimental effect on Earth’s oceans and it is a massive problem. According to the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration, scientists estimated that there was 8 million metric tons of plastic in the ocean during 2010. This was over a decade ago and the plastic problem is only getting worse. Plastics all around are terrible for the environment. The production of plastic is very bad as it causes pollution. Plastics stick around for decades or even centuries. They created chemicals that harm the animals too. Plastics end up in the ocean and this created the huge Pacific Garbage Patch. To prevent the situation from getting worse, there are multiple solutions that could help. Nothing will completely reverse the effects of plastic but they can help to ensure we have a world to live in for the future generations. The solutions go hand in hand and work together. Alone, they are slightly effective but together they can help a lot. The first step is repurposing many of the plastics that are already created. You can use plastics for different things and finding new purposes can help to ensure they don’t end up in the ocean. Stopping the production of plastic is very important. If we reuse and repurpose plastics but continue making them, it won’t change anything. 380 million tons of plastic are produced every single year and half of the plastics are single use. We use these plastics for a few moments but they will stay on this Earth for multiple centuries. This is terrible for the environment and pollution. One alternative that people are experimenting with is mycelium. Mycelium is a mushroom and people are engineering it to be used as an alternative for packaging that is compostable. You can even use it as a fertilizer after using it. These ideas are great but there is one huge problem still. That is to convince everyone to switch to these ideas of reusing and changing the status quo of plastic production. If we teach the youth about reusing and repurposing, we can create individuals who can learn how to take care of their damaged planet. In conclusion, reusing and repurposing helps the planet a lot but we need to stop the production of plastics with alternatives so that reusing and repurposing has a bigger impact on the plastic situation on Earth.
https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/hazards/m … ocean.html
https://www.cnn.com/2023/04/17/world/pl … d%20Hawaii.

I agree with you completely, things always end up in the sea, but what can you improve at the moment and what do you think you can change about it as an individual

Agreed. In addition to the hazard listed above, indigestible plastic filling the stomachs of dead animals, wildlife can become tangled in old fishing nets or other hazardous garbage. Less obvious, though, are the toxins that plastic leaches into the ocean. As they’re broken down (slowly) and decomposed by the rain and sun, toxic chemicals are released into the water. Some chemicals have been linked to cell damage and inflammation, and others are associated with chemicals that impact human fertility. Aside from the environmental damage this causes, if we eat fish that has been contaminated with these toxins, it’s possible that they could affect us too. That’s another reason why it’s important to recycle and prevent more plastic from reaching the ocean.

https://maritime-executive.com/editoria … usly-known
https://www.acs.org/pressroom/newsrelea … -says.html

I agree, recycling should be mandatory rather than a choice. This would limit the amount of pollution in today's world

Hi AshleeDeBruyn, I completely agree with your idea that many items found in the ocean, such as plastic, should be recycled to reduce the environmental damage it causes. Recycling not only helps with lowering the amount of plastic pollution in the oceans but also maintains resources and energy. It's a win-win for the environment and the economy.

I definitely agree that we should recycle more in order to lower the amount of waste in our environment. This is exactly what makes it so sad that many people don’t care about recycling. They believe that recycling will not have an impact, but they don’t look into it to see that it actually does.

I totally agree! As a society, we have normalized being so wasteful of our belongings, resources, and everything we use in our daily life. Single use plastics have become such a large issue that is affecting our environment, from our oceans as you mentioned, to our forests and even your local park. Each individual person needs to step up and take action for their own wastefulness. Invest in reusable water bottles, reusable grocery bags, etc. Recycle what you can. Research your area's recycling laws and make sure you bring everything to the right place instead of just tossing it in your recycling bin. Without that research, you may end up thinking you recycled something, but it just ends up in a landfill anyways because it wasn't recycled properly. Re-purpose things to make them last longer and be used more.
There are steps that everyone can take to help save the environment. If enough people step up, we will begin to see our planet healing.

Yes i very agree with this because we need to care more about the enviorment because we are damaging it very bad and that is not good for the future.

I definitely agree with this post. Recycling and reusing is super important on earth, it’d not only help our environment but our economy too. As a society, we consume lots of plastic waste and other materials which land into landfills and our ocean. Recycling and reusing can help ourselves, the community, and the environment by saving money, energy, and natural resources. It reduces greenhouse gases and prevents more pollution. Reusing allows products to be used to its fullest extent. It’s great that we can recycle materials and reuse them to turn them into new products again, this will reduce waste. Donating also reduces waste and it allows people who can’t afford brand new items to receive what they need.

Sources: https://www.epa.gov/recycle