Imagine going on vacation and walking on a beautiful, warm Caribbean
beach. All seems serene and calm, until a huge patch of
plastic waste is found, only for an endless amount of
plastic water
bottles,
plastic bags, straws and other
plastic waste to be found as further investigation is taken.
Unfortunately, this tragic occurrence is a reality that has become increasingly common along the shores of the Caribbean islands. As stated by the British Broadcasting Company, the United Kingdom alone uses approximately 13 billion
plastic water
bottles each
year, of which only over 3 billion are recycled. That leaves a whopping 10 billion
plastic water
bottles placed either directly into landfills or discarded as litter which
affects local habitats.
According to Marine Insight, people around the
world throw away a total of 4 million tons of trash a day, of which 12.8 percent is
plastic. This number adds up to approximately 186 million tons of
plastic simply thrown away each
year — a staggering amount of
plastic that ends up in landfills and damages entire ecosystems.
Unfortunately, the damage of
plastic not only
affects the Caribbean, but also our local
beaches and other natural environments.
Plastic water
bottles, bags and straws are just a fraction of the waste that washes up on our shores.
When asked how
plastic affects local ecosystems around Rider, Jordan Dreyer, a sophomore film, TV and radio major said, “Although it may not be thought of by everyone, the
plastic that is thrown away ends up somewhere on earth. The pollution that
plastic creates ends up destroying the habitats of the plants and animals around us, all of which are important in keeping the balance of the ecosystem.”
While it does seem rather grim sometimes with the rapid increase of
plastic waste around the
world, there are a plethora of organizations that have been created to not only help
recycle more
plastic, but to make people more aware of the harmful effects of
plastic. One of these organizations is RecycleMania, an eight-week competition with colleges from around the country who compete to see which institutions can to
recycle the most. Rider’s very own office of sustainability is doing its part in this competition.
When asked how people could become more conscientious with their
plastic use, Brennan Zelenski, a junior accounting major, said, “People should be sure to
recyclenot only their
plastic water
bottles, but their everyday items such as
body wash and shampoo containers. If everyone were to encourage recycling,
plastic pollution would not be as much of a problem as it is
today.”
Thankfully, Rider’s Office of Sustainability also works with local recycling company Terracycle. The Terracycle
Beauty Brigade was implemented to take students’ empty
beauty and shower products so they could be recycled and transformed into entirely
new products, creating zero waste in the process.
While
plastic pollution is a problem that
affects all of the earth, there are so many organizations doing their parts to reduce
plastic waste. All it takes is a bit of effort and care from everyone to preserve this beautiful planet that we call home and save it for many generations to come.