It has become a common trend for businesses to ban plastic straws in order to “save the oceans’. The real question is, how much do straws affect our planet?
In a recent study, it has been estimated that between 4.8- 12.7 million tons of plastic waste has entered the ocean. With the knowledge of there being great amounts of plastic in the oceans, we can now consider the effects they have on the ocean.
According to the Ocean Conservancy organization, there was over 9.3 million kilograms of trash picked up through the International Coastal Cleanup (ICC). Out of the ten most picked up items in the ocean, plastic straws was ranked 6th, with over 600,000 straws being picked up. This is an excessive amount of plastic that isn’t necessary for most people. This effect would likely have detrimental impacts on the ecosystem.
The video called ‘Why plastic straws suck’, discusses some of the main problems with plastic straws that has the potential to have negative impacts. One problem with plastic straws is their size. They are often missed in modern recycling equipment and therefore end up in the trash.
Plastic in the ocean system as discussed in another study, has potential risk to marine animals, from being poisoned due to digestion of the debris and entanglement in the plastic. It’s a known fact that marine animals are essential to our ecosystem, so humans should try to protect them from plastic pollutants.
The ban of plastic straws has the potential to greatly reduce the top 6th plastic pollutant, therefore making a positive impact on the marine ecosystem. Eliminating straws has been shown to make a difference to our planet, but in order to ensure that we protect our planet, humans should focus on reducing all their wastes. There are many alternative options such as straw less lids, paper and metals straws are now a highly popular alternative to plastic straws. Humans should consider small steps they can take that will positively support the marine ecosystem and overall the planet itself.
Written by Jocelyn Benji
