We have recently been researching the harmful effects that PET (a polymer resin found in plastic) found in plastic. This dangerous element is very dangerous because it decomposes plastic into micro plastics. We have created this petition listed below to limit the use of Pet in plastic bottles. This is a big concern to our oceans and the only way to prevent this situation from getting wore is to stop using so much plastic and PET.

https://www.change.org/p/ny-assembly-member-limit-the-use-of-pet-for-plastic-bottles/preview

It would be great if you could support our cause and sign the petition against PET.

In order to rally more support for this project, we have started a petition on the website, Change.org. Our petition is pushing to ban the use of PET (Polyethylene terephthalate). PET is used to make plastic bottles. We believe if the use of PET is at least limited and regulated, less water bottles will be made. With less water bottles being made, people will turn to using metal bottles or glass bottles. There will be less incentive to throw out plastic bottles if less of them are being made. So less plastic bottles will end up in the ocean.

Link to petition: https://www.change.org/p/ny-assembly-member-limit-the-use-of-pet-for-plastic-bottles

We also created social media accounts to further promote our cause.

Link to Twitter:https://twitter.com/Andy14901200/status/1104760104837136387

We have recently created a social media account of Instagram in order to inform more people about the harm of plastic in the ocean. Although we are new and don’t have many posts we will continue to spread our cause.

If anyone is interested in checking out our account, it is titles plastic_ocean223. Feel free to follow in order to stay informed with new posts and images. We also post additional memes on our social media account occasionally in order to keep our viewers entertained.

Plastic is notably one of the most dangerous elements man has created on this earth. With the addition of many chemicals and oils, the plastic is nearly indestructible. It is also important to take into consideration the mass use of plastic. Every single household or store in American contains plastic in some way, shape, or form. Just think about how much plastic is held within a single supermarket.

Currently, over 300 tons of plastic, is created every year. By the year 2050, the population of the world will be around 10 billion, and researchers are expecting this production rate to increase to 900 tons of plastic a year. By this point, the ocean could be 50% fish and 50% plastic. This is horrifying.

Plastic, with PET, is arguably the worse substance ever created by man. It’s a cheap source of material, but it’s inability to decompose has left almost every piece of plastic (made with PET) ever made, still on the planet. This means we have islands, made of plastic. They float around our ocean like a tumor.

…In a decomposing process, over a certain amount of time, the material will break down and will become fertilizer for the earth, but this is not the case for this plastic. Instead it remains untouched, and bugs, birds, and any other types of animal can’t break it down. They can eat the plastic, but they won’t be able to break it down. This results in plastic killing thousands of animals.

One of the many ways that plastic is infecting our planet/ocean is the wildlife that lives in it. Just like I said before, thousands of animals are dying every year because they unknowingly eat the plastic, not knowing what it really is. A report says that 90% of the seagulls on the planet, have eaten plastic at some point in their lives.

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/152639417/posts/857

Plastic is a big harm to our earth because it outlives us all. The plastic we used once in a single day may live for the next 30 generations. Plastic continues to load up the oceans while most people barely recognize it. It is painful to think that a plastic bag which a person uses one time and then throws away, could kill several animals or plants.

It has already been a long time since the world first decided to have the bodies of water act as the world’s largest dumping sites. The people, at first, were either shrouded by ignorance or they simply did not care enough. However, when a video went viral last 2015 about a plastic straw being pulled out of a sea turtle, concerned citizens have started campaigning a new advocacy encouraging people to say no to plastic straws.

Over the years, unsurprisingly, it has gained a number of followers, each member eager to the cause. Starbucks even claimed that by 2020, they would eliminate plastic straws, opting instead for biodegradable straws and innovating a newly-designed lid, resembling a sippy cup. McDonald’s UK, American Airlines, and Marriott Hotels have all announced similar changes.

However, how exactly did this problem came to be? Plastics are recycled by recycling plants, so why not straws?

Or, in other words, after using plastic straws once, they are deemed useless.

Some recycling plants do recycle straws, but it is necessary to note that the machines do not always catch straws, ending up in trash and, later, in landfills.


George Leonard of the Ocean Conservancy actually claimed that data from 2017 international coastal cleanup presented that there were 643,000 plastic straws picked up around beaches and waterways all over the world.

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/156249343/posts/145(Original post)

While plastic straws can be a problem for the ocean, there are so many more dangerous plastics in our waters. This article over highlights the dangers of plastic straws, rather than the dangers of plastic bags, plastic bottles, and plastic pellets, etc. These plastic objects are in larger quantities than straws. Furthermore, many animals die by consuming plastic bags and bottles. Straws can still be a danger to marine life, but they aren’t the only danger, Some plastic trash end up in the ocean quicker than others. This blog fails to mention the harm of other plastic objects and focuses to much on just the straws alone.

It was recently discovered that the ocean contains a massive number of tiny pellets called “nurdles” that are harmful and extremely hard to clean up.

“This is the raw form of plastic that’s used in manufacturing, and these are often transported by the ships that come in,” said Shell Cleave. She’s the founder of SeaHugger.org, an environmental group based in Half Moon Bay.
Cleave says somehow the nurdles are getting loose to spread across the world’s oceans, creating an unseen toxic danger to fish and seabirds, even on beaches that look clean.
So, on Sunday, researchers in 36 countries were conducting a nurdle hunt, documenting how many were found on beaches around the world. SeaHugger brought a rotating sand strainer called a trammel to gauge the size of the problem in San Francisco.
And it was alarming. It took just one shovelful of sand to find a nurdle. Multiply that by the number of shovelfuls that make up Ocean Beach, and the results are mind-boggling.”

https://wordpress.com/read/blogs/15116056/posts/776881

This is a worldwide issue that involves everyone. The nurdles are very dangerous and have only been recently discovered because they are hard to identify. Since many people are unaware of the amount of nurdles and other plastic in the ocean, they are unconcerned about the threat it causes.

In a new report titled Foresight Future of the Sea by the UK Government Office for Science, discovered that the amount of plastic in the ocean could triple by the year 2025.


Currently, there is already over 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic trash in the world’s ocean and with the current amount expected to triple in such a short time, we need to address the reality of what we have created.

The report warns that the current health of the oceans could have some cruel implications for biodiversity, noting that there is already a 49% decline in marine vertebrate populations between 1970 and 2012.

The world is slowly starting to wake up to our plastic problem but we still use way too much on a global scale. Walk into any super market or restaurant and pay attention to the amount of single-use plastic being used and quickly, it becomes evident how vast our addiction has become.

https://nackpets.wordpress.com/2019/01/14/ocean-plastic-is-expected-to-triple-by-2025-sea-voice-news (original source)

This website discusses the increase of plastic in the following years to come. The site also talks about how there is already 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in the ocean. It highlights how much of a serious problem we have created just by being careless with our trash. It gives a large scale to the extent of how big this problem is.

Hello, my name in Matthew and I am trying to raise awareness about the harm the plastic causes in the oceans. I chose this topic because it is a massive issue which affects everyone, but yet not many people are concerned about it. I find it necessary to inform people and at least let them realize what damage a simple plastic bag can cause while drifting in the ocean.

Plastic is a very dangerous element that is created by man is mass-produced on an unimaginable level. Pretty much all people use plastic every single day in America which adds up to endless tons of waste. It may surprise you to know that most plastic product take over a thousand years to decompose in our oceans. According to National Geographic, 40% of plastic products are only used once before they are thrown away. It is extremely wasteful and harmful even though it may appear convenient and efficient. Here are some shocking facts about the quantity of plastic produced : -It is believed that some 5.25 pieces of plastic dwell in our oceans. -100,000 marine animals die each year due to plastic encounters, as well as around a million sea birds. -Americans generate 10.5 million tons of plastic each year. These facts are very scary and the only way we can make the situation stop from continually getting worse is by using less plastic and recycling.

http://oceancrusaders.org/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistics/

https://www.nationalgeographic.org/education/ocean-plastic/

https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/01/26/our-oceans-a-plastic-soup/

http://oceancrusaders.org/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistics/