Inland Impact: Recycle for our Oceans

From my English Composition final, a persuasive paper.

Inland Impact: Recycle for our Oceans

The sun sets every day on the beautiful shores. His rays gently caress the flat line of the fickle sea off in the distance, before the bright solar star of the sky itself gives its first kiss to the horizon. Finally, the sun nestles into its blue blanket of its bed so it can rise in the early morning. Nocturnal moon eventually chases him, after a night admiring the dancing stars. The moon stares down at the vast ocean that covers 71 percent of earth. She fondly shines on the mysterious creatures that dwell beneath the waters, like the sea of phosphorous jellyfish disturbed by the ethereal and graceful whale. Magic lies beyond the shores, where dolphins play with chunks of seaweed floating adrift the sea. But one dolphin catches onto something that’s not a piece of kelp; something not of their world. This creature finds his snout ensnared by a piece of plastic with six unforgiving circular bands. He fights, he struggles, his friends try and assist to no avail. The more he struggles, the more the sharp ends slice into his snout and refuse to give way. Peaceful blue gains streaks of violent red. The plastic tightens despite the will to live, the need to eat. Eventually, he is unable to sustain himself. The dolphin weakens, tires, and finally perishes.

That one piece of trash could be yours. It doesn’t matter that you live inland, away from the shores. Trash travels, so carelessly thrown away. It doesn’t even need to be by your hand. Sure, you threw that soda ring into the trash bin instead of off I-15, but where did that piece of plastic go after that? Perhaps, as an inland dweller, you wouldn’t think that we have an effect on our oceans. Yes, you can try to remember to cut apart things like soda rings, shred a grocery bag, or animal-proof a bottle or jug. Still, the waste more often than not ends up slipping into the ocean no matter your location as an individual. That hungry young sea turtle might be curious that a piece of shredded plastic is a tasty new snack. Not to mention septic, pesticides, oil pollution, waste water, and industrial waste. No, this is about you, the reader. This is about the impact you can make on the seas, the impact you already unknowingly make; or perhaps don’t care. Our oceans and lakes control climate and weather, supporting the life of around 50 percent of all species on earth, and helps sustain life by providing 20 percent of animal protein, and 5 percent of all protein in the human diet. One of every six jobs in the US alone is marine-related (NOAA.gov par1). The ocean provides a chunk of transportation, offers recreation for humans to have fun and relax. Water skiing, parasailing, surfing, body boarding, scuba and free-diving, sailboats, yachts, cruise lines, fishing, and so many more activities. Not to mention the cure to many diseases may be waiting within the resources of the ocean (NOAA.gov par2). There’s more you can do to help the oceans than try to ocean-safe your trash. Recycle.

There are many ways to cut back on plastic pollution. Not only with recycling, but by replacing commonly used items such as plastic straws, lunch bags, and drinking bottles. “Two million plastic beverage bottles - the number used in the US every five minutes. —Charles Moore” (saveourseas.com par1). I want you to think of the impact you can make every five minutes. I will share with you some insight and inspiration, as well as ideas that will supply you with alternate means in order to lessen the amount of trash making it to sea.

First and foremost I will talk about recycling, a simple act you can start taking part in now. After reading my paper, walk the few extra steps to throw your soda bottle in the recycle bin. As often as you can, go the extra effort to put each plastic into a recycle bin. Many neighborhoods offer curb-side recycling and each house is given a blue bin specifically for paper and plastics; my parents’ home is one of such homes in a recycling neighborhood. If your neighborhood doesn’t have curbside recycling, you can buy any size bin and utilize it as a recycling bin. If you wish to make it obvious it is for recycling, you can have fun decorating it. Get a blue bin and paint a recycle symbol on it to clarify to yourself and to guests. Involve your children in painting earth supportive images such as aquatic life, trees, or animals. At your workplace, you can arrange the same method where you bring in a large bin for company plastics and papers. Ink toners and cartridges are recyclable as well. No matter where you keep your bin, you can take your waste to a Drop-Off Recycle center. In your schools, you can talk to staff about bringing in a recycle bin, and create campus wide awareness to have as much support as possible to recycle at school. With all the plastic bottles, straws, lunch bags, discarded paper, ink cartridges, etcetera that are frequently thrown away, schools are a great place to involve in recycling! At greenchoices.utah.gov there is an extensive list that shares “How to Set Up a Recycling Program at Your Workplace or School“ (greenchoices.utah.gov par2). Did you know that you can tell what materials are recyclable by the symbol on the item? The numbers in the center also define what kind of material is composed of your discarded waste. “Check with your city, they usually indicate which types of plastic they will recycle (many places only take 1 and 2)” (brokensecrets.com par11). A 1 means the plastic is polyethylene terephthalate or PET/PETE, which is used in items such as soft drink and water bottles. Number 2 is high density polyethylene or HDPE, used for plastics such as milk jugs and juice bottles. There are 7 different variations of plastics used altogether.

Straws, something that can be easily overlooked but so commonly used in so many places. From home, to school, to restaurants and fast food. “Plastic Straws are always in the top 10 of number of items collected during beach cleanups…  as of March 2008, McDonald’s serves an average of 52 million meals PER DAY!  (Per their website)… enough plastic straws are produced annually to fill over 46 THOUSAND full sized school buses” (glassdharma.com par5 - 7). This wonderful company, Glass Dharma, hand creates beautiful and durable borosilicate glass straws, not unbreakable but as strong as possible. They come in a variety of sizes, some bent and some have decorative colored bubbles to add your own splash of personality. You can buy special brushes to clean your new straw and 100 percent hemp sleeves to transport them to places such as McDonalds and your favorite restaurant. They are a fair price at $6.50 – $12 depending on size and style. Imagine the conversations you could spark up if you commonly use a straw such as a Glass Dharma.

Did your mom pack you lunches to school in brown paper bags? How often did you bunch up your bag and carelessly throw it across the cafeteria to nail your friend in the back of the head for fun? When you are at the checkout line, do you think that saying paper is the eco-friendly choice? Think again. “Each year, Americans use about 10 billion paper bags… Four times the amount of energy is used to manufacture paper vs. plastic bags… 98 percent more energy is used to recycle paper vs. plastic bags… Brown paper bags are recyclable, but only 10 to 15 percent are being returned to recycling plants. ... brown paper bags utilizes very little recyclable material” (earth911.com par3 & 5). Instead ask for plastic at checkout so you can recycle bags back to the store; most stores have places you can return your bags. For your child’s lunch pack their meal in a reusable lunch sack or tote.

Bottled water is a readily available drink to take on the go, but such a wasteful item. It costs so much more than just drinking tap water. Yes, it is convenient and very helpful to store for emergencies. Take a look at some of these facts, for you may well decide to cut back. “38 million plastic bottles go to the dump per year in America from bottled water (not including soda)... 90% of the cost of bottled water is due to the bottle itself... 80% of plastic bottles are not recycled” (greenupgrader.com par2). That is enough to make your mouth drop, that means over 30 million plastic bottles are not being recycled. An alternate from plastic bottles should be in order. I use a plastic cup with a straw and comfort grip, shaped like a cup from fast food restaurants. It is reusable, drip free, spill proof, and lasts for a very long time. Or, you can use canteens or travel mugs if you prefer. These travel cups and canteens can be an expression of your personality from color to design. Tap water costs pennies to the gallon, so it could potentially save you a lot of money to switch to reusable containers.

So look out for our oceans, for our earth. Break the mold and begin to discard waste in the recycle bin. Try out a glass straw and show off your unique conversation piece. Tell your cashier you want plastic rather than paper. Give your child a reusable tote to take their lunch to school with. Pitch in, promote the awareness, pick up outsiders to join in to your local cause. Even on inland America, you can make a big difference; positive or negative. I hope I have opened your eyes to point out any negative impact, and push you to take a positive approach to recycling and caring for our oceans and earth.