There is a lot of pollution in our oceans, and most of us don’t realize what kind of problems it is causing for the animals that live there or how it affects the entire planet. The June 2018 cover of National Geographic magazine is helping make people more aware of the problem.
At first sight, the cover is interesting and creative, but the story that accompanies this cover photo is tragic and even terrifying.
It talks about how much trash people on this planet produce each year and even each day and how that trash is changing our world.
Animals are eating plastic and getting caught up in it. Shocking images fill up the pages. Birds are wrapped in plastic bags, turtles are caught in plastic fishing nets, and fish are eating small pieces of plastic that break free from the floating masses of trash that float around in the oceans.
It’s shameful.
National Geographic CEO Gary E. Knel explained:
“For 130 years, National Geographic has documented the stories of our planet, providing audiences around the world with a window into the earth’s breathtaking beauty as well as to the threats it faces. Each and every day, our explorers, researchers, and photographers in the field witness firsthand the devastating impact of single-use plastic on our oceans, and the situation is becoming increasingly dire. Through the Planet or Plastic? the initiative, we will share the stories of this growing crisis, work to address it through the latest science and research, and educate audiences around the world about how to eliminate single-use plastics and prevent them from making their way into our oceans.”
The article also talks about which countries and industries product the most plastic and where all that plastic ends up.
Most of it ends up in the waterways around the world and, eventually, our oceans. The article says:
“The largest market for plastics today is packaging materials. That trash now accounts for nearly half of all plastic waste generated globally—most of it never gets recycled or incinerated”
The article also focused on how people around the world are trying to help with the pollution crisis.
Families in Bangladesh collect plastic, remove the labels, clean it, and sort it by color before selling it to a recycling center. Some families can earn $100 a month by sorting through plastic.
In other parts of the world, people washing plastic sheets and bags to sell them to similar centers. Some people sort out small pieces of plastic by colors. All of them hope to make a living by sorting through the trash to find plastic that can be recycled. They are earning a living this way and also helping to save the planet a few tons of garbage at a time.
There simply are as many people working to help recycle and prevent pollution as there are people contributing to the problem.
The magazine is hoping that this article and the accompanying photos will help people become more aware of the problem and their own contributions.
Now is the time to start taking responsibility for our trash problem and what we are doing to the planet and the creatures we share it with. We can’t continue to fill our oceans with trash, and plastic is just the beginning.
While it might be the biggest pollution problem we face, it isn’t the only one.
Our landfills are full, and while people in some parts of the world are working hard to put an end to pollution, others simply aren’t worried about it. It’s not a problem that will fix itself. We all need to do our part to protect the planet.
Anyone who looks at these images and reads these alarming statistics about plastic and pollution should feel ashamed and a little guilty. We have all caused this. Now we need to work together to fix this problem, so it doesn’t affect future generations.
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