We can't breathe they cry.
The world's oceans are choking to death on an estimated 270,000 tons of plastic pollution caused by mankind.
Mankind. That's you and me.
I can't breathe is a cry for help that seems to fall on deaf ears these days but mankind must respond to this global disaster.
Mankind. That's you and me again.
It's estimated that there are five trillion pieces of plastic littering the oceans, that's around seven hundred pieces for every man woman and child on the planet.
And we could all be culpable of littering
without actually knowing it.
Most modern clothing companies use plastic man-made fabrics like polyester and nylon.
Each time we wash a shirt, jacket, or other clothing made from these materials, plastic microfibers get washed into the sewage system and flow into the ocean. From there the microfibers are ingested by small fish, and make their way up the food chain.
And these fibers are everywhere.
They contaminate not only our waterways, but also our food and air.
When ecologist Mark Brown studied microplastics on shorelines across the globe, he discovered that a full 85% of the plastic came from man-made clothing fibers.
Experiments with washing machines reveal that 1,900 pieces of plastic microfibers come off of a single piece of clothing every time it’s washed.
Since nearly every major clothing company now uses these sorts of man-made fibers, it adds up to a huge amount of plastic microfibers entering our waterways each year. And just like other plastics, plastic microfibers contribute toxins to our environment.
Science has only recently discovered this problem, and what we need now is a solution
to this mess.
You and I are the problem. And the solution...
