I recently saw a show on Oprah showcasing a swirling world of garbage in the ocean, twice the size of Texas! Not only have we turned our oceans into dumping grounds because we don't make simple, painless, afforable and easy changes to go green, but we also seem to forget that the ocean is not just a huge body of water: it is the home of many wonderful creatures. My heart broke to see animals caught in "synthetic traps" and eating our rubbish, often becoming ill and dying.
How do we help? We can not simply making garbage go away, but we can reduce the amount we make. Yes, even though you do not physically manufacture the synthetic packaging, you drive its manufaction. How? Demand.
A simple way to reduce this demand is to stop the selling of plastic bags in Supermarkets. We, unknowingly purchase
380 billion plastic bags per year, and only 5,2% of them are recycled. The rest remain in landfills for up to 1,000 years. (US Survey)
The first step to helping our enviroment?
Becoming aware and spreading awareness.
Watch a 34 second video on Oprah talking Plastic and the Environment:
http://www.oprah.com/media/20090422-tows-oprah-plastic
Thank-you to hubpages.com for the statistics and to all at oprah.com for brigning my attention to this subject.
You can view the articles at:
http://hubpages.com/hub/380-Billion-Plastic-Bags-per-year-Only-5-Percent-RecycledAnd read more about Oprah and EarthDay 2009 at:
http://www.oprah.com/dated/oprahshow/oprahshow-20090422-earth-day