Plastic Pollution — Why I Care
The sun peaks over the pristine shores of California’s Riviera. Luxury travelers at the Ritz Carlton Monarch Beach Resort are still in bed, but down the bluff, a band of surfers known as the dawn patrol are in the water hoping to catch one of the Point’s epic left-breaking waves and get barreled (surfing inside the hollow point of a breaking wave). I finish off such a barrel with my fist pumping in the air in exhilaration. As I paddle back toward my surfer friends, a wave breaks over me. I laugh and open my mouth as I resurface and nearly swallow a plastic bag. Unfortunately, this scene is becoming a common occurrence. Juxtaposed with the gorgeous natural beauty of the coastline is growing evidence of the scourge of plastic pollution.
This seems to be a common them for me. As an individual who enjoys surfing and spending a lot of time in the water, plastic pollution is an issue that I continuously seem to come across first hand.
More than 106 million items (plastics), weighing approximately 12 metric tons, were estimated to occur along the Orange County shoreline.
106 million tons of plastic?! That’s roughly four times the size of a fully grown elephant! And this number is continuing to grow year by year as more plastic products are being produced and consumed. As someone who loves spending time in the ocean, this is an issue that makes me livid. An issue I feel is worth discussing.
Being from Orange County, I grew up surfing. After a long day of school, my friends and I would rush to get to the beach so that we could ‘hit the waves’ as we would commonly say to one another. I always enjoyed when it was a beautiful day out. The sun was shining above us, glistening amongst the water which was as clear as it could possibly be (nowhere near as clear as the water in Hawaii of course). I would feel some sort of connection with nature when I was out in the water, a feeling that many surfers can relate to. But the thing that always seemed to take this connection I had with nature away was seeing a plastic bag float across me while sitting on my board waiting for the next wave to come. Seeing an artificial product in a natural environment took away the connection I had formed with nature while being out in the water.
I believe that to combat this issue, we first must recognize that it is a problem. After doing so, we must stand together and act as one. We must target corporations making the product by demanding less plastics, which will affect their profits. This can be done by using alternative biodegradable products and less single use plastics. We must force the government to implement sanctions on these corporations that are continuing to harm our environment and profit from doing so. Most importantly, we must stand together in order to protect our local beaches and the environment. So that kids in future generations won’t have to swallow plastic bags like I did when they are out trying to enjoy the natural beauty that the ocean offers to our world.
