Our community of 20 families live in a coastal area and are very poor. They depend of fish for money and food, and have found it harder and harder recently, as the numbers keep decreasing each year. They have discovered the main reason for this is because of ocean pollution from oil and plastic materials. The fish are either poisoned by the oil or they can suffocate on plastic. Other marine animals are also badly affected by ocean pollution.

What is Ocean Pollution? Ocean pollution is damage to our oceans from litter, especially plastic materials, oil spills, sewage and dirty water from bath/shower water, washing machine or dishwasher water. 20% of ocean pollution comes from rubbish thrown off ship decks and oil spills.

These have caused many sea animals to become endangered over the years. The remaining 80% of the pollution comes from land-based activities. When rubbish is thrown away, it doesn’t actually go “away”; just out of our sights. Rubbish is taken to land- fills to be buried, but in flooding or heavy rainfall it can be easily washed away into rivers or lakes, then eventually into the sea where it causes many problems.

When farmers are using fertilizers and pesticides, they can run off into the rivers and creeks and pollute the water. Ships leak and spill oil, making it dangerous for marine life. Also gasoline spills run off into water and travel into lakes and rivers etc. Mining causes ‘acid mine drainage’ from sulphur compounds, and cyanide from gold mining. Also other mining companies dump different compounds into the water. Hazardous liquid wastes, solvents, heavy metals and radio active materials are put under ground that pollutes underground water and our drinking water. Plastic is one of the major pollutants.

Poorly designed landfills leak garbage and pollutants into rivers near by if they aren’t stored properly. Cruise ships have a huge affect on ocean pollution. There are cruise ships travelling every week, and with different fumes and small leakages it pollutes the water and makes it dangerous for the marine life to live there. Cruise ships don’t even hold the waste on the ship; they dump it in the water.

Marine life is badly affected by ocean pollution. Basically anything we throw away can reach the sea, causing over a million sea birds and one hundred thousand sea mammals to die each year. Many sea animals such as whales, dolphins, seals and turtles have been found with plastic bags blocking their breathing passages and stomachs. This mainly occurs because a plastic bag floating often resembles a jellyfish, and many animals such as sea turtles eat jellyfish. Other rubbish such as six-pack drink- bottle holders are also known to choke sea animals, mostly sea birds.

Since the two major causes of marine life to die in significant numbers each year are plastic litter and oil spills, the obvious way to put a stop to this is a ban on plastic bags. Oil kills marine life all over the planet, decreasing fish stock, and making life much harder for communities who depend on fish as a main source of food. Oil is used to make plastic, and the amount of plastic that has been discovered in the ocean will take gallons and gallons of oil to make again, just to be thrown out into the ocean again or even spilt into the sea in the process of making it. This is why fabric bags made from recycled clothing would be much better for everyone involved. To reduce these major issues, we need to reduce the amount of plastic made, bought and thrown away. One way to reduce this is to recycle our plastics instead of putting them into land-fills which may be carried by rain water through our rivers and end up in the ocean. Another good way to reduce plastic products is to ban plastic bags which are a major problem to all marine life. Instead of plastic bags, a community of 20 families could use bags made of recycled clothing. Fabric bags are “greener”, cheaper to make and are stronger for groceries, too.

Wash your car away from storm water drains, so the soap doesn’t travel into the ocean. Don’t throw trash, chemicals etc. into the sewer drains. Sweep you driveway, don’t hose it down. Use non-toxic cleaning materials. Clean up liquid or oil spills. Don’t wash paint brushes in the sink. Recycle all plastics Use re-usable bags instead of plastic bags.

Who are the main contributors: Factories Refineries Waste treatment facilities Mining companies Farms

The “Plastic soup”/ “Trash Vortex” A r u b b i s h d u m p t w i c e t h e s i z e o f A m e r i c a h a s b e e n d i s c o v e r e d f l o a t i n g i n t h e P a c i f i c O c e a n. T h e “ p l a s t i c s o u p ” o r “ t r a s h v o r t e x ” a s i t h a s b e e n c a l l e d, r e a c h e s f r o m t h e C a l i f o r n i a n c o a s t t o a s f a r a s J a p a n. T h e r u b b i s h, w h i c h i s m o s t l y p l a s t i c m a t e r i a l s, i n c l u d e s k a y a k s, L e g o p i e c e s, p l a s t i c b a g s, t o o t h b r u s h e s a n d c i g a r e t t e s ; a n d i s h e l d t o g e t h e r b y s w i r l i n g u n d e r w a t e r c u r r e n t s. A f i f t h o f t h i s s e a j u n k h a s c o m e f r o m s h i p d e c k s, a n d t h e r e s t f r o m l a n d b a s e d a c t i v i t i e s. T h i s r u b b i s h c o u l d d o u b l e i n s i z e i f w e c a r r y o n m a k i n g, b u y i n g a n d t h r o w i n g o u t p l a s t i c.

The Facts Anything we throw away can reach the ocean Most of the rubbish that has been dumped in the early 1990’s is still there today More than one million sea birds and one hundred thousand sea mammals die EACH YEAR due to ocean pollution Nearly every coastal city in developing countries dump all their waste in the ocean There is no place in the world’s sea without pollution All ocean pollution has the potential to seriously damage marine habitats and sea life All of this could double in the next decade if we do not take action NOW!

(In Gallons)

To conclude this PowerPoint we have covered necessary information about ocean pollution and how we are ruining the world with rubbish. It shows us how we need to act now or future generations are at risk. Small and simple things make a big difference in the world. :)

Bibliography Ocean-twice-size-America.html Ocean-twice-size-America.html

Help the marine life!!!! This is what will happen!!!!!