It was low tide that sunny afternoon. A perfect opportunity to take photos and walk further up the beach to the rock pools and see the huge slabs of reef now lying exposed under the sun.
With an hour still left until the tide was high enough to surf again, me and my friends decided to make use of the remaining time exploring the reef. I’ve been going back to this place since 2014. I have had my fair share of experiencing how the shore changes appearance due to the tides and waves.
It’s an automatic reaction from me to pick up any trash that I see on the beach and stuff it in my suit or hand it over to the boys who have pockets in their board shorts. It was fun at first. Then it grew a bit wearisome as there was more trash than usual that afternoon.
As I was walking for quite some time already and still picking up trash, I looked towards the stretch of the beach in front of me. I stood there horrified as I saw and realized that what I thought was seaweed lining the beach was all trash. Heaps load of microplastic mixed with seaweed and other normal things found along the shore.
It felt hopeless. I wondered how in the world could we clean this up when the waves keep dumping more trash onto the shore when the current has brought all this trash from who knows where?
If you’re wondering what microplastics are, these are small pieces of plastic less than five millimeters long which can be harmful to our ocean and aquatic life. We all know that plastic is the most prevalent type of marine debris found in bodies of water like oceans, rivers or lakes.
We too are also too familiar with the horrors of plastic as it clogs our waterways or canals, blocks stomachs of birds, creates little islands in the ocean for marine life to get stuck in and how it pollutes our rivers.
Despite these, plastic is still everywhere. Look in a sari-sari store and you see heaps of junk food wrapped in plastic hanging on the screen windows. Get a take-out cup of coffee and there’s a plastic lining in about 99% of disposable cups, according to an article by Melanie Tait from The Guardian.
From the grocery or supermarkets all our items are wrapped in plastic. Not to mention the items we buy like fresh milk and biscuits all come in plastic packaging. We buy, consume and then throw the packaging away.
I would admit that before, I didn’t even give a single thought about what happens to all the plastic I throw away. Does it get segregated properly and recycled? What happens after the garbage is collected? Where do they throw it?
I haven’t found the answers to all these questions but I did make sure I would be a step ahead by segregating my trash wherever I am. It’s not convenient but it makes a huge difference.
What else can we do to lessen our plastic waste? Be sure to read next week to find out ways we can help reduce the amount waste we produce. Head over to www.millennialmermaid.com to see the brighter side of the pictured beaches.
