A look at Garbage
posted in Conservation, Letting Off Steam |
A couple years ago, we were diving at St. Johns in the south of the Red Sea near the Sudanese border with Egypt and I found this cigarette pack laying on a coral ledge at about 24 meters. It was a bit of a shock in such a rarely visited area, and then only by divers and fishermen, that such an item would be so carelessly discarded into the sea. Since that time I have taken many pictures of garbage floating around in the sea and lying on the bottom.
It is true that this cigarette package will deteriorate rather quickly, it probably has already, and return to its baser elements, possibly even adding to the environment in which it sits, but that is not true with most of the things we dump into the sea. Take for instance the plastic bags floating everywhere in all nearly our oceans, rivers and lakes. They will spend hundreds of years choking corals, killing sea turtles and generally just hanging around before they deteriorate enough to where they can’t cause problems anymore. Or the barrel after barrel of Nuclear waste dumped in places like the Farralon Islands off of San Fransisco or the deep sea trenches. These will be there, even after all visible evidence of the barrels is gone, emitting dangerous radiation for eons.
Look at the plastic bag, balloon, candy wrapper or whatever it is that you are currently holding or have nearby. Chances are this will either end up in a landfill, excreting chemicals into the ground water, sitting at the bottom of the sea in a designated waste dump, or floating about in the oceans for a lucky turtle to mistake for a jellyfish. No matter what we dump, it finds its way into the water eventually. In first world nations such as the US and European countries, waste is treated and handled in ways where the impact is reduced in many cases. Recycling has reduced the amounts that find its way into our natural world but most countries make no such efforts.
We need to produce less, recycle more and generally take all our actions, no matter how small or insignificant they seem, into account. Nearly every product you purchase, or daily routine you engage in has some effect on the natural world. Think before you act or any actions may be too little, too late.