CREATION IS GROANING FROM PLASTIC POLLUTION
“We know that the whole creation has been groaning in labor pains until now” Romans 8 :22
Creation is groaning because of plastic, it oceans are polluted, the rivers are clogged. In the words of Pope Francis “The Earth, our home, is beginning to look more and more like an immense pile of filth”.
Today we focus on plastic, in our landfills, our oceans and rivers. One hundred years ago most waste was biodegradable or reusable. Here are some scary facts:
- Nearly all of the plastic ever produced still exists
- By 2050 there will be more plastic in the oceans than fish
- Plastic comes from oil and fossil fuel companies are planning to increase production by 50 % in the next 15 years
- By 2050 there will be 40 billion tonnes of plastic on the Earth, up from 4.5 billion now.
Marine plastic kills over 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals annually - Micro plastic is entering the human food chain through fish.
- Once in the ocean, much of the plastic gets broken down into pieces so small they are hard to see named “microplastics,” which are virtually irretrievable.
- Plastic waste in the ocean is equivalent to having fifteen plastic grocery bags filled with plastic trash sitting on every meter of coastline around the world
- The ice floating in the Arctic as it melts over the next decade, could release more than a trillion bits of plastic into the water
- On some beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii, as much as 15 percent of the sand is grains of microplastic.
This Lent, take the challenge to pledge to fight plastic. Reduce your personal usage, buy a reusable shopping bag, a reusable water bottle, stop using straws, refuse, and reuse as much as possible
- Put pressure on the local shops or restaurants you use
- Join Campaigns to reduce plastic
- Use social media to influence your friends and contacts
- Take your money out of fossil fuels
https://theconversation.com/fossil-fuel-industry-sees-the-future-in-hard-to-recycle-plastic-123631
Plastic bank interfaith social plastic manual “Fighting Ocean Plastic Using Principles of Christian Spirituality”
Photo by Stijn Dijkstra from Pexels