Recently, I visited Portugal and was enamored by the culture, the warmth of the people, the history, and historical sites. I made a trip to Belem Tower, which was built in the 16th century to defend Lisbon from enemy ships. It is designated as a World Heritage site by UNESCO.
As I was standing in line to enter the tower, I noticed all the trash that was brought in by the tide. Here was this beautiful historical site built on this idyllic backdrop with ocean litter in its foreground. It hit home that at one point in human history when this tower was built, plastic and garbage were not littering coastlines and infiltrating the ocean and waterways. Now plastic pollution and garbage are an unfortunate common global threat to our waters and the health of marine life and humans.
I had asked one of the ticket agents ‘Who cleans up the trash?’ and with a sigh, she said the people who work in the tower do and mentioned dead marine life had washed up on the shore. She said she wished more agencies, officials, and companies who make plastic would take this problem more seriously and help find a solution to reduce our impact on our oceans. And she is right.
This is a global problem and threat and we need more hands on deck literally to give this issue the proper attention it needs and deserves. At times like these, when we feel there is no hope, we have to override that feeling and do what we can in our everyday lives to help.
According to the IUCN, 14 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans each year. Even if you do not live near a body of water, you can pick up trash because many times trash on the street finds its way to a waterway which leads into a large body of water. And if you still don’t think you’re making a difference by picking up trash, you can download Ocean Conservancy’s Clean Swell app and record how much trash you picked up. This information is then used by researchers and policymakers to help find ways to reduce our plastic pollution footprint and create solutions.
