Every year, about eight million tons of plastic enters the world’s oceans, according to a study published in the journal Nature in 2015. Images of garbage islands in the ocean or of animals caught in plastic debris are no longer ours. sadly familiar.

Plastics have been found even 10,000 meters deep, and microplastic deposits have already appeared in places as sensitive as the Arctic. And, as the Greenpeace organization remembers, the plastics we use every day, even if we deposit them in the yellow recycling container, can also end up in the sea due to the action of wind and rain.

Where does this waste come from? Largely due to the proliferation of disposable plastic, for example it is estimated that up to 30 million plastic cans and bottles are abandoned in Spain every day. Plastic is a very persistent material and it disperses very easily, so its quantity in the sea does not stop increasing. In addition, it is estimated that the degradation time of plastics in the ocean is much longer than on land, since it is less exposed to sunlight, high temperatures and oxygen.

This pollution has consequences on the environment, for example it is estimated that each year more than a million birds and more than 100,000 marine mammals are dying as a result of the plastics that reach the ocean.

How to avoid further impact impact? Reducing, especially the consumption of single-use containers, is essential. For example, the useful life of a plastic bag is estimated to be fifteen minutes, but it takes 55 years for it to degrade once it ends up at sea. There are more and more alternatives to plastic, especially in disposable objects and in everyday life: cloth bags, buying in bulk, avoiding over-packaging in the food we consume …

In addition to the personal initiatives of each one, there are already legislative initiatives. One of the most relevant, and which will surely have the most impact, comes from the European Union, which has already announced the forthcoming ban on single-use plastics, a measure framed within the first European strategy on plastics, presented by the European Commission. in the year 2018.

At the same time, there are numerous initiatives at the local level to progressively reduce the use of plastic and prevent this environmental contamination problem from going further.