Plastik im Meer

Garbage strudel - frightening facts about the amount of plastic in our oceans and why you are also responsible for it🌊

"Every little piece of plastic that has been made in the last 50 years that has ended up in the sea is still there somewhere." – Tony Andrady, chemist at the American Research Triangle Institute

Sustainability instead of a consumer battle - this is how you shop in an environmentally friendly way Reading Garbage strudel - frightening facts about the amount of plastic in our oceans and why you are also responsible for it🌊 3 minutes Next Plastic-free in everyday life - with these tips you can do it too

Many tons of plastic are floating in the sea and collecting in huge garbage eddies, which is very problematic and a danger for humans and animals.

There is a lot of plastic in our seas. Most people know that. But how critical is the situation really?

In our opinion, this very important topic is not addressed enough. That's why we've put together a few facts for you here. And I promise they will shock you!

  • 88% of the sea surface worldwide is polluted by microplastics. A frightening number. According to a study by the Leibniz Center for Tropical Marine Research, there are (as of August 2020) around 399,000 tons of plastic on the water surface alone. However, only 15% of all marine litter floats on the surface. Most of them fall to the ground.
  • The microplastic ends up in our drinking water or in food and is therefore also very harmful to humans. 
  • The amount of plastic in our seas is life-threatening for animals. They get caught in the nets or mistake the plastic particles for food, eat them and die. For example, two-thirds of seabirds worldwide have plastic in their stomachs. Whales, dolphins and turtles get caught in the fishing nets and drown in agony.

The largest and best-known garbage patch in the world is the "Great Pacific Garbage Patch".

  • This garbage patch is located in the North Pacific between North America and Asia.
  • The garbage accumulates there due to the sea currents.
  • In 2018 it had already reached a size four and a half times Germany, so it should be even larger by now😱.
  • There are 80,000 tons of plastic in the North Pacific, which is as much as 8 Eiffel Towers. Or to put it another way, there are 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic floating around in the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is 230 pieces per inhabitant on earth.

In addition to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, there are four other garbage patches in our oceans. In the South Pacific, the North and South Atlantic and the Indian Ocean.

Why is every single one of us to blame for this plastic catastrophe in our seas?

In Europe, Germany is the sad record holder in the production of packaging waste. But that is not the only reason: Germany still exports a large part of its plastic waste to other countries, but it is not always disposed of properly there and ends up in the sea, for example. So if you think that everything is recycled in Germany and your plastic bag from your last purchase or your interchangeable head doesn't end up in the garbage, we unfortunately have to disappoint you.

But what can you do about it now?  

  • If possible, eat no or as little as possible industrially fished fish 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

because we only have one planet and we all have to take care of it🌎