PLASTIC POLLUTION

Human life has changed drastically in the last 100 years.

Plastics have significantly transformed various industries, such as medicine, transportation, and clean water. They have enabled the creation of life-saving devices, reduced the weight of vehicles, and improved access to clean water. However, our over-reliance on single-use plastics has resulted in a throw-away culture, where we use something once and then discard it. Unfortunately, this trend accounts for a substantial 40% of the plastic produced annually. So there are thousands of tons of plastic every year that end up in the sea due to many factors. This is a big problem as it takes hundreds of thousands of years for plastic to decompose. All plastic that has ever been produced on earth still exists in some form.

A very large percentage of the plastic in the sea comes from the fishing industry. Once fish nets are broken, they are often left at sea because it is cheaper than repairing them. The problem with these socalled ghost nets is that they continue to kill many animals in the sea that get caught in them. Another issue with plastics in the sea is that it breaks down into small microplastics which many animals mistake for food. Due to the plastic in the stomach, proper food can no longer be taken in at some point and the animals die. So plastic also takes part in our food chain.

Microplastics can be a problem not only for being part of the food chain but also for increasing the temperature on our beaches affecting many species as can be sea turtles.

I was volunteering in a sea turtle project in Costa Rica where we learned that a sea turtle takes between 4 and 20 years to reach sexual maturity and be able to lay eggs. They also depend directly on the temperature of the sand to develop their male or female gender. With the presence of microplastics in the sand, the temperatures increased and there is also less oxygen which makes it difficult for sea turtles males to hatch and often for both.

Plastic production has rapidly grown in the last 15 years, with 50% of all plastic ever made been produced during this time. This plastic often ends up in the ocean, adding up to 8 million tons per year. The problem with plastic waste is that it takes at least 400 hundred years to break down, and some of the additives that make plastic strong can have negative impacts on the environment.

If we talk about Iceland, in two hours with seven people, almost 200 kilograms of trash were found on the beach in one day by our team in Bru. As these beaches are not used for tourism, almost all of this plastic is brought to the beach by the ocean.

Iceland ranks first on the Green Future Index (2023) which states “nations based on their progress and commitment towards a sustainable future“ and is the sixth lowest densely populated country in the world (2021). The numbers of collected plastic on the beach are shocking. So imagine what it looks like in other countries where more people live there and less environmental protective projects exist.

But how do you motivate people to

There are two types of motivation that drive the behavior of individuals. Intrinsic motivation means that a person is moved to act for the fun and satisfaction of doing an activity. Extrinsic motivation is when individuals are acting in a certain way to get a reward like money or avoid punishment.

Intrinsic motivation takes a long time and will not work immediately because there needs to be a change in the mindset of people. That is why companies, governments, and institutions use rewards to motivate people to recycle their waste.

By Dacil and Julia