Sarah Mae Alcorn
Humanities, 2
Mr. Crawford
November 18th, 2011
Watery Dump
Imagine this: you wake up in the morning to find that your home has been cluttered
with trash. This trash is not yours yet you find yourself surrounded by it. When you look
out your window, all you can see is what looks like a landfill for miles. When it comes
time to eat, you discover that your breakfast is simply plastic disguised as food, which
makes you and your family sick. This life sounds unrealistic to most Americans but it is
the daily life of others: marine animals.
Materials are made to be used, and when they are no longer necessary or desirable, it is
the reaction of many to dispose of them in the trash. But where do all our used items go
after being tossed? That is the question that many do not consider. Such disconnect
coupled with the American consumer way, has led to environmental disaster. To many
Americans, our trash is out of sight and thus out of mind but the growing trash problem is
harming our natural landscape. Landfills are being continually filled with our no longer
needed goods, and a growing new landfill is being filled: our oceans.
The plastic debris cluttering the Pacific Ocean was not put there on purpose. However,
through poor containment of our trash, billions of pieces of garbage land in the pacific
every year. Catching a ride on the current, this trash ends up in one of three places, the
ocean floor, the stomachs of marine animals or the pacific garbage patch. None of these
places are ideal for the fragile marine ecosystems of the pacific, and yet when Americans
take out their trash every week, this does not seem to cross their minds.
Though not all of us live next to a landfill or the ocean, the build up of garbage still
affects every American. The plastic that plagues our oceans is often swallowed by marine
animals and fish, either killing them or making them ill. While this seems to have no
direct impact on the American people, it does. Plastic swallowed by fish, remains in the
body, often contaminating it with toxins. These toxins are then transferred to the body of
the fish consumer, who is often us. Even if you aren't a fish consumer, the plastic in the
ocean ends up bit by bit on your favorite vacation spot, the beach. Either way, the nonbiodegradable trash that we too eagerly dispose of, eventually comes right on back to us.
While the obvious solution would be to cut down consumerism, it is not so easy. In
fact, consumerism is on a rise. To ask many Americans to not buy or simple buy less
would be a waste of time. Baby steps are the only viable solution to decrease the impact
on the ocean. However, when Americans are offered such baby steps, they deny them for
reasons that appear petty. For example, in 2010 Sun Chips developed a chip bag that was
one hundred percent biodegradable, leaving no trace of its existence and, unlike plastic,
would not end up in the ocean. After less then six months on the American market, the
bag was returned to its usual plastic one because customers complained that the
biodegradable bag was too loud. The American way gives little room for change to be
made that benefits the environment.
The individual, as a consumer, has the choice and the power. If the majority demanded
less plastic in the items we consume or safer disposing of the trash we generate, the
government and companies would deliver. Little changes make a large impact. So buy
items with less packaging, recycle more, maybe even start a compost pile. All these are
ways to decrease contribution to the oceans and landfills of our nation. The only solution
that will have any impact is deteriorating the apathy of Americans. If we do not come to
grips with our problem and it's affect then the necessary changes within the government
cannot be made to end our floating garbage dump.
Although the American lifestyle is often focused on the individual, if anything wishes to
be changed within our nation, we need to realize the gravity of all our actions and the
effects it has on others, even if those others are not of our species or country. Through
this newfound view, we will discover the ability to positively change our social
environment as well as our natural environment, for the better. If we do not act quickly,
we will no longer have an ocean or a society to fight for, and these actions can be made
daily, just by thinking about how your consumer choices affect everyone.