Plastic Pollution

Plastic Pollution in Hawai’i Plastic plays a big part of our lives. The food we eat is wrapped with it, the toys our siblings or children play with is made from it, the television we watch is made with it, we play video games with plastic controllers, we listen to music with plastic head phones and the shelves we use is made with plastic. Material items made with plastic can be useful, cheaper, and durable but it can also harm the environment. All of these plastic items don’t just disappear in our rubbish disposals. Most of it piles up in landfills; however, plastic waste is able to go into the ocean water where the currents push the plastic away making a big mountain of plastic trash (Lucas-Zenk 1). This huge plastic garbage is creating havoc on our ocean ecosystem. Even though plastic is convenient and affordable, the overuse of it causes harmful pollution problems because it collects in the ocean, ocean life consumes it, and it deposits onto beaches in Hawaii. So much plastic waste has entered the ocean water and made its way to Hawaii’s ocean and beaches. It has been piling up in a certain area called “The Pacific Garbage Patch,” which was discovered by seaman, Captain Charles Moore (Lucas-Zenk 2). While sailing with his boat from Hawaii to the U.S., he recognized a huge pile of floating plastic garbage (Lucas-Zenk 2). The trash was mostly made from plastic pieces breaking apart in the ocean. Researchers say that this plastic trash came from a broken down house that was supplied with plastic goods (Lucas-Zenk 2). If plastic remains in the ocean for long periods, it eventually breaks down into smaller pieces and gets swept away from the currents (Lucas-Zenk 2).
The Pacific Ocean surrounding Hawaii is not the only place plastic garbage is being identified. It’s found inside of sea creatures. Sea creatures living in the ocean near Hawaii are consuming plastic garbage. When plastic garbage enters the ocean life, it floats towards current