Due to the severe devastation caused by microplastics in the marine environment, the United Nations Environment Program has launched an unprecedented global campaign, urging everyone to eliminate the use of microplastics. Also criticized is the excessive, wasteful use of single-use plastics often found in households. The organization says that people must start to act now to save the world’s seas and oceans from irreversible damage before it’s too late.
Plastic pollution has become a critical issue as tons of it could be found surfing onto Indonesian beaches, settling onto the ocean floor at the North Pole, and appearing increasingly through the food chain onto our dinner tables. The Executive Director of UNEP, Erik Solheim, explained the gravity of the situation at the announcement of the campaign. He added that the problem has gone on for so long, and that it must stop.
The campaign, called the Clean Seas drive, hopes to eliminate microplastics in the marine environment by urging countries and businesses to take ambitious measures to eliminate these materials from cosmetic products. Also, it calls for the banning of single-use plastic bags, a move scientists say can dramatically reduce the amount of disposable plastic items by 2022. Another way that the campaign hopes governments will implement is putting a tax on all plastic products to dissuade consumers, the United Nations News Center reports.
Ten countries have already pledged support to the initiative with far-reaching promises. Indonesia, for example, has expressed their committment to slash its marine litter by 70 percent by 2025. Uruguay agrees to tax single-use plastic bags later this year, while Costa Rica promises to take measures to dramatically reduce single-use plastic through better waste management and education, the Sky News reports.
There are more than 8 million tons of microplastics leaking in the marine environment every year, the UN says. That is the same as a garbage truck loaded with plastic being dumped into the ocean every minute. The organization also warns that if plastics continue to spill in the oceans, by 2025, there will be one ton of plastic for every three tons of fish.
