Changing the Environment to Save the Ocean 

The United States extracts 63 billion gallons of oil every year to make water bottles that more than 90% is only used once. Changing the materials that we use in our everyday lives helps a mammal live to their life expectancy. For example, blue whales are dying a painful, slow death due to the plastic products we use every day. When a blue whale rises to grasp air than fluke down to open their mouth to engulf krill, they’re absorbing all the debris and plastic with that meal. However, in recent news a blue whale was found beached and scientist were able to dissect and conclude that the whale stomach was clogged with up to 17 gallons of plastic which didn’t allow for the whale to intake nutritionals food. My agenda is to save the ocean, by paving the way for more of a functional, sustainable ecosystem. We as humans tend to take what is wanted not needed, and not understand the damage that was caused. As an aspiring marine veterinarian, I take the stand to create innovative ways to save the ocean by hosting seminars, creating better household everyday essentials, creating pamphlets, placing billboards, and using social media to push the movement.

The audience targeted is everyone age doesn’t matter. I just want the concept of saving our oceans to be embedded in peoples heart. For example, the mother of three makes her kids lunches every day with plastic bags from the local grocery store in her neighborhood but instead could use other materials like the biodegradable containers and the throw away forks could be replaced with a wooden fork. Also, the families that use saran wrap to cover their leftover at night could use foil or reusable food wrap. The college students who tend to rely on styrofoam and plastic wear could easily go to the website brandless where every item is 3 dollars, biodegradable as well. The key is target everyone into thinking plastic is bad because plastic was made to be cheap and indestructible not able to be recycled but to be placed in the ocean to float around. 

The chemicals that are within the plastics causes numerous amounts of health issues so why risk your health and resources over a material that can be diminished by small day to day changes. Aside the main task another agenda I want to push is reaching out to African- American and Latino children seeing someone that shares the same ethnic background as you that is aspiring to be in position that usually minorities aren’t create a sense of uplifting motivation. I was that bi-racial Afro-Latino child that didn’t fit in because of the agendas I was passionate about which is too save the marine life.

The first time I laid eyes on a healthy coral reef as a child was the Great Barrier atoll

in the National Geography magazine, it was beautiful I thought, so indulging and the vibrant colors of the blue coral were the blue tang slightly blended in was so full of life. But as I’ve grown those pretty pictures have begun to fade at a rapid pace. Humans have created a sense of using the ocean as a waste bucket, everything that can’t be disposed of goes into the ocean. Plastic is the main suspect, because this product is assumed to be disposable based on the non- biodegradable component’s plastic is made of. Plastic is also assumed to decompose after a period of time but doesn’t. In the last ten years we’ve made more plastic then we did a century ago. So, in other words the symbol that indicates recycling on these products are not true. These man-made products key ingredient is to be indestructible and cheap, only a fraction of the plastics products is recycled. Within the reading “Lies, 

Propaganda, and Fake news: A Challenge for Our Age” social medias are explained to why there are so much misunderstood information in regard to everything we know of meaning if you use the Google search engine to fine information about “Plastic Dissolving in Oceans” you would find a few articles that tell you yes it can dissolve from a logical and scientific perspective because the sun rays are so harsh it dissolves but that isn’t the case. Plastic components are phthalates, bisphenols, polycarbonate, lead, and dioxins which are only a few but once the plastic product has been floating around for so long it may dissolve but not completely because the marine life engulfs this water every day of every second so eventually this chemical makes its way into the muscles and fats of the marine life causing death or humans to eat marine life. 

The water also tests for these chemicals as well one of the chemicals bisphenols is linked to infertility in women and men. This chemical can mimic the sex hormone and create estrogen when it’s not needed. A conspiracy could be born because the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) is allowing this chemical to be placed in materials to lower the birthrates of women. Also, this is why BPA-free labels are bolded on bottles especially on infant bottles. “It is a bewildering maze of claim and counterclaim, where hoaxes spread with frightening speed on social media and spark angry backlashes from people who take what they read at face value.” I know time is valued and not want to be spent on research, but the best resource is documentaries.

As a young adult social media isn’t an option to finding resourceful information, I rely on what I was taught books, medical research and documentaries. Another reading spoke of “Students Have “Dismaying” Inability to Tell Fake News from Real” this is a very common within the community of students mainly within the ages of 16 to 25 I believe toward the end of graduating from high school the student is usually placed in a environment far from home to where they’re on their own for college. There are many speculations on how to go about everyday routines without rules enforced or how to cope with life. 

So as a student I’ve always been instilled to rely common sense and be aware, but majority of students are taught these two necessities when scoping through social media or learning to change a tire. Instead what is seen on the internet is assumed to be true instead of incorporating common sense and basic knowledge. I myself have fallen guilty to a few but learned and moved forward. The main article that was very clear to me is “Whitewashed” this term is very big in the minority communities even though it is never said aloud this term is very common in films but is also known to follow under other terms. Whitewashed is a term I was described as a younger age because the dreams and goals I was inspired by was “White Man Dreams” my relatives would say. My dream that still remains to this day is to be a Marine Biologist there aren’t many minorities that are fascinated by the marine life. But I’ve for years now and looking back I wouldn’t change anything because I will be that activist/marine biologist that speaks up by starting with group meetings at the Texas Women University the agenda I would push that plastic is the villain within my organization group meetings I would go over the three main plan of actions

Learning to reuse, saying “No” to single-serve plastics, and joining the movement to save the marine life is the most efficient key to seeing a greater amount of plastic to not be sold on a consumer level. If communities were to participate in using saran wrap for a year there would be at least a 50% decrease in plastic being a go to item for household foods to be save over the course of a period also if solo cups were replaced with reuse titanium bottles there would be over a 30% decrease as well. 

However, restaurants and businesses don’t comply with change as well, so alternatives would be if you’re visiting a restaurant and assume you won’t eat all of your food bring your own biodegradable container or if the restaurant didn’t offer the paperware don’t dine there anymore. Refusing single-use plastic or styrofoam cups and plates this were the saying should come to mine “Paper or glass” what companies fail to realize is paper is cheaper than chemically compounded plastic as well as glass these two alternatives don’t take much effort to be created an they don’t involve chemicals. Join the movement by creating your own group of friends or relatives and learn other resources for household essentials invest in recycling containers learn the word biodegradable understand the true meaning to this product because when you take the step you just saved a marine mammal. 

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