8 million metric tons of plastics are dumped into the ocean each year. It is estimated that by 2050, the amount of plastic in the ocean will outweigh all of the ocean’s fish. These statistics are crazy and change needs to be made. Keep reading to see what you can do to save the ocean. 

Shop Wisely

Many people enjoy shopping online, but online shopping is a huge contributor to plastic pollution. During COVID-19, many people resorted to online shopping as a useful way to get things that they needed without realizing the negative effects of online shopping. Online shopping includes a lot of plastic packaging that is not recycled. By shopping in stores, you can reduce the amount of packaging that you use. 

Reuse, Reduce, Recycle

There are so many possibilities to help the earth day to day! When going grocery shopping, they will bag your belongings in plastic bags. Instead of throwing them out, save them and reuse in other ways. You could take them back to use the next time you shop for food or use them in your household as small trash can bags. About one billion plastic bags are used by Americans every year! These harmful plastic products make up almost 80% of the ocean pollution. Try reusing them and or even buying actual reusable bags to carry in your car to use whenever need be. 

Another daily opportunity to help lessen ocean pollution would be in household items. Replace household items made of plastic to containers made of glass like jars. If you do have a lot of plastic containers or bottles, you can also try to clean them and reuse them. For example, glass or plastic sauce bottles can be reused to store just about anything!

Another time that plastics are being used is when you get a drink from Dunkin or your favorite Chinese take-out. Next time you go order a drink, bring a reusable cup for your drink to be made in. You can do the same when you order take out or instead of throwing out the plastic containers, reuse them to pack your lunch or dinner the next day!

Organizations:

Do you still want to contribute to the bigger cause? Well guess what, you can. Here is a list of some amazing organizations that are fighting to end ocean pollution. By clicking the links, it will take you directly to their websites where you can donate and learn more about what each organization is doing!

Organizations: Surfrider, Ocean Conservancy, 5 Gyres, Environmental Defense Fund, Oceana 

We hope that this article helped open your eyes on how to fight back against ocean pollution. Comment down below what change you will try to make!