We use plastic on a daily basis, but why does plastic make its way to the ocean? We have trash cans for a reason, so you can put your trash in it. However, the plastic bags, bottles, containers, etcetera travel to the ocean.

Some may argue that plastic is a topic we rarely talk about at school, but it is a topic that we should look inspired too. We want to live on Earth for our full time, but having plastic in the ocean will make our time go by quicker. Plastic in the ocean kills plants, who supply oxygen to the Earth and its people. 

Plastic in the ocean is still affecting us in the present day, Sophomore Ashton Everingham believes that plastic in the ocean will end soon. “Through advancements in technology that allow us to clean up our oceans better, yes I believe that plastic being in oceans will end soon,” Everingham (‘22) said. If the government puts more funding into plastic in the ocean, surely the crisis will end soon, right?

We hear about “vsco girls” with their expensive water bottles and demand to save the turtles, Alexis Mette explains that plastic in the ocean is something people make jokes about. ”I don’t think it’s invisible, I just think the fact that it’s a meme now because of “saving the turtles” causes people to just make jokes about it, instead of talking about it seriously,” Mette (21’) said. We need to take these topics more seriously, rather than a joking matter.

Junior Amelia Truong explains that we might not care about plastic in the ocean because it is not near us nor affects us. “Yes because it doesn’t directly affect us. It’s easy to push that topic aside to focus on something more “immediately” pressing or interesting,” Truong (‘21) said. Even though plastic does not relate to everyone, it still is a problem we deal with today.

Senior Ashley Shannon explains that plastic in the ocean is overlooked in our school. “I have actually had many conversations about this topic with many people in our school, so I don’t think it is invisible but is overlooked. And the fact that not everyone cares “because it doesn’t apply to them because they don’t live near the ocean” even though this affects everyone everywhere. We should still care about the other living creatures in the ocean as well as ourselves,” Shannon (‘20) said. The plastic in the ocean affects everyone everywhere, physically and mentally.

Plastic has been in our oceans for many years now and we have tried to find new ways to reduce the plastic. However, plastic still continues to increase. We use plastic on a daily basis without knowing the consequences.