This week’s episode was all about beach clean ups! Beach cleanups are projects that can be done all around the world, and they are exactly what they sound like. A group of people gather together at a beach and pick up litter scattered around. And while you don’t need to be part of a group in order to pick up trash here and there, they’re great opportunities to come together as a community and do something good for the planet.

It is first important to understand why they’re so important. The issue of plastic pollution in the ocean has been gaining awareness worldwide, which is good because it’s a very significant one. If you go to any beach (or outside anywhere), you will probably notice litter on the ground. This litter ends up getting into the ocean where it causes many problems. It affects biodiversity, climate change, and even human health.

Plastic pollution harms marine animals because they end up ingesting it or getting strangled by it. It can be very easily confused for food by a lot of species, and when they eat it, they feel full so they don’t feel like they need to eat anything else. But because plastic doesn’t deliver the nutrition that they need, they end up dying of starvation. This hurts the animal as well as the overall ecosystem and the animals around them, so it’s very bad. Microplastics can also get bound to toxic chemicals, which animals then consume.

Additionally, this pollution ends up accelerating climate change, which for obvious reasons is very bad. Research has found that low-density polyethylene, which is one of the most common types of plastic in the ocean, directly emits greenhouse gases. But also, microplastics make it harder for plankton to photosynthesize, which is one of the most important processes in removing CO2 from the atmosphere. If they aren’t able to do this as well, those emissions will stay there and accelerate climate change.

For a long time, people didn’t see a problem with plastic in the ocean because they didn’t realize that it affected them as well as the marine animals. But now science has shown that litter does come back to degrade human health. So even if someone doesn’t care at all about animals and the environment, they should still see pollution as an issue because of how it hurts them. Microplastics make their way into salt, water, and beer, and get ingested. This has adverse effects on the endocrine system. Similarly, when fish eat plastic and we eat fish, we are consuming that plastic as well. No one wants plastic in their meal.

This can all seem bleak, but luckily, there is hope. Cleaning up the beach is a wonderful way to help the issue, by taking out all that plastic that would’ve otherwise gone into the water and caused problems. Even if you don’t live anywhere near the ocean, you can still partake in cleanup events. Litter still goes into the ocean from these places, so it is just as important.

If you ever have a spare weekend, try checking out local beach cleanups, and play a part in helping the Earth.

Sources: Ocean Blue Project, IUCN, Yale Climate Connections