Micro PlasticsTHE MESSAGE IN THE BOTTLE

INTRODUCTION

• The ocean supplies much of the air we breathe,food that we eat and the water we drink. Thismeans that no matter where we live, our livesdepend on him and if he is not healthy, we neither.The role that the ocean will have to play for apopulation that in 2040 will reach 9 billion will becrucial to our future onon this planet. Our ability tomanage impacts in the ocean is the key to protectthe resources and ecosystems we need to survive asa species. And something fundamental where wecan start, is to deal with the damage caused bymarine debris.Our personal decisions can also playa fundamental role in raising social awareness andin actions that take place at the local level.

We are all connected to the Ocean

• The disheartening amount of trash afloat in the sea,littering beaches, and piling up on the sea floor affects the health of Earth’s life support system,the ocean, and all the living things in it. Marine debris is more than a blemish on Nature, it is a potential threat to our food supply, to tourism and economic activity, to marine wildlife and ecosystems,and to our personal health. It even relates to the impacts of climate change. But there’s good news:Marine debris is a problem we can readily solve.

Marine debris kills

Every year, thousands of marine mammals, seaturtles, seabirds, and other animals are sickened,injured, or killed because of trash in the ocean.Animals choke or become poisoned when they eattrash, and drown when they become entangled inbags, ropes, and old fishing gear. The majority ofentangled animals found during the Cleanup werebound up by old fishing line. The loss of wildlifeaffects not only the beauty and health of theplanet, but also countless local economies basedon the bounty of the sea.

Litter doesn’t belong in our Environment• The single-use plastic bottle is fast

becoming synonymous with ourbeaches. These bottles can take morethan 450 years to fragment into microplastics, harming marine life on theway. Together with the cans and othercontainers, they are trashing our tidelines and littering our line-ups.

• A simple circular economy DepositReturn System, could help almosteliminate plastic bottles and othercontainers littering our precious blueand green spaces, ensuring they arereturned to the manufacturer for reuseor recycling, protecting ourenvironment, saving a valuableresource and saving local authoritiesmoney.

Bottles in the Marine Environment• It probably won’t surprise anyone to learn

plastic bottles litter tidelines all around theworld. However, the sheer quantity on ourbeaches is shocking, with the latest Beachwatch survey finding 159 plastic bottles forevery mile of beach surveyed. There is alsogrowing evidence exposing an alarmingnumber of plastic bottles accumulating onthe seabed.

• In the marine environment, a typicalplastic bottle might take around 450 yearsto break down, potentially longer. Butwhat does “break down” mean?Harmlessly disappear? Unfortunately not.Plastic bottles fragment, breaking downinto smaller and smaller plastic particleswith the ever-increased potential to causeharm to marine life and enter the foodchain. Glass bottles and metal cans takesignificantly longer to break down and cancause serious harm and injury as they do.

Eliminating Plastic and Microplastic Pollution -an urgent need

• What is clear is that, irrespective of which sea orocean the plastic is polluting, it is constant in onecharacteristic. It slowly and constantly fractures anddisintegrates into trillions of microplastic pieces.

• These pieces of microplastic, so pervasively invadeour ecosystems, mix with the sand on our beachesand weaken our water systems, and penetrate ourfood chain. That of course means that thesemicroplastics are also finding their way in ourbodies.

• But just think how we have become part of thisvicious circle. We buy fish for one evening dinner.The fishmonger gives us the fish wrapped in aplastic carrier bag to keep the fish fresh during itsepic journey from sea to our plate.

• What we forget is that that plastic carrier bag isready to make its own epic journey from land to sea.There, it will break up into tiny particles which arethen eaten by small fish, which are eaten by biggerfish

Back on our plate

• It is a very ironic that years later that bag -designed to keep our fish fresh and clean –could form part of our next seafood meal,having being ingested all the way up thefood chain, to arrive back on our plateinside the fish in microscopic form.

• On land, beaches are disfigured by plasticstrewn everywhere. The economic impactis enormous – opportunities forsustainable and long term tourism projectsare lost. Such beaches are not a place for ahealthy family recreational activity.

More plastic than plankton

• Marine water samples, in someproblematic areas, contained 6 timesmore plastic than plankton.

• At least six million tons of plastic end upin our seas and oceans every year.

And the problem is not just microscopic

THE SUCCESS IS IN THE COMMITMENT• There are solutions that everyone,

everywhere in the world, can adopt andjoin in. Most of them are quite simple:throw your trash in the proper receptacles;opt for reusable bags at the grocery store;eat only sustainably caught fish; recycle.Regardless, whatever you choose to do tohelp the ocean, the most important thing isto do something, to not only be ardentadvocates of conservation but also its mostactive participants. The time for seachange has come. Each of us has apersonal responsibility when it comes tothe health of the ocean. While thechallenges we face may seemoverwhelming, I am a firm believer thattogether we can build the sustainablefuture of our dreams. Each of us alone. Allof us together. Making a positivedifference.

Philipe Cousteau

The stages of degradation in the sea.• 1. Bio-deterioration is generated by the

mechanical action of the bacterial biofilmthat forms on the surface of the plastic

• 2. Bio-fragmentation is the action ofbacterial enzymes released outside thecells to segregate the plastic polymers intoshorter sequences

• 3. The assimilation consists of the transferof plastic molecules of size <600Da(Dalton) in bacterial cells and theirtransformation into cellular compoundsand in biomass.

• 4. The mineralization corresponds to thecomplete degradation of the plastic inoxidized molecules (CO2, N2, CH4, H2O).

Micro Plastic in the Ocean

• The presence of normal plasticwaste is already a problem for theocean. It is nothing new that marinebeings ingest pieces of plastic of acertain size by confusing them withfood. These micro particles may beinvisible to the eye (5 millimeters orless) but are contributing to theproblem of floating plastic debris inthe ocean, waiting to be ingested bythe unprepared marine life.

• Aside from visual pollution, plasticsdirectly or indirectly affect marineorganisms at different levels of thefood chain (Wright et al., 2013)

What can you do to help• Be a VOLUNTEER in our Center located in PLAYA POCHOTE,COSTA RICA

• Become a MEMBER of the family of OCEAN SYMPHONY

• Organize CLEANING CAMPAIGNS on your favorite beaches

• Participating in FUND RAISING campaigns

• Share your photographs of the BEACH WASTE on our facebook page

• Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

• Seek better technological solutions

• Support the inclusion of COMPREHENSIVE ocean management in all climate change

initiatives

• Engage in COMMUNITY EFFORTS

Help us …. Read the message