Imagine walking out of your front door and seeing a bunch of other people's trash littered all around your home. That's what one person faced when they looked around their canal boat home.
"I live on a canal boat currently moored at Alperton," the London resident wrote in a Reddit post. "The amount of plastic that I see along the canal and in general in this area in particular is disgraceful."
They also posted a photo of the litter-filled canal with numerous plastic bags and other things floating in the water.
"In the past week, I have seen 3 dead [animals], nestled amongst a huge churn of plant matter and plastic waste. This makes me so sad," they added.
Plastic pollution is a significant issue that has gotten out of control in our society. According to the U.N. Environment Programme, between 20 and 25 million tons of plastic waste finds its way into aquatic ecosystems yearly. That means about 2,000 garbage trucks worth of plastic are dumped into our oceans, rivers, and lakes every day. Some researchers estimate more than 170 trillion plastic particles are afloat in our oceans.
Plastic can take hundreds of years to break down in nature, and as it does, it sheds microplastics that find their way into every corner of the Earth, plus our bodies. The science is still out on the effects microplastics have on our health, but having petroleum-based products flowing through our arteries can't be a good thing. One study linked microplastics to neurodegenerative diseases such as Alzheimer's.
Whether in water or on land, animals are dying from plastic trash in the environment.
Plastic pollution is a massive problem, but you can make a difference. There are numerous ways you can reduce the amount of plastic you use — and many of them will save you money. It's also important to learn how recycling works in your community and properly recycle as much plastic as you can.
By respecting the environment as it is and cleaning up after ourselves responsibly, we build a connection with nature that ensures the preservation of ecosystems for future generations.
People in the comments were also frustrated with the polluted canal.
"Terrible to see. Keep pushing council and environmental agency," one person suggested.
Another resident of the area was so fed up with the pollution they said they're looking to move. "No one here respects their environment and there is garbage blowing down the streets to the point that on a windy day my front door of my building has a cyclone of rubbish I have to navigate," they explained.
Another suggested a solution to stop the problem before it even starts: "Banning single use plastic would go a long way."
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