PETITION TO SAVE THE OCEANS FROM POLLUTION!
An
Online Petition By Ottavio Lo Piccolo,
6-11-17 (Rev. 11-5-17)
PROBLEM/ISSUE: The oceans of the world are in grave danger! They are being
polluted at an alarming rate- with too much plastic- our plastic trash; plastic
bottles and bags, plastic silverware, cups, dishes, cigarette lighters,
markers, and other harmful products like; discarded fishing nets (640,000
tons/year) pesticides, herbicides, toothpaste, cosmetics and ocean
acidification
(high level of CO2 emissions/pollutions. In addition to sewer
waste that contains micro plastics (from face scrubs, cosmetics and even
toothpaste- Canada has banned them! Why not the USA?) Micro plastics are tiny
pieces/particles of plastic, which are now also in the air we breathe- they are
released from motor vehicle tires!
“Every year 8-million tons of plastic ends up in our ocean.
Seals get caught in discarded fishing gear and die trying
to free themselves. Dolphins and turtles mistake plastic bags for their
next meal and die eating them. Fish ingest deflated balloons and choke
to death. Millions of sea birds have died because they too ingest pieces of
floating plastic (cigarette lighters, straws, markers, etc.). Ocean Conservancy
believes that if we take action now, we can reduce plastic in the
ocean by 45%, saving ocean life, making our ocean cleaner and our earth
healthier. Over fishing, pollution and habitat fragmentation are wearing
down the health of our oceans… degrade coral reefs and corrode the
shells of sea creatures— it's not surprising that ocean ecosystems are
rapidly collapsing.”
That is why marine biologists predict that within two generations -the
oceans will collapse- hence; humanity would not be able to survive. The oceans
are the biggest and most important source of life (water, food, oxygen, salt,
etc.)- Therefore, we must do all we
can, now! Before it is too late!
SOLUTIONS/REMEDIES NOW:
sign my petition, and/or any other petitions that aim at protecting the
oceans and our environment, by clicking
on the link below;
or log in to www.care2.org and
type the following words: “SAVE THE OCEANS FROM POLLUTION & OTHER THREATS” in the search box, top right.
Then take action to help the ocean, apply these steps in your life:
First- apply the 4Rs (Recycle, Reduce, Reuse and Refuse).
We must begin in our homes,
then in our schools and our work
places. Deploy
labeled recycling containers, in your home and at your place of work, next to trash containers in cafeterias, classrooms
and meeting rooms. Also ,refuse, and/or boycott, plastic bags-
this Recycle as many types of plastic containers
as possible, bags, bottles, cups, and all other plastic that is recycled in
your area. Use separate recycling containers for plastic bags, glass and metals.
The more you can recycle the better!
Second- Start by informing others with
love/concern for our planet and watch the documentary film A PLASTIC OCEAN, and have others see it too. You can watch the trailer of this film, on You Tube
(or purchase the full-length movie on Amazon for $3.99). This documentary
presents the problem beautifully, and offers hope/solutions, hence it will
motivate you to act. In fact, after watching it, I finally understood
why we often see whales dying on beaches worldwide. You will see one
such depressing event in this documentary created by Craig Lesson, a famous journalist
and Olympic world champion deep-sea diver, Tanya Streeter. After watching this
film, you will ask yourself: Why do news reports, about these dying
whales, always say this phrase at the end? "SCIENTISTS
DON'T KNOW WHY THESE WHALES DIED."
It is now obvious to me, that whales and other marine animals are dying
because they are eating plastic!
THIRD- communicate with
political leaders, in our towns/villages, cities, county levels, those in Congress and at the state
level. We must inform them of the dangers of ocean plastic pollution,
and we must ask them to take action now to protect our environment, especially
our oceans. These are some of the
actions that our governments should take;
a. Begin to RECOGNIZE/REWARD businesses and other public
entities, schools, museums,
food establishments, hotels, hospitals, prisons, farms, and other government
organizations that voluntarily reduce the use of pollutants.
Organizations and/or businesses that voluntarily follow the 4Rs, and
use biodegradable, and/or natural products, should be declared
environmentally friendly, or ECO-FRIENDLY, and should be given
recognition, in the form of free publicity and financial rewards
(e.g., tax reductions, grants, interest free loans, etc.).
b. Support and finance recycling
businesses/plants and/or research
that aims at solving the plastic pollution problem. The US Navy
Carriers use plasma flames (huge machines) that burn large quantities of
plastic into an inert material, which doesn’t harm the environment and/or
animals. Such machines could be used on land. A young European engineer, Boyan
Slat, has designed an ocean clean up prototype that will be deployed
into the Pacific Ocean within several years. For more info. on this project,
visit You Tube and search for The Ocean Clean Up Project.
To see the You Tube video, click on this link https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=du5d5PUrH0I&t=22s
c. Regulate the plastic industry, the 3rd largest industry in the USA. Regulation
will motivate this industry to find
ways/alternatives to plastic products, and finding ways of control and
manage its plastic pollution. This industry makes plastic; therefore, it is
also its responsibility to safely dispose of it (as to stop it from reaching
and contaminating the oceans and other bodies of water).
d. Declare all throw away, or single-use, and/or use-only-once plastic
as hazardous waste! This would
force the plastic industry, and everyone, to properly dispose plastic, instead
of polluting our oceans.
FOURTH - Join an
organization, CITIZENS’
CLIMATE LOBBY, which
protects the environment. This group meets every 3rd Saturday of the
month at the Colonie Public Library, NY, from 10am- 12 noon. To join, log on to https://citizensclimatelobby.org/about-ccl/ Citizens’ Climate Lobby is a non-profit,
non-partisan, grassroots advocacy organization focused on national policies to
address climate change by consistently respectful, non-partisan approach to climate education.
FIFTH- EVALUATE MORE
EVIDENCE… on the level of
ocean pollution, and find out how- by click on these links: plastic trash is killing millions of sea birds
Plastic kills marine
mammals, click on the link below;
Also:
I hope that you too,
will join me and work to save our oceans and our planet! Do it for our
children! Do it out of love!
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