Worldwide, 73 percent of beach litter is plastic. For instance, filters for cigarette stubs, bottles, bottle caps, packagings, shopping bags and styrofoam containers.
But there is more. The plastic that is on the beaches is estimated to be there for a minimum of 150 years, and depending on the type of plastic, it will take thousands of years to degrade. In addition, when degraded, plastics are an important source of greenhouse gases.
That is why it is vital that we avoid the use of plastics and use fully biodegradable materials.
In fact, at the current rate of plastic consumption, by 2050 almost all seabird species on the planet will be eating plastic on a daily basis. For decades, scientists have tracked the ingestion of plastic in seabird populations. In 1960, less than 5 percent of animals had the material in their stomachs. We are now at 90 percent, and by 2050, all birds will be eating plastic.
