Fish-killing plastic pellets are spreading like wildfire
Tiny plastic pellets are spreading across the Indian Ocean like wildfire, coating coastlines and killing wildlife everywhere they go.1
Plastic pollution is choking the planet.
The plastics we’re producing are choking our planet and its wildlife. We can’t reduce, reuse or recycle our way out of this problem — but it’s not too late to change our relationship with plastic and save our future oceans.
One thing you can do right now is to tell your U.S. House representative to support the Break Free from Plastic Pollution Act.
Millions of tons of plastic get dumped into our seas.
In May, a tanker burst into flames off the coast of Sri Lanka, spewing toxic chemicals into the air and water. Among the harmful cargo that spilled into the sea were 80 tons of plastic pellets.2
It didn’t take long for these pellets to spread far and wide. They lodged themselves in fishes’ mouths and gills and have spread to nearly every shore on Sri Lanka — and now, they’re spreading to every corner of the Indian Ocean.3
And even if they hadn’t spilled, these pellets would have been used to make even more plastic products.4
This highlights a sad truth: Even without random accidents like this, we routinely make millions of tons of plastic that get dumped into our seas. And the impact is being felt most by vulnerable species that need our help — by whales and turtles starving to death with plastic-filled guts.
The Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act can help.
This path is unsustainable.
On our current path, a moment’s convenience today will rob from the oceans of tomorrow. We’re wading toward a diminished future, where beautiful sea turtles have been driven to extinction and where plastic bags float through dead reefs instead of schools of fish.
But it doesn’t need to be this way. If we get serious about slowing — and eventually stopping — our reliance on plastics, we can slow this river of plastic pollution. And by incentivizing companies to reduce their plastic production, that’s exactly what the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act can do for us.
But it won’t happen if we don’t speak up now. Will you join us?
- Helen Regan and Chandler Thornton, “Dead turtles and waves of plastic show Sri Lankan ship disaster’s deep ramifications,” CNN, July 24, 2021.
- Helen Regan and Chandler Thornton, “Dead turtles and waves of plastic show Sri Lankan ship disaster’s deep ramifications,” CNN, July 24, 2021.
- Helen Regan and Chandler Thornton, “Dead turtles and waves of plastic show Sri Lankan ship disaster’s deep ramifications,” CNN, July 24, 2021.
- Helen Regan and Chandler Thornton, “Dead turtles and waves of plastic show Sri Lankan ship disaster’s deep ramifications,” CNN, July 24, 2021.