The ocean makes up the most crucial part of the life of every living human being, other living creatures, and plants. The living human beings and animals require water and oxygen for survival. About half of the oxygen available in the atmosphere comes from the ocean. The water covers more than 90% of the existing planets in the atmosphere. In the name of development, the situation of the sea worsens on a daily basis. The worsening comes as a result of the production of harmful products that affect the ocean. Pollution of water poses a significant risk to water-living creatures, plants, and human beings who are consumers of the same water (Jambeck et al., p. 770). Solving water pollution demanded the idea of reusing plastics that were considered waste materials. Through a lot of research, David Katz found a way to reuse waste plastics. The reuse of plastic would be a source of income. The process would earn the state some revenue as well as gain the citizens an additional income. To actualize the idea of reusing plastic waste, David founded a plastic bank where the world would collect and exchange the plastic as currency.
During a speech given by David in December, David said the ocean needed a quick solution to reduce the garbage thrown into the sea on a daily basis. The waste products resulted in the immediate pollution of the water. Due to water pollution, living water creatures suffer death due to the intoxication of the water. The garbage had the effect of reducing the available oxygen, putting the lives of the beings at risk. They said that the continuous death of the water-living animals would result in extinction. Unless an immediate solution is reached, all animals living in water will die since plastics form the food chain. David, determined to clean the environment, urged the people to join hands to assist in cleaning the environment to save the lives of animals living in water. The solution would also protect living beings from consuming contaminated water that comes from the ocean (Rochman et al., p. 165).
David requested that people start cleaning the sea as soon as they receive the information. David compared the ocean cleaning project to a situation that every person understood. David said that in a condition where one leaves the water running and the house is socked with rain when coming back, the first thing would be to turn off the tap and then start cleaning the room. It would be meaningless to begin cleaning the room without turning off the tap first. By saying this, David implied that it would also be trivial to start cleaning the ocean without a solution for the plastic (Rochman et al., p.169). With David’s solution for plastics, people should begin reusing plastics to ensure there is no pollution.
During the talk, David pointed out that most of the plastics originated from countries where citizens survived in absolute poverty. With the development of plastic banks, citizens should make use of plastic to earn an extra coin to improve their living standards. David also pointed out that more than 300 million plastics went into the ocean, and more than half of the plastics thrown into the sea were still in the sea.
The plastic bank has become the largest world chain store for the ultra-poor people. The chain store consisted of everything required by the people as long as the store received plastic bags (Li and Fok p.340). The bank would exchange the reusable plastics with the items in the store. Anything needed to reduce the poverty levels of the people comes from the chain stores. The items included things such as WIFI, cell phone power, education fees, medical insurance, and fuel. To have a reliable source of income, one would only be required to collect plastics from one business to the other, from the streets from door to door, and from one person to the other, and take the collected plastics to the plastic bank. The quality and quantity of the material were assessed to ensure that the quality and amount satisfied the buyer, and the equivalent amount of money was transferred to the account of the individual who took the plastic to the bank at the end of the day.
David pointed out that the plastics collected would undergo some process before transportation. The value of plastics increased through technology, with labels and caps removed. Finally, the plastics were prepared for exportation (Wong et al., p. 170). To reduce the many problems faced by the citizens, David urged the people to use the available opportunity to raise money to assist in improving the living standards and growing the economy of their country. For example, Lise, who lost their husband during the Haitian earthquake that occurred in 2010 and left them homeless, could use the reuse opportunity to earn a living for the children. With the money received, Lise would pay the tuition fee for the children and buy school uniforms and other requirements for the children. The program would eradicate poverty and extract the plastics found in the ocean to reduce pollution. Reduction of pollution would rescue the lives of creatures living in water. Through recycling, recyclers would come into existence, which would be used to clean the sea and minimize poverty levels.
David said that the plastics received by the bank went straight to other, more prominent companies. Big companies recycle plastics to make them reusable (Wong et al., p. 175). The big company would give money in exchange for plastics. David marked that about eight trillion plastics still exist as waste worth nearly four trillion. If only the plastics were recycled, people would at least earn some money.
In conclusion, I can say that if we clean the ocean, we will earn a lot of money. The cleaning of the sea would win the state’s revenue through taxation of the recycling process. The individuals involved in the cleaning process would also improve the living standards by using the money earned as salaries for the employed as well as from the sale of plastics that are considered wastes. The cleaning of the ocean would also help in saving the lives of the animals living in the water. Cleaning the sea would bring about richness to the people, and therefore, the need to join hands in cleansing the ocean as a small step executed by a small group brings about a significant revolution.
Works Cited
Jambeck, Jenna R., et al. “Plastic waste inputs from land into the ocean.” Science 347.6223 (2015): 768-771.
Rochman, Chelsea M., et al. “Policy: Classify plastic waste as hazardous.” Nature 494.7436 (2013): 169.
Li, W. C., H. F. Tse, and L. Fok. “Plastic waste in the marine environment: A review of sources, occurrence and effects.” Science of the Total Environment 566 (2016): 333-349.
Wong, S. L., et al. “Current state and future prospects of plastic waste as source of fuel: A review.” Renewable and Sustainable Energy Reviews 50 (2015): 167-180.
