What will YOU do to help save our planet?
After volunteering with Heal the Bay one Saturday morning, I was shocked by the scene before me - tar was everywhere on the shores of our beaches. By the end of my three-hour volunteer, black spots speckled the bottoms of my feet.
Having seen this firsthand, I wanted to illustrate to the world what I experienced from this volunteering experience. After hearing about an art competition in which the theme was about our oceans and planet, I decided to use my artistic creativity as a form of an outlet to illustrate to the world what I had seen that morning.
After researching more about this topic, I found puzzling statistics and facts. According to UNESCO, over 220 million tons of plastic are produced every year. Plastic debris causes the death of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as that of more than 100,000 marine mammals. There are now approximately 500 dead zones covering more than 245,000
km² globally, which is equivalent to the surface of the United Kingdom.
After hearing about these shocking statistics, I decided to incorporate more of these beach cleanups into the America's VOICE. I decided to host at least 4-5 beach cleanups every semester as well as try to host up to 10 cleanups during the summer, in order to maximize the effect we, as volunteers, would have on the situation.
I thought that it was important to try to eliminate the trash that was filling up our oceans. Leaving the oceans in a healthy state for future generations is important, so that the children of the future are able to see the diverse species of animals and plants that roam the oceans.
I believe that we, as humans, have the responsibility to take charge of the problems that our ancestors have created. We not only owe it to the future generations of this planet, but to ourselves as well.