Off The Cuff

Art made from trash sheds light on the issue of plastic pollution in the ocean

May 23, 2023
Sezarr

Waste plastic has been used to make the structure.

Many urban and rural sources of pollution, most of which are plastic waste, are threatening the ocean’s marine biodiversity. Ocean plastic pollution is an ongoing problem around the world; Animals can get caught in large pieces of plastic such as fishing nets or ingest microplastics that eventually enter the food chain to be consumed by humans.

Research published in March this year found that there are a Estimated 170 trillion plastic pieces, mainly microplasticsToday on the surface of the world’s oceans, much of it has been discarded since 2005.

Authorities in Chennai erected a structure of marine plastic art at Besant Nagar beach to raise awareness about the harmful effects of pollution and the importance of maintaining clean beaches.

Sharing the image of the massive art structure, IAS officer Supriya Sahu, who is Additional Chief Secretary, Environment, Climate Change and Forests to the government. from Tamil Nadu, wrote on Twitter, “We put up this installation made of plastic waste retrieved from the ocean at Chennai’s Besant Nagar beach to mark the mega beach cleanup event held today. It’s not only a reminder of the sad reality of pollution in our country but also warns of a serious threat to marine biodiversity.”

The tweet has received an overwhelming response with nearly 70,000 views.

Meanwhile, according to current trends, by 2050 plastic use in G20 countries will nearly double from 2019, reaching 451 million metric tons per year.

Recycling, even in countries with advanced waste management systems, has done little to help the pollution problem because only a small percentage of plastics are recycled properly and much of it ends up in landfills.

If landfills are not managed properly, plastic waste can seep into the environment, eventually making its way into the oceans.

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