Our oceans full of plastic waste
Seabirds, turtles, whales and many other creatures are at risk from the plastic waste in our seas. Despite this danger, the amount of waste is unfortunately increasing. The WWF estimates that 4.8 to 12.7 million tons of new waste ends up in our seas every year. This corresponds to about one truckload per minute. Only a small part of the waste floats on the water surface, the rest sinks to the seabed where it is even more difficult to retrieve and recycle.
Plastic waste in the oceans endangers over 800 species of animals as well as coral reefs and the seabed. Here are a few examples:
- Sea turtles that feed on jellyfish often mistake them for plastic bags and consume them.
- Seabirds that ingest plastic gain a feeling of satiety, but then starve because they lack nutrients.
- Plastic waste releases harmful pathogens that settle on coral reefs and destroy them.
- Whales, seals and harbor seals become entangled in abandoned fishing nets and are often unable to free themselves and die.
Where does the plastic waste in the oceans come from?
The massive use of single-use plastic and the lack of opportunities to collect and process waste are crucial. In emerging and developing countries in particular, significantly less than 50% of waste is collected. This is because collection, disposal and recycling cannot be publicly funded. As the infrastructure is lacking, the waste is not disposed of properly. The garbage piles up and is washed into the sea by rivers. Ships on the high seas also play their part by throwing garbage into the sea despite bans. Fishing boats lose their nets, which then drift in the sea as ghost nets and pose a danger to marine animals.
ECONYL®, recycled nylon for SooNice Sunnies
For our SooNice Sunnies, we have set ourselves the task of not creating any new plastic waste and at the same time helping to clean up the oceans. That's why we decided to use recycled nylon ECONYL® for our sunglasses. This is made primarily from old fishing nets and other nylon waste. This means that no new resources are needed, but rather existing ones are used. In this way, we are also contributing to improving the current situation.
Thanks for reading :]
Your Laura
If you want to learn more about this topic and ECONYL® , please take a look at the following articles:
Econyl - endless possibilities
Plastic waste in the sea - the most important answers: https://www.wwf.de/themen-projekte/plastik/unsere-ozeane-versinken-im-plastikmuell/plastikmuell-im-meer-die-wichtigsten-antworten (18.03.22)
Photos via Unsplash:
Feature: Photo by Angela Compagnone on Unsplash
Article 1: Photo by Dustan Woodhouse on Unsplash
Article 2: Photo by Naja Bertolt Jensen on Unsplash
