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News Bites continued

  IMPACT Marine Plastic Pollution                                                 Marine plastic pollution is also dangerous for humans because the
                                                                              fish and other sea life that swallow plastic end up on our dinner plates.
                  After spotting a robin’s nest filled with pretty blue       Disease-causing chemicals can hitch a ride on small plastic particles into
                  eggs hanging over his front porch, 13-year-old Joshua       our bodies.
watched it for weeks and noticed something disturbing. “The robin
was trying to feed the babies dirty, plastic stuff.” She had confused the         What can you do to help reduce plastic pollution?
garbage that people had dropped on the ground with food. This caused
Joshua to conclude that “plastic isn’t healthy for the environment.”               Ÿ	Avoid using plastics—especially single-use plastics.
    Joshua, who lives in Cicero, participates in the King Conservation
Leadership Academy, a series of science and nature programs                            ú	Fill up reusable water bottles instead of buying single-use
administered by the Chicago Zoological Society. (See pages 34 and 41 for                 plastic ones.
more information about the King Academy.)
    About 40 percent of the world’s plastic waste ends up in the                       ú	Pass on plastic straws, cup lids, and utensils.
environment, according to the 2020 report “Breaking the Plastic Wave”
by the PEW Charitable Trusts and SYSTEMIQ. This includes an estimated                  ú	Avoid products containing hidden microplastics. Examples
24.2 billion pounds of plastic waste that flows into oceans each year—                   may include clothing made of synthetic fabrics and some
including beverage bottles, plastic plates and cups, straws, take-out                    health and beauty products.
containers, grocery bags, food wrappers, and fishing gear.
    Also each year, plastic debris kills millions of animals, including more       Ÿ	Don’t litter. Keep plastic waste from being ingested by animals
than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals, states the National              and from being washed into streams, lakes, and oceans.
Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration (NOAA). For example, dolphins
and sea turtles drown after becoming entangled in plastic bags or fishing          Ÿ	Recycle and reuse. Become familiar with your community’s
line. Or like Joshua’s robin, animals swallow plastic and either suffer              recycling policies and opportunities. For example, deposit plastic
internal damage or starve to death with bellies full of plastic.                     bags in grocery store recycling bins.

                                                                                   Ÿ	Volunteer at a local river or beach clean-up event. Join the
                                                                                     global effort to reduce litter by entering the garbage you collect
                                                                                     into NOAA’s Marine Debris Tracker app.

                                                                              A curious albatross eyes a pile of colorful, plastic
                                                                              cigarette lighters as a hungry chick looks on.
                                                                              (Credit: NOAA)

10 GATEWAYS | NEWS BITES
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