Beach Pollution (And How We Can Fix it)
This beach pollution is more serious than you may think. A major problem when it comes to plastic is that plastic doesn't degrade. Fish or other sea life could eat plastic and die. Plastic has chemicals on it, which means every piece of plastic that goes into the water releases chemicals and humans ingest them. The chemicals will impact human systems.
Microplastics are also a huge problem! Microplastics will go into watersheds, then they drift through water drains, then the microplastics will go through rivers and end up in our oceans, where it will be broken down by waves. The main problem with microplastics is that they attract toxins. Those microplastics will eventually get eaten by fish, birds or humans. If we don't recycle plastic and other garbage, they will find a way to end up in our oceans.
If everyone on the earth lived like Americans, we would need five Earths of resources. Also, did you know that every time you burn fossil fuels it creates this atom called CO2? CO2 traps heat in the earth, and we are creating too much CO2, so the earth is getting too hot. Did you know that the average American uses over 16 football fields of Earth's resources?
What I did about this problem was I made an EV3 robot, which was made to pick up garbage on beaches. On the robot there was a claw that me and my partner made, to pick up the garbage.
My robot was also made to ride along the beach and pick up trash and plastic on the way.
You may now realize how much of a problem this is. But what you may not realize is that you can fix this! Basically, all you need to do is stop adding to the problem. Just recycle plastic and stop littering. You should also stop using products with microplastics in them. You should especially not litter cigarettes because they play a major part in plastic pollution. So now that you know what to do to help beach pollution and what's so bad about it... go help!
Here is where I got my information, pictures and made my meme:
“Six Types of Beach Pollution You Need to Know About.” Swim Guide, 17 Aug. 2016, www.theswimguide.org/2016/07/18/six-types-beach-pollution/.
“Photo Editor | PiZap: Free Online Photo Editor and Collage Maker.” PiZap Photo Editor & Collage Maker, www.pizap.com/pizap.
Hi Kaylee!
ReplyDeleteI found your blog post via #comments4kids. Thanks so much for sharing this important information about water and beach pollution. I had no idea how much pollution Americans create! It's scary! But I appreciate your tips for helping to reduce the problem. Keep up the eco-friendly research!
-Holly
I love this project, it's a great way to bring awareness! What do you think would be a good way to help educate people about the impact of this pollution? Also, I would love to see a picture of your robot!
ReplyDelete- Ms. Pierce, Spokane, WA
What an important subject to talk about! I loved the background information you gave. Sad to see what is happening to our earth. I would love to see a picture or a video of your robot in action! Keep up the great work!
ReplyDeleteHi Kaylee,
ReplyDeleteI enjoyed reading your blog post - it is very informative! It is crazy to imagine how much plastic waste American's contribute to the planet. How do other countries compare to America with their amount of waste? It would be interesting to know the amount of waste each country contributes to the planet.
Thank you for sharing ways that people can help! We each need to do our part by reducing the amount of plastic we buy, recycling, and not littering.
Great post!
Ms. Carson
MIT Student
Spokane, WA
Hi Kaylee,
ReplyDeleteI think it is amazing that you were able to write about a topic that really needs to be talked about in the current world environment. I also think it is incredible that you took an issue and tried to help contribute to solving the issue by making a robot to help pick up some of the trash. I have two questions... 1) is the robot waterproof, as it will be on the beach and probably encounter water and waves along the way 2) how long does the robot go and how often do you have to change the robots batteries?
Thanks,
Brandon Berk
From: Spokane, Washington
Hi Kaylee,
ReplyDeleteI love your blog post about pollution. It is so necessary that we learn to take care of our environment. Way to go for taking initiative and inspiring other people to care for our earth. It is way cool that you made a robot to fix this problem. You are doing great things as a scientist. Keep pushing your understanding of science and keep pushing others to make a difference.
-Mr. Fayant
Spokane, WA
Hello Kaylee,
ReplyDeleteThis was a very interesting blog post. I would be very interested to see a picture or the design of your robot that you made. Is engineering or technology something you are really interested in? I know that they are growing industries for future careers. Recently I have gotten my family to try to reduce our plastic usage by using reusable food containers and silicone lids instead of cling wrap. It is awesome to see that students of all ages are working to solve our environmental issues of pollution as well as bring awareness. Keep up the good work!
Sincerely
Ms. Lily
Hi Kaylee, thank you for the information. It really is sad that we are not taking our planet into consideration. I agree with you, we should all practice recycling and if possible switch to biodegradable products. The robot you created sounds great. What do you think we should do to get others to create robots or machines to help clean our beaches just like you?
ReplyDeleteMs.Maritza
MIT Student
Spokane, WA
Beach pollution is a major problem all over the world! It's not even just in America. Low income countries can create more trash and waste per person than America. It's only going to get worse. I love your creative idea with a robot! I foresee a weird but interesting future full of all sorts of little robots cleaning up after us. I cant wait to have a cleaner world someday! It is as you said, we need to create less trash first before we think of ways to clean it up. Microplastics scare me. Yuck! I don't want that in my food. Keep up the creative work!
ReplyDeleteThank you,
-Mr. Arnhold
Aspiring 5th Grade Teacher
I appreciate your passion for the oceanic environment. Thank you for citing where your evidence came from.
ReplyDelete