Introduction:

Oceanic pollution has proven to be a crucial and trending issue globally. Plastic, especially, is one of the main contributors of ocean pollution and is one of the main harms to humans and animal life. IUCN is a membership union of government and organizations including over 160 countries working towards conserving nature globally. IUCN shows that about 14 million tons of the 300 million tons of plastic made every year end up in oceans, which is around 80% of the marine debris from the ocean surface to deep-sea sediments (“Marine Plastic Pollution”). As this number continues to increase, it becomes an unavoidable, pressing issue. Moreover, many items that are not disposed of properly, such as cigarette butts and food wrappers are affecting the ecosystem of marine and land animals. According to Sara Jabril, a journalist for Fair Planet, which is a non profit organization for human rights and environmental justice, a beach clean up was conducted in 2022 stretching about 18,000 miles. Volunteers found over 2 million cigarette butts alone and over 1 million food wrappers/containers which clearly show an issue in the amount of pollution that is present on beaches (Jabril). Having large amounts of pollutants in ocean waters is extremely dangerous for the environment.  In order to prevent ocean pollution from increasing significantly, people should begin eco-bricking to prevent more debris from getting into wildlife. Eco-bricking is extremely beneficial in reducing waste by turning them into new things such as benches, houses, and roads. In the long run, eco-bricking will save habitats and help keep plastic and other pollutants out of the waters. 

Marine Animal Harms:

As ocean pollution increases, the death rate among marine animals increases as well. Not only do they suffer from toxic chemicals and microplastics, their habitats are harmed along with them. According to Eric Beraud, who is part of the Monaco Scientific Center and ecophysiology team, chemicals and toxins that infiltrate the ocean latch onto barrier reefs and coastlines making it easy for them to escape onto beaches at low tide (Beraud et al). When this happens, it damages the beaches and the coast line which protect the animals. Barrier reefs and coastlines help protect marine animals by protecting them from floods, waves and storms. With coral reefs being damaged, marine animals are more prone to injury and extinction. In addition Beraud also mentions that 92% of ocean pollution is made up of microplastics and is harmful when ingested (Beraud et al). Marine animals do not know that microplastics are harmful and swallow these microplastics which lead to inflammation and dangerous reactions. With ocean pollution on the rise yearly, more animals suffer and die leading to higher risks of extinction among many species. Additionally, ocean pollution ruins the food chain of many animals and causes an unbalanced ecosystem. According to John P. Incardona, a biologist that works on gene-environment reactions, fish species found near oil spills were seen having “invisibile” dissolved oil components on eggs and larvae, which can be dangerous for the animal (Incardona et al). Many of these eggs do not make it and are harmed. Oil spills significantly affect marine population and destroy chances of increasing population. As a result, plastic and other ocean pollutants create a huge toll on marine animals day to day life in a negatively impactful way. 

Human Health Effects:

Not only do these pollutants affect sea animals, but scientists have found that it also directly affects humans as well. According to Megan Avakian, a researcher and an environmental health science communications specialist, manufactured chemicals and pollutants that end up in oceans contaminate wildlife which humans end up consuming as seafood. Thus, directly affecting human health which can lead to cardiovascular disease, neurobehavioral disorder, and cancers (Avakian). As pollutants continue to enter the ocean, humans are at higher risk of contracting diseases and the severe side effects in the future. According to Marcus Eriksen, an author and researcher on ocean pollution and co-founder and director of the 5 Gyres Institute, toxic chemical substances and pathogenic microorganisms are found living in marine resources which humans use. Additionally, this increases the presence of chemicals and toxins in seafood, relating to Avakian’s argument (Eriksen et al). Not only does this impose a huge problem right now but it tremendously affects the future as well by creating an increase in diseases that could be prevented. Laura Quiñones, a journalist for the United Nations, says that plastic is currently about 85% of marine litter and by 2040 it will triple, adding about 37 million tons of waste in oceans annually (Quiñones).With that, the risk of disorders, cancers and illnesses only increase and effect more people. In response to this pressing problem, eco bricks can make a huge impact on the amount of plastic and other waste materials that end up in the ocean. 

Solution:

Eco bricking is used in order to help marine life and prevent harm to humans. By eco bricking, plastic that would normally end up in oceans or other bodies of water is being used in a positive way. Eco bricks allow for less plastic entering landfills and are used to create furniture, walls and buildings. Reduce, reuse and recycle is already a big part in how eco bricking works since eco bricking is based on reusing plastic bottles and turning them into “bricks”. According to Emily Petsko, an author that has many lifestyle publications in Asia, Lonely Planet and others, says that if 10% of soft drink bottles were refillable bottles, 4.5 billion bottles would be reused, keeping them out of the ocean, compared to the 7.6 billion bottles that are currently pollution the ocean now (Petsko). This is a significant number and with people reusing plastic bottles, it can clearly make a huge difference. In the long run it would protect the environment and animal life and decrease the amount of endangered species there are. As mentioned before, eco bricking is put into useful builds to help the community. Eco bricking is created by taking plastic bottles and compressing more plastic pollutants in these bottles to essentially make a hard bottle structure known as an eco brick. According to Stephanie Osmanski, a writer on health, the planet and women's lifestyles, eco bricking has been proven to work as countries start building houses with eco bricks. Furthermore, by eco bricking, a highway in California was paved with 150,000 plastic bottles per mile in 2020 (Osmanski). This allows for plastic bottles and other waste materials to be used into something beneficial for society. It gets waste materials out of landfills, natural habitats and bodies of water which help the environment. By removing plastics and pollutants from landfills, it decreases the possibility of leakage of pollutants in soils and waters. Emmanuelle Gammage, a journalist on sustainability, travel and wellbeing, writes how plastic in a landfill takes about 450 years to decompose (Gammage). With plastic production on the rise, landfills are overfilled with plastic waste and other materials. This is seriously harmful for the environment since oceans are getting polluted more frequently as production increases in the future. Eco bricking will help keep these waste materials out of oceans and promote using them for a better purpose and impactful way. Additionally, Charlotte Low, a writer for The Sustainability Project, shares how eco bricks are able to be packed and made with materials such as styrofoam, wires, batteries and other un-recyclables that are toxic to the environment (Low). Eco bricking can leave many harmful materials out of the water and with eco bricking on the rise, it will help save our planet by keeping waste out of ocean waters. Therefore, keeping marine animals safe and humans as well. 

Work Cited

Béraud, Eric, et al. "Plastics are a new threat to Palau's coral reefs." PLoS ONE, vol. 17, no. 7, 6 

July 2022, p. e0270237. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A709378529/GPS?u=nysl_li_mhhs&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=5b5a5621. Accessed 18 Jan. 2023. 

Eriksen, Marcus, et al. "Plastic Pollution in the World's Oceans: More than 5 Trillion Plastic 

Pieces Weighing over 250,000 Tons Afloat at Sea." PLoS ONE, vol. 9, no. 12, 10 Dec. 2014. Gale In Context: Opposing Viewpoints, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A418633814/GPS?u=nysl_li_mhhs&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=f75d3040. Accessed 12  Jan. 2023 

Emmanuelle Gammage  “How Long Does It Take for Plastic to Biodegrade?” 

SaveMoneyCutCarbon, 20 Oct. 2022, savemoneycutcarbon.com/learn-save/how-long-does-it-take-for-plastic-to-biodegrade/. Accessed 19 Jan 2023

Incardona, John P., et al. "Oil spills and fish health: exposing the heart of the matter." Journal of 

Exposure Science and Environmental Epidemiology, vol. 21, no. 1, Jan.-Feb. 2011, pp. 3+. Gale Academic OneFile, link.gale.com/apps/doc/A245739018/GPS?u=nysl_li_mhhs&sid=bookmark-GPS&xid=afd5c18a. Accessed 16 Jan. 2023.

Jabril, Sara. “The Top 10 Items That Are Polluting Our Oceans.” FairPlanet, 

fairplanet.org/story/the-top-10-items-that-are-polluting-our-oceans/. Accessed 19 Jan. 2023

Low, Charlotte. “Ecobricks: Plastic Solved.” The Sustainability Project, 9 Mar. 2022, 

thesustainabilityproject.life/blog/2018/10/07/ecobricks-plastic-solved/. Accessed 17 Jan. 2023

“Marine Plastic Pollution.” IUCN, 20 July 2022, 

iucn.org/resources/issues-brief/marine-plastic-pollution. Accessed 18 Jan. 2023

Megan Avakian “New Study Finds Ocean Pollution a Threat to Human Health.” National 

Institute of  Environmental Health Sciences, U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, niehs.nih.gov/research/programs/geh/geh_newsletter/2021/2/articles/new_study_finds_ocean_pollution_a_threat_to_human_health.cfm. Accessed 17 Jan. 2023

Osmanski, Stephanie. “How to ‘Bottle Brick," One of Our Favorite Zero-Waste Hacks.” Green 

Matters, Green Matters, 11 Nov. 2020, greenmatters.com/p/how-to-bottle-brick. Accessed 20 Jan. 2023

Laura Quiñones “Plastic Pollution on Course to Double by 2030  | UN News.” United Nations, 

United Nations, news.un.org/en/story/2021/10/1103692. Accessed 14 Jan. 2023

Petsko, Emily. “How Reusable Bottles and Containers Can Help Save the Ocean.” Oceana, 16 

June 2021, oceana.org/blog/how-reusable-bottles-and-containers-can-help-save-ocean/. Accessed 20 Jan. 2023