Plastic Prevention
The deep sea might be far away, but that doesn’t mean we don’t interact with it.
The deep sea is… deep! Research shows us that it’s 36,200 feet (11,000 meters or almost 7 miles) deep at its deepest point. Imagine running 7 miles DOWN. In order to survive in the deep and the dark, animals have had to go through amazing adaptations, and we know so little about them.
You might like to think that since it’s so far away, humans have no impact, but sadly that’s not all true. Plastic pollution, among other pollutants, have been found in every part of our Ocean - even the deepest points!
This can be as easy or as complex as you like! It can just be to draw your design for a plastic prevention method, or you can make it 3D – it's up to you.
Plastic Pollution is a huge problem for our Ocean. Every year, over 8 million tons of plastic enter the Ocean. And guess who is responsible for that? You guessed right: us, humans. Once plastic enters the Ocean, it is exposed to saltwater, sunlight, wave action and Ocean currents, and it becomes brittle and starts to break up into smaller, and smaller pieces, without disappearing completely. This means that it becomes much easier for smaller and smaller creatures to eat it which, very frequently, costs them their lives. But besides that, we are also equally affected by it. Who ends up eating the fish and seafood that has eaten microplastics? Yep, us. Some scientists estimate that we ingest a 4x2 Lego block worth of plastic every month.
However, plastic does have its utility and value. It has made our life easier in many ways. It has enabled modern technology to develop lifesaving medical equipment. Think of it another way: how many trees would we have cut down if we made all of our chairs and other furniture out of wood, rather than plastic?
With that in mind, your challenge is:
Design a method to prevent plastic from getting into the Ocean in the first place – this method could be an alternative, it could be a plastic collection device, or it could be a policy. You must design your solution and justify your thought process for each element via a diagram and flow chart.
