My name is Aniela and I am a 12 year old girl.  I volunteer with the salmon enhancement program every week and I am very devoted to the health of our oceans. When I'm out on the inlet with my hatchery family, I see countless amounts of plastic waste littering our waterways and beaches. 

What do you think is the great source of  plastic pollution littering our shorelines? Some of you might think plastic straws, or plastic bags, but the most greatest source of ocean plastic pollution found during shoreline cleanup is cigarette butts.

Cigarette filters are made from cellulose acetate, a form of plastic designed to look and feel like cotton. Tossed into the environment, they are a huge contributor to ocean plastic pollution. Smokers around the world purchase about 6.5 trillion cigarette butts each year, which is over one million tonnes of plastic!

I'm sure you're probably fed up with seeing cigarette butt litter everywhere. I have good news! There are solutions. As you may know, Canada has voted to ban single use plastic in 2021. I'm asking our government to include plastic cigarette filters in the single use plastic ban. The health of our oceans depends on it. By 2050, scientists estimate there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. If that isn't reason enough for you to help me initiate this change, then I don't know what is.