In support of the United Nations Sustainability Capstone Goals (14.1 Life Below Water), plastic pollution is one of the most damaging and life-threatening causes of death towards marine animals. Every day we come across plastic and may not know where our plastic bags or plastic bottles travel to. Unfortunately, at least 8 million tons of plastic end up in our oceans, and over 300 million tons of plastic are manufactured every year for use in a distinct amount of applications. We can all agree that plastic is an efficient and convenient way of handling many different life tasks such as carrying our groceries in a bag, straws for drinks, or a plastic water bottle on the go. However, many are unaware of the critical state our oceans are in and a bigger contribution of protecting our marine animals is important. 

Although it may seem that we as a community try our best in enforcing the rules of recycling, littering, or dumping, strict goals are not being set in for our community to work together as well as creating national action plans to further reduce plastic pollution which is where the assistance from the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency and our community as a whole comes in to help protect marine life. Looking at the welfare of our animals, 1 in 3 species of marine mammals have been caught in marine litter. Likewise, more than 50% of sea turtles have ingested plastic while over 90% of seabirds have consumed plastic pieces. In addition, with the existence of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch, a study has shown that around 700 marine animals have made contact with 92% of it being plastic. Microplastics have also been shown to cause great harm to marine life. Because plastic takes around 500-1000 years to degrade, marine animals will begin to shape their lives around plastic as it is now damaging a whole web of animals. They begin to think of plastic as food and will eventually injure their internal systems. As stated in the United Nations Sustainability Capstone Goals, we need to reduce all types of marine pollution by 2025. Although, plastic pollution is the main focal point, preventing the increase in plastic pollution will be a big step forward in protecting the future lives of not only our environment but animals as well. 

With the help of the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, we hope to start looking at plastic pollution as a critical and universal issue by:

Enforce strict goals in order to reduce plastic pollution:

1. Request schools to stop using plastic cutlery for cafeteria lunches.
2. Develop and produce additional public water refill stations.
3. Support more beach, lake, or river cleanups for all ages around various communities.

Create nationwide plans for communities that are willing to help protect marine life:

1. Require grocery stores to replace plastic water bottles with other alternatives.
2. Request major companies that manufacture face scrubs, toothpaste, and body scrubs to avoid using microbeads.
3. Require retail, fast food businesses, and gas stations to discontinue the selling of "on-the-go" disposable products.

For your contribution, there are countless ways of reducing plastic pollution even at home not just by recycling but reducing and reusing. By recycling, we conserve resources, save energy, reduce landfill, and further protect our environment. By signing this petition, you can pledge to help our marine animals by:

1. Use reusable water bottles and plastic bags.
2. Use reusable or paper straws.
3. Stop buying plastic water bottles.
4. Don’t litter and help pick up trash.
5. Don’t use products with microbeads (face washes or toothpaste).

Although we are amidst COVID-19, I hope we can come back strong and take necessary actions after the pandemic has subsided. So, please take a few seconds to sign this petition as we can help reduce and further prevent the increase of plastic pollution by 2025 as a community. With help from you and the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, we can save our marine animals as they need all the help they can get.