Dear Mr Zeldin

I am an 8th grade student and I study in the International School of Manila. For my advocacy project, I have researched the numerous ways on how plastic affects marine life, how it enters the ocean and how it is being constricted. And as I have lived in multiple different countries, I have knowledge on what the effects are. I believe in your support wholeheartedly. As the world continues to use plastic at a mass scale for its benefits, we should be aware of its impacts and where it goes. Only a very small percentage of plastic is recycled, while the rest are in landfills or mismanaged, leading to them ending up in rivers and canals. These rivers can discharge up to 500000kg worth of plastic every year. Although the numbers are high, I believe that with your strong intuition on plastic pollution and water quality, we can put a hold on the increase of these numbers.

As you may already be informed, plastic pollution can be a deadly factor that marine animals have to overcome to survive. It is estimated that over 1.15 to 2.41 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean each year from rivers (“The Great”, 3). This mismanaged waste enters the ocean, where harmless sea turtles that feed on jellyfish, mistake plastic bags for their daily sustenance. Where a dolphin that swims freely with its pod, at the next second, is trapped by a ghost fishing net, drowning it. Referencing your work on increasing water quality standards in basins in the USA (“EPA Administrator”). I have come across mass pollution on my recent trip to the Ganges River in India. The river was covered in toxic foam left by industrial facilities, plastic bottles and sachets of shampoo were littered freely on the shore as the waves from the current brought them into the water. The marine life the oceans depend on cannot thrive in these conditions like they used to.

Although everything may seem bad, changemakers like you and me, are solving the issue. Getting rid of the microplastics and debris in the ocean is an expensive task that most countries can't afford to do. However, stopping the source of outflow is another option. One prominent organisation, The Ocean Cleanup, has already found the solutions needed. They are called the Interceptors. There are multiple different types of designs for the interceptor, nonetheless, the Interceptor Original is the most technologically advanced. It uses a conveyor belt to carry trash from any river sources and outlets, into a bin where it is taken to shore to be recycled. 80% of river plastic comes from only 1000 rivers in the world ("Intercepting trash"). And the Ocean Cleanup aims to tackle them. So far they have totally removed 40million kg of trash from the rivers in the world ("Intercepting trash"). These numbers are definitely better for the environment, though we need more organizations like this willing to take action. Like how you are regulating greenhouse gases in order to make a change, if organizations start to take more responsibility, it would really help lift the burden that the earth we have abandoned has to hold. 

Plastics have lots of negative effects on ecosystems and environments, but it is not reasonable either to completely stop the production of plastic. Plastic is a necessity we depend on, and without it, most of the appliances we depend upon won't be there. Only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced is recycled globally (United Nations Development Program).  However, if we can change the way we consume one-time use plastics, it could do better for the world. The conundrum we have to face is what to do with the huge amounts of leftover plastic from the amount we produce. There are lots of plastics that cannot be recycled, for example Polypropylene. Polypropylene is a plastic that is commonly used in Shampoo Bottles and yogurt tabs can only be recycled 2-3 times before its quality sees a significant decrease. Additionally, Polypropylene is difficult to recycle due to its costs, resulting in it ending up in landfills (“Which Plastic”).  It would benefit us greatly if we reduce our over increasing usage of plastics and plastics that can't be recycled.

Globally, the world needs to take responsibility. It would be great if you could watch my advocacy presentation in  the international School Manila from the timings 9:00 to 12:00 on June the first. It would be great to see you there. The faster we take our stand, the better for the marine environments we depend upon. Let's take action and commit to a resolution.