The Earth is what we all have in common
Wendell Berg
WhooFy
OUR VISION
Vision of the future: a world without plastic
Plastic pollution is the accumulation of plastic objects and particles in the Earth's environment that adversely affects wildlife, wildlife habitat, and humans. Plastics are inexpensive and durable, and as a result levels of plastic production by humans are high. However, the chemical structure of most plastics renders them resistant to many natural processes of degradation and as a result they are slow to degrade. Together, these two factors have led to a high prominence of plastic pollution in the environment.
Plastic pollution can afflict land, waterways and oceans. It is estimated that 1.1 to 8.8 million tonnes of plastic waste enters the ocean from coastal communities each year. Living organisms, particularly marine animals, can be harmed either by mechanical effects, such as entanglement in plastic objects, problems related to ingestion of plastic waste, or through exposure to chemicals within plastics that interfere with their physiology. Effects on humans include disruption of various hormonal mechanisms.On a daily basis, we are bombarded by news that requires action, but doesn’t drive us to act. Consuming colossal numbers about colossal issues, we become fixed points, unmoved by the baying demands on our empathy. Climate change, the ultimate colossal issue, perfectly captures the battle between know and do, think and feel. Our sluggish global response persists even as the evidence becomes incontrovertible and the real human suffering becomes abundant.
But something is shifting, now, with a momentum that’s by-passing all the usual blocking points: breaking domestic habits; declaring itself in the manifestos of our most powerful businesses; redesigning the way we shop...That thing is the narrative being built against single-use plastics.
Plastics are choking our oceans, destroying our marine life and poisoning the food chain on a catastrophic scale - and it can and should be reversed, by us, now. Scientists predict that without urgent action there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by 2050, threatening marine biodiversity and posing a risk to human health.
We all need to take responsibility for driving the irresponsible use of plastics and the resulting environmental damage around the world, which often affects the world's most vulnerable. It is clear that without a strong and coordinated effort and push from policymakers, businesses will continue to use plastic indiscriminately and pollution will intensify.
So the best thing we can do to protect our waterways is to try to keep as much plastic as possible out of the waste stream in the first place. The good news? There are lots of little ways you can make a big impact.
We face our responsibility and want to prove that we can function, run a business and live normally without plastic.
-The WhooFy Team-
