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Alyssa Ermmarino

Mrs. Harrell

English 2 Honors

February 26, 2018

Beach Pollution

Put yourself in the shoes, or should I say fins, of an ocean animal, living in a polluted

environment. Surrounded by murky, chemical filled water, swimming past heaps of trash

floating on top of the ocean waves, you must live. This used to be your home, you used to swim

atop the beautiful blue waves, and now, this disgusting atrocity is so foreign to you. You begin to

get sick, or even worse, slowly starve because your feeble body cannot digest food with a plastic

bag lodged in your throat. Beach pollution is a worldwide issue that affects not only ocean life

but also humans, just like you and me. Through means of beach sweeps, community

involvement, and educating large corporations about the effects of their actions, you can help to

ultimately eliminate all forms of beach pollution.

The first step to combating beach pollution is to organize means of cleaning up the beach,

such as beach sweeps. This is a great way to start gaining popularity around the situation,

because it involves your local community and spreads a sense of urgency towards the situation.

Beach sweeps are incredibly effective. 80% of pollution begins on land, and preventing garbage

left on the beach from being swept into the ocean or buried into the sand is an extremely

important step to preventing beach pollution altogether (US Department of Commerce).

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Organizing beach sweeps are simple and effective, take very little time to complete, and draw

attention to ways to help beach pollution.

One person cannot stop pollution all by themselves; therefore, getting an entire

community involved has a much greater impact. While a beach sweep may involve a small

group of people, doing things such as spreading signs that encourage recycling, performing

public speeches on the importance of proper beach care, and educating children and even adults

on how their actions impact ocean life are all excellent ways to get your community involved in

preventing beach pollution. Beaches are often hotspots for tourists, so they unfortunately often

fall victim to the carelessness of visitors because they believe that how they treat an area away

from home will not affect them later in life. This is another reason why it is important to get your

community involved in preventing beach pollution; enforcing proper beach rules on visitors who

tend to leave things such as cigarette filters, plastic bags, cans, and styrofoam cups plays a big

part in preventing pollution of the world’s oceans. Lastly, pollution on beaches not only harms

animals, but also the community of people around it. According to WWF Global, “Evidence is

mounting that a number of man-made chemicals can cause serious health problems - including

cancer, damage to the immune system, behavioural problems, and reduced fertility” (“Marine

Problems: Pollution”).

The most harmful source of ocean pollution comes from large corporations who directly

affect ocean life through sewage disposal, the dumping of hazardous chemicals, and causing oil

spills. Several large companies operate through cargo ships and other marine vehicles, which are

potentially extremely harmful to the ocean environment. Almost every marine organism, from

the tiniest plankton to whales and polar bears, is contaminated with man-made chemicals; 80%

of urban sewage discharged into the Mediterranean Sea is untreated (“Marine Problems:
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Pollution”). Even some smaller business owners who rely on the health of ocean life through

fishing seem to remain careless, leaving waste such as fishing gear. The first step to putting a

halt to this source of pollution is educating these corporations and workers on how harmful their

actions are on marine life. Unfortunately, these companies often seem to not care about the

negative effects of their actions; it is important to enforce rules and regulations onto those who

have, although maybe not intentional, harmful effects on our environment. Informing companies

on beach pollution can be done through public service announcements, letters, speeches, and

maybe even boycotts and protests. These methods are only effective in large numbers, so it is

important to not only inform these companies of their actions, but also your community so that

you can work together to bring an end to beach pollution through the careless actions of large

businesses .

Although beach pollution awareness is a very widespread idea, there are many who

believe that people and their communities should not waste their time educating others about

beach pollution and participating in beach sweeps. What many do not know, is that if you dump

trash into the ocean, it will affect you, whether it is directly or indirectly. Millions of pound of

trash, toxic waste, and oil end up in the ocean every year. These hazardous products are floating

around right next to some of the foods you plan on having for dinner tonight. Also, because of

trash dumping, things such as needles and syringes can end up stuck in you or your child’s foot

when you plan on taking a leisurely stroll on the beach. Lastly, if you enjoy knowing the

beautiful animals that you see in the aquariums still roam the ocean, you may want to take action

now. Hundreds of thousands of marine life die each year from beach pollution, from things like

plastic bags to balloons. Altogether, changing one’s mind to help clean up the ocean not only

affects how marine animals lives go, but also yours.

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Although many believe that beach pollution awareness is ineffective and a waste of time,

by gaining the attention of individuals, their communities, and finally large corporations, you can

help to change the world. Just imagine, millions of people banded together to help save our

oceans. To help save the graceful, beautiful sea turtles, fish, sharks, and whales that swim among

our ocean waves. To help save the humans affected by cancer due to chemicals dumped into our

seas. To help your future generations to enjoy the beaches and ocean like you and me can today.

It is not just you and me. It is all of us, everyone on our bright Earth. All of us can change the

world. Every step counts, so make yours now, before it is too late. Before we all become the sea

turtles with bags in our throats, helpless and discouraged.

Works Cited

“Marine problems: Pollution.” WWF, WWF - World Wide Fund For Nature,
wwf.panda.org/about-our-earth/blue-planet/problems/pollution.
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“Sources of Beach Pollution.” EPA, Environmental Protection Agency, 28 Feb. 2017,

www.epa.gov/beach-tech/sources-beach-pollution.

US Department of Commerce, National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. “What is the

biggest source of pollution in the ocean?” NOAA's National Ocean Service, 8 Oct. 2008,
oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/pollution.html.