My Ocean #PlanetOrPlastic

MY OCEAN

I remember the days when our Earth was beautiful. 

I used to wake up in the morning and run down to the sea. I loved everything about it. The cool sand squished under my bare feet. The white foam of the waves greeted me with open arms. My favorite thing to do was swim. I used to glide through the water next to colorful fish, sea turtles, and on lucky days, even dolphins. A smile never left my face. My mother had to drag me out of the water just to force some food into me.

Things have changed now.

The ocean isn't what it used to be. 

I first noticed it when I was twelve. How the heaps and mounds of trash would gather on the sand. Little did I know that the jumble of garbage would change my entire life. Instead of swimming amongst my friends in the sea, I spent my days gathering volunteers to clean up my beach. Every time I went to a restaurant, I refused any single-use plastic. I forbade my mother from buying plastic water bottles. "They never biodegrade, Mom, they just sit there forever!" I'd say, and she'd place the pack back on the shelf. 

By the time I was fifteen, I knew that hope was lost. I could no longer keep up with the trash accumulating on my beach, despite the growing number of enthusiastic volunteers. Cans and bottles began to wash up on the shores. Every time I entered the ocean, whether it was for work or play, I exited carrying armfuls of plastic bags, straws, cups, lids, and almost anything you could imagine. 

I was seventeen when my motion to ban single-use plastics was introduced to my local government. It didn't pass. I never realized how lazy the world was until I heard their reasoning: Plastic is just so... convenient. It's easy to produce and easy to distribute. I heard what they truly meant, though. Plastic was cheap and meant nothing had to be cleaned. We chose convenience over our ecosystem. Our lives. Our entire race. Our planet. 

At my age of twenty-one, the human race nears its extinction. Action was taken far too late to save our oceans, and even then, the rules weren't nearly strict enough. Microplastics and toxic waste continue to be pumped into the sea, causing more and more irreversible damage. Marine life was getting caught in and mistakenly consuming plastic, decimating populations. Shore life accidentally introduced plastic into their diets. I'd give anything to have another seagull swoop down and steal one of my French fries, but it's no use. They're all gone.

When I wake in the morning, I no longer see our beautiful Earth. When I run down to the sea, the bottoms of my shoes crunch trash. The white foam no longer waves to me; instead, it is replaced by floating waste. My friends of the sea are dead. I do not smile. 

Our Earth is ruined. 

We killed it.