Together We Save the Planet #PlanetOrPlastic

Together We Save the Planet

A stinging spray of beach water smacked onto my back. Laughter drifted from the shore as my cousins relished in my discomfort, always poking fun at the odd one out.

That was who I considered myself to be, a part of me that was so innate that nothing could take it out. A knife in a drawer of spoons. Never quite fitting in, but never taken out either.

I bent down again, determined to pick up as many pieces of plastics as possible. Just a few days ago, in school, I had learned of the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. I couldn't stomach the thought of something like that in the ocean, so I researched it some more. What I found, was even more disturbing. Eight million metric tons of plastics in the short span of a year, and by 2050, plastics would outnumber the marine life. 

I made to pick up a particularly bright, shiny piece of plastic. Or so I thought. As soon as I touched it, the world swirled around me, turning black and white all at once.

Soon, everything turned to normal. But everything felt wrong as well. What had been a glittering, clean ocean just a few seconds ago, suddenly became filled with plastics.

"Hey, I'm Lucas, and this is Elise. You from 'round here?" a boy came up to me, dragging another girl in tow.

"Uh.. yeah... who are you?" I looked around, "And where did everyone go?"

"Well, we were here the whole time. I think the better question is how did you get here? You weren't here just a second ago," Elise said.

"Is this... Salem Beach?" I asked.

"Yeah, obviously," James said in a sardonic voice.

My eyes narrowed. "What year is it?"

The girl looked at me with worry and suspicion. "Are you okay? It's the year 2060."

Everything clicked into place. Of course. In the year 2018, there already floating islands of plastics in the ocean. The year 2060 could only be much, much worse.

"We were just about to check our ROV, do you want to help?" James asked.

"Okaaay." I dragged out the words.

They led me into a shed and turned on the lights. I felt like I was in Justice League when Barry Allen turns on the lights to reveal a high-tech, awesome man-cave. 

In the center of the mess, was a machine. 

"It's for detecting plastics in the ocean. You saw that mess out there, but there's an even bigger problem - microplastics, plastics smaller than 5 millimeters," James said. 

"That is honestly so cool! What are you using to identify plastics?"

"Infrared spectroscopy. We read that recycling companies use it, so we thought that the best course of action was to use that," James said. 

Elise threw a dirty look at him. "We actually read our grandmother's notes, and used her ideas."

And then the world started swirling again. 

But that was okay. 

I had hope for the future.