Drowning In Plastic
Author's Note:
My story was one of 6,210 story entries submitted to the National Geographic global "Planet or Plastic?" writing contest to raise awareness of the global plastic crisis. The campaign generated 75K campaign pledges. The story was originally published on Wattpad on October 30, 2021, and is reposted here. Minor edits have been made for this version.
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“Just one word... Plastics.”
I still remember those words from the Oscar-winning 1967 movie, The Graduate. Dustin Hoffman played the main character, Benjamin Braddock, who is returning home to Los Angeles after graduating from college in the East. His wealthy Southern California suburbanite parents have prepared a homecoming party for the graduate. During the party, Ben receives some advice from Mr. McGuire, in one of the most memorable lines in film history:
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you — just one word.
Ben: Yes, sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Ben: Yes, I am.
Mr. McGuire: Plastics.
Ben: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Ben: Yes, I will.
Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That’s a deal.
For the next 50 years, history seemingly proved Mr. McGuire’s advice to be spot on. “There’s a great future in plastics.” Now we’re discovering that our future is being sacrificed on the altar of convenience when it comes to plastics. The only sure “future in plastics” is the future of the plastic itself—estimates for the lifespan of plastic range from 450 years to forever.
Am I being too dramatic? Consider the 8-minute YouTube video titled, "Sea Turtle with Straw up its Nostril - "NO" TO SINGLE-USE PLASTIC," (with over 116 million views) showing a turtle bleeding from its nose as biologists try to extract a four-inch-long plastic straw from its nostril.
Were you able to watch the whole eight minutes and six seconds? It's heartbreaking!
But more than turtles are impacted. Mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians worldwide are increasingly eating plastic, thinking that it's food, even feeding it to their young. But plastic isn't food, which leaves these creatures facing chronic, unrelenting hunger.
Another example of the adverse impact plastic pollution is having on our planet concerns "ghost fishing," which is what fishing gear does when it has been lost, dumped, or abandoned. Much of this "ghost gear," especially nets, is made of plastic. These discarded nets still catch fish. The caught fish die, which attracts other scavengers, which get caught in the same net, and this vicious cycle continues.
What's mentioned above is just the tip of the iceberg. The world is drowning in plastic pollution, which is killing mammals, birds, fish, reptiles, and amphibians. We could be next.
Interestingly, the opening and closing song in the movie The Graduate is “The Sound of Silence” by Simon & Garfunkel. Consider this line from the song: "Fools said I you do not know, silence like a cancer grows …" Let’s not let our silence contribute to the problem. Single-use plastic pollution is like a cancer, growing and killing every day.
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