These Heartbreaking Photos Will Give You A Reason To Recycle
We live in a wasteful society. Don’t try and deny it, you know it’s true. Whether you want to believe it or not — our wastefulness directly effects our environment and EVERYONE in it. We’ve rounded up some of the most shocking examples of the direct effects of pollution on wildlife and people that we could find, in the hopes that maybe we can all begin to take the steps towards a cleaner planet. After all, it is the only one we’ve got…
Pollution Is A Real Issue
Over the last decade humans have produced 10 times as much plastic as we have in the last century, and each year we throw away enough of the material to circle the earth 4 times. Americans alone throw away approximately 35 billion water bottles a year, all of which are still in existence in some form or another as plastic takes anywhere from 500-1000 years to disintegrate. The moral of this story? We use way too much plastic and that needs to change, or we (and the environment) could be faced with some serious consequences.
A Sea Of Trash
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is exactly what it sounds like: a giant floating patch of trash off the coast of California. How giant is this garbage patch, you ask? Twice the size of Texas.
Cause Of Death: Obvious
This albatross ingested so much garbage, most likely via the fish he was eating, that his body simply couldn’t get rid of it, eventually leading to his death. Plastic makes up approximately 90% of the trash in the world’s oceans, oceans that contain approximately 5 trillion pieces of garbage in total.
These Heartbreaking Photos Will Give You A Reason To Recycle
A child stands next to an actual river of trash in the Philippines.
Waist Trainer
While waist trainers may be all the rage among human women, the hourglass shape is not ideal for tortoises. Cut up your plastic six-pack rings, people, this is unacceptable.
Corseted Tortoise
Seriously, cut up your plastic rings before tossing them in the can!
Mile High Trash
Even Mount Everest needs a cleanup crew to scour it’s peak, the amount of waste left behind by climbers is appalling.
Help! I’m Stuck!
When you don’t have thumbs to help out, it’s hard to get out of a sticky situation. About one million sea birds and 100,000 sea mammals are killed annually because of garbage in the ocean.
Stork Poncho
Unfortunately this is not the latest trend in feathered fashion… Approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used every year across the world, thats about 1 million every hour.
Say NO To Bags!
Why not opt for a reusable bag next time you head to the grocery store? You can help save the environment and look fashionable all at once!
Trash, trash everywhere…
Clean up crews have quite a feat trying to keep up with all the waste humans dump into waterways.
Who Wants To Go For A Swim?
Fish Graveyard
If fish can’t even swim in Brazil’s polluted waters, how are the Olympics going to be held in Rio’s waterways?
Wading Through Waste
Would you want to walk through this every time you had to find your family dinner?
No Swimming
A boy swims through trash-filled waters in the Philippines, one of the most polluted nations in the world. Just imagine if all of that garbage had been recycled…
Check Out These Swells, Brah!
Even if you don’t give a fig for wildlife, have some compassion for the surfers. This is disgusting!
Don’t Drink The Water
Here in the U.S. we tend to forget how fortunate we are to have running and DRINKABLE water.
Seriously, don’t drink it.
Mining has contaminated one of southeast China’s biggest water sources, killing off fish and other wildlife.
When Rivers Run Red
A spill from two illegal dye workshops turned this Chinese river into an apocalyptic nightmare, and an extremely toxic one at that. It is EXTREMELY important to dispose of your waste properly and safely, you never know who it might effect.
Out Of A Horror Film…
