I am not a climate change denier, I do not argue that climate change is not an important issue that needs to be addressed. This is of course an important issue and must not be neglected, however, I believe a more pressing issue is placing our planet in peril, that is plastic pollution.

For me, I believe plastic rubbish pollution of our oceans is a more pressing issue than climate change. The invention of plastic would have to be the worst invention ever, plastic wrapping and packaging comes in almost every item sold. Only a generation back, we had paper grocery bags to bring our groceries home, milk was delivered to our doors in bottles, the bottles were washed out at home, left out on the doorstep, then collected a few days later where they were sanitised and reused.

Now every milk container is plastic or cardboard that goes into landfill, now it is sent to recycling but it is not that easy. Firstly recycling rates are way too low, you still see plastic containers on the side of the road or dumped somewhere. Secondly, plastic recycling is not that cheap, it was previously sent to China or some other developing nation where wages are low with little to no environmental regulations or are enforced.

Even then, I am describing developed nations where rubbish collection is a requirement and corruption is low. Many of these developing nations redirect funds to individual bank accounts, the population have no reliable rubbish collection service and therefore just dump their rubbish on the street or into the waterways. For them, the waterway is the best option as the rains take the rubbish away.

Naturally, this plastic rubbish ends up somewhere and it happens to be in the oceans. The third world is polluting the earth, the corruption that hinders these countries’ development is indirectly affecting our quality of life and the health of the world. Plastic is throughout the ocean, plastic rubbish has now been found in the Mariana Trench, the deepest section of the ocean. It is ingested by marine animals and is killing our oceans.

So what do we need to do? This must be tackled by governments, they require legalisation, the ban of single use plastics is a positive step but this needs to go further. Plastic packaging is a problem, recycling initiatives are required, the refund for bottles and plastic is a start, this makes it viable for kids and sporting/social clubs to collect containers for recycling. Governments need to create an environment that is conducive for investment, they require tax breaks, accelerated depreciation and financial incentives to create technologies to tackle pollution and finally fund public service education initiatives.