A wave of plastic washes up on shores of Dominican Republic beach

"Plastic is a design failure and there is no circular economy that can fix this."

1126
SOURCENationofChange

After a storm washed in a “dense garbage carpet” on the shores of Montesinos Beach in the Dominican Republic capital last week, many are calling this the new normal. Plastic beverage bottles and take away containers were just a few examples of the marine debris, which was captured on video by the environmental nonprofit organization, Parley for the Oceans.

Together with 500 public workers, the Santo Domingo government and the local navy and army, the organization collected 30 tons of plastic over a three day period, according to Parley for the Oceans. Six tons of the “recovered plastic will be transformed into a material used to create products,” EcoWatch reported.

“Plastic is a design failure and there is no circular economy that can fix this,” Cyrill Gutsch, founder of Parley for the Oceans, said. “It’s really the material itself, and we don’t believe this material can ever be contained.”

According to a 2015 study published in Science, there is more than 8 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans every year.

“Even if you recycle [plastic] and even if you use it in the best possible way, it always leaches chemicals,” Gutsch said. “And that’s what you don’t see in this video, all these toxic liquids that come with it.”

FALL FUNDRAISER

If you liked this article, please donate $5 to keep NationofChange online through November.

SHARE
Previous articleWe’re living a constitutional crisis
Next articleICE: The making of an American Gestapo
Ashley is an editor, social media content manager and writer at NationofChange. Before joining NoC, she was a features reporter at The Daily Breeze – a local newspaper in Southern California – writing a variety of stories on current topics including politics, the economy, human rights, the environment and the arts. Ashley is a transplant from the East Coast calling Los Angeles home.

COMMENTS