I am a 16-year-old girl that lives near Kealakekua by Captain Cook monument, and I attend West Hawaii Explorations Academy (WHEA).
Recently, on Aug. 6, my school and I took a trip down to Wawaloli tide pools for a beach cleanup. We spent a good 45 minutes to an hour down there collecting trash along the shoreline, beach, roads edge, and parking lots. The main trash items we collected in my advisory was cigarettes, wrappers, and bottle caps. We collected 295 cigarettes near benches, trash cans, and buried under rocks by the parking lots. There were 126 wrappers from candy and gum, or food plastic. Around 115 bottle caps, or beer caps were found everywhere on the beach.
Marine debris is the plastic that never makes it to recycling. And that’s almost every piece of trash or plastic that is used by humans. Marine debris collects the most at Kamilo Beach, which is located near the southern point of this island and acts like a rake through the Great Pacific Garbage patch. Debris from foreign countries that’s degraded for months in the ocean or local store items like bags or bottles can be found throughout any marine trash. Single-use plastic is the worst, it’s a one use plastic that gets discharged right away. Other plastics get used at least two more times before being thrown out. The ban for single-use plastics has spread through countries, governments, and nations, it’s the one thing humans are doing right for this plastic crisis.
Biodegradable substitutes have been the most popular and effective solution that’s easy for anyone. Bamboo, cardboard, metal, and glass containers or utensils are found in grocery stores or shopping centers, with easy access. Another harder solution is banning plastic completely from our lives. This is hard to do because people rely so much on plastic items it’s gonna be hard to get rid of. Also plastic stays cheaper than other healthier substitutes, unfortunately.
I can personally make my family aware of what plastic can do to us, animals, and the environment. Stopping my plastic usage completely is something I can easily do, not using plastic straws at restaurants, turning down plastic bags when offered, and buying biodegradable trash bags, utensils, pencils, clothing, and food containers. This is my part in stopping plastic pollution.
Jayden Hall is a student at WHEA and a resident of Kealakekua.