Water Pollution

• Sasha Valosin, Grade 6
• Short Story
• 2017

Rubbish, it’s not a pretty picture. Australia's beaches are being overtaken by hundreds of pieces of rubbish every single day. It's not only heavily-used beaches which are affected. A 1991 survey of 26 remote islands found “5656 items of rubbish. Among the plastic, glass and metal debris were 725 glass bottles, 1066 plastic fragments, 247 aluminium cans and plastic cups, 919 thongs and one bar fridge”. An estimate has been made that around 100 000 marine mammals and turtles are killed by the plastic every year, all across the globe. Fishing line, nets and rope trap and strangle sea animals such as dolphins and turtles and even sharks every day. A dead pygmy sperm whale found on a New South Wales beach had a plug of plastic bags in its gut. Presumably they were mistaken for squid, the pygmy sperm whale’s main food, so sad. Did you know that plastic bags on the ocean floor takes 10 - 20 years to decompose. Plastic bottles take much longer approximately 450 years - 1000 years. That means one piece of rubbish can kill more than one animal. Two birds with one stone, not good. Have you ever wondered how you can prevent water pollution? Well here are 10 things that you can do in your home to prevent water pollution.
1) Do not pour fat, oil or grease down the sink.
2) Do not dispose of household cleaning items down the sink or toilet.
3) Do not flush pills, liquid medicine, powdered medicine or drugs down the toilet.
4) Avoid using the toilet as a waste paper basket, most tissues, wrappers, dust cloths and other paper goods should be properly discarded in a wastebasket.
5) Avoid using garbage disposal. Keep solid wastes solid, and make a compost bin for vegetable scraps.
6) Instal a water efficient toilet.
7) Run the dishwasher and clothes washer only when you have a full load.
8) Use the minimum amount of detergent and/or bleach when washing your clothes or dishes.
9) Minimise the use of pesticides, herbicides and fertilisers.
10) Use environmentally safe products.
Our planet is very important and so are the things that live on it, as the leaders of this planet we are responsible for caring for it and the things on it.

So help stop water pollution today and save our planet!