Retired Woman in Russia Decorated Her House

There is no denying that plastic pollution is one of the biggest problems of our generation.

On a global scale, we produce 300 million tons of plastic each year and 78 percent is never recycled. Unfortunately, that plastic is sent to landfills, where it eventually ends up in the planet’s oceans and waterways.

Unfortunately, wherever plastic is, it’s there forever. In the oceans, it can break down into tiny particles. not visible to the naked eye, known as microplastics — and there are actually deep regions of the ocean that serve as a reservoir for this stuff. Sadly, over 700 marine species are in danger of extinction due to the threats plastic poses to them.

Our plastic problem is so bad,  many scientists believe that we have entered a new geological era, called the Anthropocene, characterized by the permanent mark humans have left on the face of the planet. In other words, future anthropologists will have no shortage of plastic “fossils” to help figure out the way we lived because unlike materials made from earth or stone, plastic is much less likely to disintegrate. We understand that this is a lot to digest, but not all humans are plastic-chucking scourges upon the planet. Some, like Olga Kostina, have taken plastic trash and created something that future anthropologists would be delighted to discover.

http://www.onegreenplanet.org/news/retired-woman-in-russia-decorated-house-with-recycled-bottle-caps/?utm_source=Green+Monster+Mailing+List&utm_campaign=4e22c83368-NEWSLETTER_EMAIL_CAMPAIGN&utm_medium=email&utm_term=0_bbf62ddf34-4e22c83368-106919241