Dear Next President,

The topic of marine pollution has been hidden and avoided for too long. According to the Ocean Health Index, more than 75% of the ocean is polluted with plastic, which is constantly piling up and creating an awful environment for the ocean animals. People get so consumed with their own life and how they’re going to solve their problems that they forget to consider the voiceless. Oceans make up 70% of the earth and house creatures we don’t even know exist. Yet we are killing them off by leaving our trash in their home. Polluting the sea is something that clearly needs to be addressed.

Because it does not affect us directly, people do not care where their trash goes. After all, it’s just trash right? But do they ever stop to think of the impacts that their actions have on the rest of the world? Humans dump nearly 7 million tons of non-biodegradable garbage in the sea every year, killing the environment and encouraging piles of garbage in staggering sizes to build up. These piles, created by colliding ocean currents, shield the ocean underneath it from sunlight, which is necessary for sea forests and temperature regulation. These piles also have purpose in trapping and killing fish and other sea animals as the plastic strangles their neck.

Over 1 million birds, 100,000 sea mammals, and countless fish are killed by marine pollution each year. Multiplied by the decades that trash has been on the earth, the numbers are unbelievable. Even if you don’t necessarily care for the ocean, getting rid of our trash is still an issue that needs to be dealt with. What happens when the ocean fills up? This problem is avoided and people just continue living in the mindset that it won’t happen in our lifetime so it doesn’t matter. Meanwhile, too many species of fish are losing their lifetime and, therefore, will not recreate future generations of that species. Someday, life in the ocean will cease to exist because of our laziness and inability to not address the situation that we are currently in.

Previous presidents have done nothing about this as the trash continues to pile up. I am suggesting that you be the first to address this issue. By doing so, your reputation will benefit and you will go down in history as saving the earth. As candidate and future president, it is up to you to save the 70% of the earth that most consider their dumping grounds.