America and Caribbean
80%
of the total litter in the sea is plastic in the Caribbean waters
2,104
plastic litter items per kilometer compared to 573 worldwide
I would like to save the ocean and help as much as I can. Since I was a kid, I lived near the beach and it is just a place I feel powerfully connected to. It makes me very sad to see the ocean getting polluted now. The ocean used to be so much more that what they are today. Videos of polar bears on melting glaciers break my heart. I want to speak up and raise my voice and make a difference. I want to leave the world making it a better place.
Heitor B. Sabino
Regional Coordinator
A research by USAID found out four main factors for increasing marine debris in the Ocean of America and Caribbean:
01
Population growth,
Urbanization, and
Increasing Tourism
02
Increased production
of plastic products
03
Climate Change
04
Poor governance
Sea turtles are affected by ingestion of plastic debris
Almost all the species of sea turtles, about half of marine mammals, and one-fifth of sea birds are affected by entanglement or ingestion of plastic marine debris.
Marine debris gets accumulated due to
poor waste management
Poor waste management leads to a huge pile of marine debris in the ocean with Latin America and Caribbean reporting the lowest recycle rate at 4.5% across all the regions
Transportation dynamics is affected
Marine debris in the sea accumulates in the tyres and various other external system which affects the transportation. This often leads to drift in the original pathways, collisions etc.
Felicie Hoffman
​
Hello wonderful people! I’m Felicie Hoffmann, a 15 year old who lives in the USA. I’ve always loved the ocean: from its beauty to its resources, the ocean touches every single person on earth in its own special way. I became a climate activist after noticing that this precious planet-more specifically: the ocean- was in peril and that almost no one was doing something about it. Although I’ve also already seen the effects of Climate Change, I am mostly worried about how it will affect my future. I can’t help thinking about the destruction our earth faces.
Adriana Rojas
As a young girl living in Costa Rica with both Caribbean and Pacific coasts, I have always had a special feeling towards the ocean. A few years ago, I started swimming open water, and the more beaches I visited, the more trash I found floating in the water. The ocean pollution by trash has started many years ago but it has taken some time to make it visible for many of us. The worst of all is it only seems to intensify.
Tiffany Gao
Having deep roots and heartfelt connections with the ocean through my family and my community, I was heartbroken when I first saw a plastic bottle float across my beautiful ocean scenery as a young kid. My family and I always regarded the ocean as a second home, a calming natural presence in a chaotic world. As I began to constantly learn more by falling down many internet rabbit holes about plastic pollution and finding countless cigarette butts during beach cleanups, I felt even more motivated to help, seeking ways through various environmental organizations, such as YOUNGO's Ocean's Voice.
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