Once upon a time, I was a clean, beautiful body of water. Surreal, fresh, full of life, cool and home to children with scales, skin, feathers, and shells. Many people enjoyed my water, at the banks they bathed, washed and even took from me. For their pleasures, I ran through the savannah, around trees, and turns that kept you on your feet. They used me for travel, for swimming, and even took some of my children for food. The satisfied look on their face after having a taste of my deliciousness told me I had done my job well. 
However, now I am sad, people stop coming to me because you did not keep me clean! You kept throwing things in me, you treated me like nobody.
My water got dirty; no one took care of me. I continued to shout for help, I am crucial to life, yet you just add trash to me. Plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic cups, plastic straws are just a few of what you put inside of me. No one wants to drink from me; I carry bacteria and many diseases.
All this plastic is having a deadly effect on all my children, thousands of sea birds and sea turtles are killed after ingesting the plastic you have thrown into me, they get tangled and are forced to hurt themselves. I have grown old and tired of all this plastic pollution, now I’m depressed I need someone to come rescue me. It is time we stop this crisis, it is time to get a lid on this plastic pollution.
We are surrounded by plastics, the single-use packing discarded by consumers, micro plastics are shed from clothes when they are washed. Plastic production by industry is increasing; this means more toxins being added to my waters and plastic for me to worry about.
You can help; support the ban on single-use plastic items, stop buying a bottle of water every day, get a reusable bottle and fill it up. Reuse and recycle your waste where possible, buy your groceries in bulk, and don’t forget to walk with your reusable bag too. Help keep me clean and preserve the life growing in me.
