Reflection

Reflection

I decided to research ocean oil pollution and what we, as stewards of the Earth, can do about it. This problem resounds with me because this past April, a community in my home state of Illinois was affected by a diesel spill. Seeing the negative effects that this relatively small oil spill had on a community, I needed to know more about the oil that was put into our world’s waters. After just seeing a few statistics, I was blown away. Humans put over 706 million gallons of oil into oceans in one year. This is enough oil to contaminate the water of over 36 billion water towers. One-fourth of this oil comes from households improperly disposing of oil, a fact which both startled me and made me want to take action. After looking into the problem, I found a small organization, Shreveport Green, dedicated to collecting hazardous waste in their community. If this idea was spread throughout the United States, we would see a definite decrease in oil pollution. In a similar fashion, my video (created through the animation software, GoAnimate) details the effects of routine maintenance of ships, air pollution, and oil spills on oil pollution. It introduces solutions to these problems, and depicts connections that may not be apparent at first glance (eg. hydrocarbons in the air). I sincerely hope that this video inspires civilians to think about oil pollution as something that they have the power to change and provides them with a message to share.