In this day and age, environmental issues have been making waves in the media, and people are always spreading awareness because the world, environmentally, is going downhill. But now, the media is so focused on controversial topics on social justice, sports, and of course, Covid, and although these are important topics, environmental issues are important to highlight as well, such as water pollution. Water pollution is a huge environmental issue that should be addressed more often, especially here in Hawaii. 

Water is, perhaps, the most precious resource available on the planet. And even though water comprises more than 70 percent of the planet’s surface, only about 2.5 percent of this water can be labeled as “fresh.” It is crazy to think that 2.5 percent of the water in our world is fresh, which shows how important it is to preserve it. But why is the water polluted?

The water becomes polluted in many ways, through people mostly though. The simple things we do in our everyday life affect the pollution of water, like flushing baby wipes and inorganic material, littering on the beach, and even littering that leads to sewage drains. But what does water pollution lead to? Why is it bad? Water pollution doesn’t just negatively impact marine life, but also human lives as well. Many marine life run into the giant garbage patches or swallow plastic which ends up killing them, and those marine life are food for us, which we end up eating. So theoretically, we are eating small particles of the plastic that we throw out. 

Overall, water pollution is clearly an issue in our world, but how can we help the cause. Well, first, we can start with the little things, like posting awareness, and even watching out for what we flush, put down the drain, and watch out for littering. Also, we can do bigger things for the cause, like participating in beach cleanups or helping an organization that is for water pollution control, or preservation of marine life. We don’t have to necessarily be the biggest impacts on water pollution, but we are the ones who put it into place, so it is our kuleana to take care of the ‘Aina we live in.

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