This is one of the most terrible things in the ocean, more serious than a plastic straw

The good news is that people are aware of the harmful effects of plastic straws. But the bad news is that there is another kind of garbage that is not being considered by anyone.

In the context of millions of tons of plastic garbage coming out of the ocean every year, luckily, people seem to have formed consciousness. It can be seen that through many environmental protection movements, the response is very enthusiastic, especially the plastic garbage collection movements on the beach in many countries around the world.

One of the most popular types of plastic garbage is said to be plastic straws . Many countries now limit the use of plastic straws, instead of more natural-fit options such as bamboo straws, stainless steel straws, etc. that can be used again and again.

What a good news. But sharing this with you, the plastic straws only make up about . 0.02% of the garbage is floating outside the ocean only. Instead, we have a much more serious waste than that, both in quantity and the level of interest in public opinion. That's what the picture below is.

The drug filter is one of the leading human ocean poisoning agents.

What we are talking about is the cigarette filter .

According to a recent report by NBC News, the drug filter is one of the leading human ocean poisoning agents . And the most important thing is that most countries do not have regulations on this type of garbage.

Each year, an estimated 5.6 trillion cigarettes are consumed around the world, that is, many filters are disposed of, and two-thirds of them are thrown irresponsibly.

Cigarette filters are made of cellulose acetate - compounds that take decades to decompose. And since 1986, cigarette filters have been one of the most commonly found rubbish on beaches, with a total of 60 million filters in 32 years.

Thomas Novotny, a professor of public health at the University of San Diego (California, USA), said the cigarette filter was invented in the mid-1900s to reduce harm to smokers, but unfortunately What effect. For now, those filters have become a huge problem with the environment in the world.

In his research in 2011, Professor Novotny found that it is extremely difficult to prevent smokers from throwing cigarette clippings. The reason given is because they are too small, leading to the "throwing and not affecting" mentality . The indiscriminate dumping campaigns cannot succeed either.

Currently, Novotny says there are many organizations around the world who are aware of the harmful effects of cigarette filters, and set up a number of campaigns in hopes of raising people's awareness.

"Cigarette filters have polluted the beach, parks and our community for too long. It's time to act" - citing the appeal on the official website of Cigarette Butt Pollution Project.

Many countries are also trying to prevent this problem. In the United States, many states are passing laws prohibiting the removal of filters, or raising cigarette prices for additional funds for cleaning staff.