A conversation ensues between a grandmother and her son, and with it a dark truth is revealed.
Every minute, enough plastic to fill an entire garbage truck is disposed into the ocean, as per EcoWatch, and this plastic accounts for 60-90% of ocean po...
"Grandma, Grandma!" I hear him yell. His voice is sweet, childish, lively. As I put down my book, I can't help but smile.
I watch him rush down the stairs. He misses a step and almost trips over, but continues running down the steps with the same enthusiasm.
"Careful now, George!" I chuckle, "Here for your daily bedtime story, huh?"
"Yep." He replies. He bounces onto the same couch as me, tugs on my blanket, and snuggles up close to me. I wrap my arms around him. Once, I too was his age.
"Come on, Grandma,tell me a story! It's eight o'clock, I just can't wait."
"George." I say softly, "Patience is important." He huffs a bit, and pouts his lips.
Today I'm telling him about the ocean and why I had to stop diving. I shudder at the thought he may be too young for such a story, but with both old age and terminal cancer lurking behind me, I have no choice but to speak.
"Seventy years back from now, I was the same age as you dear, and I loved to dive as much as you love your little X-box games."
"They're not X-box games Grandma," George Interrupts, "They're called --"
"You know what I mean George." I laugh. "I used to dive, like the folks you see on TV these days. And boy was it fun. I would see the creatures you see at the marine conservatory every day after school. Diving was my sport"
"You used to dive in those brown oceans, and see the fish?"
"Every single day." I said. Nostalgia swept over me like a wave. "Anyway, one day some guys in fancy clothing ran a test on the water, and they found too many tiny, invisible pieces of plastic, microplastics, in the ocean. They told me I couldn't dive again, that it was too dangerous, and they closed the beach."
"You were lucky though, Grandma, to even have touched the ocean." George says, frowning. I hug him tighter.
"I know I was lucky to have been in the ocean so many times, but you're lucky to have that X-box resembling device, and if I took that from you, you'd be sad."
George doesn't reply. I don't think he quite understands what I want to say.
"Anyway, I knew long before that they would soon shut down the ocean. I had seen horrible things. I'll show you." I rummage through the drawers of the table in front of me. "Where are those photos? Ah, here."
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George ignores me. "Will I ever be able to go into the ocean?"
I don't reply, but I know the answer: Only in the world of our dreams...
Is this the future we plan on building? #PlanetOrPlastic
