The EU has backed a progressive ban on single-use plastics like straws, forks, and cotton buds. While this is a great move towards protecting ocean life, it doesn’t tackle the real problem.

So, where should our attention really be? A shocking 46% of plastic in the so-called “Great Pacific garbage patch“, a garbage mass the size of France that floats our oceans, can be attributed to fishing nets alone.

According to World Animal Protection, 640,000 tons of gear end up polluting our oceans each year. Along with destroying vital ecosystems, these present a deadly trap for aquatic life of all sizes.

And of course, ocean life’s greatest killer is the animal agriculture industry, reportedly killing roughly 1 trillion to 2.8 trillion fish a year, both in the wild and aquafarms for direct consumption as well as to be turned into pellets and fed to other imprisoned animals trapped behind bars or in cesspools awaiting their deaths.

While ditching single-use plastic is doubtlessly a progressive move to be celebrated, if you really want to save the ocean, choose to live a vegan life.

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