If you are a little bit of a skeptic, you may be wondering if all the news about our discarded plastic bottles, bags, and cups floating in the ocean are really mirrored in reality. The experience of record-breaking endurance swimmer Lewis Pugh should put an end to those suspicions. During his 49-day swim of the English Channel, Pugh saw only a few fish, but he did find that every beach he swam by was full of plastic debris washed up by the waves. The swimmer’s story proves once again that just because we cannot see the waste we produce on a daily basis does not mean it disappears!
如果你有一点怀疑，你可能会想，关于我们丢弃的塑料瓶、塑料袋和杯子漂浮在海洋中的所有新闻，是否真的反映了现实。打破纪录的耐力游泳运动员刘易斯·皮尤的经历应该会打消这些疑虑。在他49天的英吉利海峡之旅中，他只看到了几条鱼，但他确实发现他游过的每一个海滩都装满了被海浪冲上来的塑料碎片。游泳者的故事再次证明了这一点
Pugh’s 560-km (348-mile) swim from Land’s End in Cornwall to Dover in Kent began on July 12th and was completed on August 29th, The Telegraph reports. The swim was part of Pugh’s campaign, The Long Swim, which is aimed at raising awareness about the current conditions of the oceans, especially the threats of climate change, over-fishing, and plastic pollution and their effects on the U.K.’s coastal waters. Pugh is also an environmental campaigner and UN Patron of the Oceans. The 48-year-old swimmer had just up to four hours of sleep a day and swam between six and 12 miles every 24 hours during the undertaking.
Pugh从康沃尔郡的Land 's End游泳到肯特郡的Dover，全程560公里(348英里)，从7月12日开始，8月29日结束。据《每日电讯报》报道，这次游泳是Pugh“长泳”运动的一部分，该运动旨在提高人们对海洋现状的认识，特别是气候变化、过度捕捞和塑料污染的威胁及其对英国的影响沿海水域。这位48岁的游泳运动员每天只睡4个小时，
Upon arriving at Shakespeare Beach, the swimmer revealed that he had encountered plastic trash on every beach he saw from Land’s End to Dover. The deeply alarming fish to debris ratio is a reminder of researchers’ estimate that there will be more pieces of plastic than fish in the oceans by 2050.
到达莎士比亚海滩后，这位游泳者透露，他在从陆地到多佛的每一个海滩上都遇到过塑料垃圾。这一惊人的鱼与碎片比率提醒我们，研究人员的估计到2050年海洋中的塑料碎片将超过鱼类。
“The fish have been replaced with plastic. Those fish that are left are eating microplastics. Once they enter the food chain, we eat them too. Plastic is slowly killing us all,” Pugh said. “The public knows, they care deeply — yet successive government have not only failed to act but have made promises that they have failed to keep. It’s up to us to now hold them to account.”
鱼已经被塑料代替了。剩下的鱼正在吃塑料微粒。一旦它们进入食物链，我们也会吃掉它们。塑料正在慢慢地杀死我们所有人。普说。公众知道，他们非常关心--然而，历届政府不仅没有采取行动，而且做出了承诺他们没能保持。现在由我们来对他们负责
Finishing the swim, Pugh was greeted on the beach by Environment Secretary Michael Gove. The swimmer emphasized, “now the real work actually begins” and called on the secretary and other countries to commit to caring for the oceans. He also urged Gove to attend the upcoming G7 Summit to allow Britain to lead the charge in protecting the oceans. Pugh wants at least 30 percent of the world’s oceans to be protected by 2030. Currently, only around four percent is protected.
游完泳后，普在海滩上受到了环境部长迈克尔·戈夫的欢迎。游泳者强调说:“现在真正的工作真正开始了。”并呼吁国务卿和其他国家致力于保护海洋。他还敦促戈夫参加即将举行的七国集团峰会，让英国领导保护海洋的工作。普希望到2030年至少有30%的世界海洋得到保护。
“I think Lewis is amazing, I think he is a modern day hero. I think everything that he has done is just so inspirational,” Gove said. “The Long Swim has really brought to everyone’s attention how important our seas are and how important it is for all of us to do our bit to protect them, to restore them to health and to make sure this amazing resource is there for future generations.”
“我认为刘易斯很了不起，我认为他是现代的英雄。我认为他所做的一切都是如此鼓舞人心。”长时间的游泳确实引起了每个人的注意，我们的海洋是多么重要，我们所有人都应该尽自己的一份力量保护它们，恢复它们的健康，并确保这惊人的资源是留给后代的。
Our disposable plastic waste makes up a huge percent of the plastic that enters the environment. Recycling is an important part of the battle with plastic pollution, but it will not win it on its own – reducing our use of plastics is one of the easiest ways we can help the planet. If you want to know how to start, check out One Green Planet’s #CrushPlastic campaign!
Image source: Lewis Pugh/Facebook
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