And waste from unofficial dump sites can impact the entire food chain.

You think about...

Fish and birds and small creatures that will consume things that look like food.

And so, you know, starting from the lower ends of the chain, you know, there are microplastics in the environment and then there are larger plastics that that seabirds and fish will consume.

And then those, you know, get consumed by larger animals, sometimes by humans, and then those end up in our bodies so that we end up with these things that have been processed through our food that end up in us.

Some of those plastics or wastes carry other chemicals or toxins that can be very harmful to humans.

So the human health risks are many different.

Patrick has been involved in ACAP through several iterations of the Solid Waste Management Project, and this is why he thinks others should be passionate about waste too.