Most people hate seeing rubbish in their home, in fact, they will go to extreme lengths to get rid of rubbish from their home because it makes their home smelly and dirty. Yet when it comes to the planet we live on, we are far less concerned about the impact that our rubbish has, and unfortunately, our oceans are now paying the price.

It was recently reported that a 33-foot sperm whale washed up on the beach of Cabo de Palos Beach in south-western Spain, completely starved and as skinny as a whale can be. The sight was truly disturbing and onlookers said that it was one of the saddest things they had ever seen.

And the reason this happened? Because the poor whale had eaten nothing but washed up waste for months, leaving it completely devoid of the nutrients it needed to survive, and poisoned by what it had eaten.

When the whale washed up, it was a mere weighed in at 6.5 metric tonnes (14,330 pounds, 5900 kilograms) which is one-seventh of a sperm whale’s usual weight. The poor creature had literally starved to death due to its diet of human rubbish and waste. Marine conservationists were so concerned by the state of the whale, so conducted an autopsy to see what had happened. And what did they find? The sperm whale’s stomach was full of rubbish, and little else. And even more devastating, the rubbish had torn a hole the animal’s stomach, meaning it had likely died a very painful death.

And like so many other marine animals, the sperm whale’s safety is becoming increasingly compromised by the state of our oceans. We have all seen the images of turtles, dolphins and so many other animals, trapped in plastic waste or chowing down on our unwanted rubbish. Yet we allow it to continue.

The only, very slim, silver lining from these horrendous stories is that it is gradually forcing people to acknowledge the need to do something about it. And it is slowly propelling people to make a change in their behaviour. More people are recycling their plastic, and others are actively taking care of our planet by collecting rubbish that accumulates on beaches and other natural areas.

And people are doing this at all levels, at home and on a larger scale. According to Frank Rubbish Removal, more people than ever are making the effort to recycle their waste. They conducted a survey and found that 82% of people are ‘gravely concerned’ about the impact that our rubbish is having on the environment. And 72% are trying to do more to actively recycle more of their waste.

Other people reported that they wished that the government would take more action to help reduce waste. Suggestions included imposing bans on ‘unnecessary’ plastic packaging, and increasing the types of recycling that can be done from people’s homes. Over 60% of people complained that they were only able to recycle certain types of materials via their local rubbish removal service.

And 72% of people said that they would like to be able to do more, personally, to help protect the planet and that if they had the option they would use alternatives to plastic. Unfortunately, 85% also said that at the moment, trying to find an alternative to plastic is too difficult and that they use it because of the convenience. It’s clear, therefore, that fixing our marine waste challenge is a far more complex challenge, and definitely won’t be fixed overnight. But even little steps will help slowly turn the tables, and prevent more sperm whales, dolphins and other animals suffering such a horrendous fate.