World Issue

Plastic in the Oceans

11 million tonnes of plastic enter the ocean every year

← Back to World Issues

The Reality

By 2050, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight. Microplastics have been found in human blood, in the lungs of newborns, in the deepest trenches of the ocean floor. We have filled the womb of the world with our waste.


The Sufi Response

Rumi wrote: 'You are not a drop in the ocean. You are the entire ocean in a drop.' The ocean is not a dumping ground. It is a mirror of the divine. Every piece of plastic thrown into it is a desecration — not of nature, but of the sacred itself. The Sufi tradition asks: what does it mean to love something? It means to protect it. It means to refuse to harm it. It means to see the divine in it. We cannot love the ocean and fill it with plastic. We must choose.

Learn more about Rumi

What We Can Do

  • Refuse single-use plastic — carry, reuse, refill
  • Support ocean cleanup organizations
  • Push for corporate accountability, not just individual behavior
  • Teach children to see the ocean as sacred, not as a resource