▲ Pic by Douglas Croft/Caters News

In these heartbreaking shots, an otter is shown clutching plastic to stop him drifting whilst he sleeps – thinking it was kelp.

While he smiles happily for the camera, the aquatic mammal seems completely at ease with what could potentially be a fatal encounter, if he becomes trapped in the plastic.

Photographer Douglas Croft, 60 from San Jose, California caught the distressing shot in Moss Landing Harbor, in Monterey Bay.

▲ Pic by Douglas Croft/Caters News

Douglas said, ‘When I came along, he was already rolling in the discarded bag. Often, otters will wrap themselves in kelp to keep from drifting while they nap. It appeared that this one was using the plastic for that purpose.’

▲ Pic by Douglas Croft/Caters News

‘It is heart-wrenching to see and it is a big problem. We retrieve mylar (foil helium) balloons from the bay all the time, people just let them go and they have to come down somewhere’

Douglas contacted the Marine Mammal Center when he saw this happening, and they sent a boat to retrieve the plastic, though the otter did not want to give up his ‘blanket’.

It’s cute but it’s so dangerous. We need to pay attention to the plastic pollution on the sea and make changes.

Whether a plastic bag inadvertently blows off the back of a garbage truck and into the water, or someone carelessly tosses a bottle into a storm drain in the Midwest, where it catches a ride in the nearest river to the sea, a staggering amount of plastic junk ends up in the world’s oceans.

With the wide range of dangerous effects that plastics can have on the health of our environment (not to mention our own well being), the only solution that’s truly sustainable in the long term is reducing our plastic consumption and production. It pays to keep in mind that recycling and finding reuses for plastic is also an important solution.

In the building and construction industry, Wood Plastic Composite materials play an important role in recycling plastics. WPC materials are manufactured from recycled materials such as plastic and wood. This is a fantastic building material option for homeowners who prefer to be eco-friendly.

WPC material is a new type of environmentally, eco-friendly and energy-saving composite materials, substitute for wood, and can be 100% recycled. WPC products made with recycled plastic gives new life to plastic waste, diverting it from our oceans and landfills. Composite timber, when chosen instead of a tropical hardwood, also puts less strain on global forestry harvesting. Additionally, the manufacturing process of wood plastic composites does not involve any chemical which can be harmful or toxic to the environment.

The main material of HOSUNG (Shanghai) WPC Co., Ltd. WPC is natural wood powder (about 60%), by adding HDPE (about 30%) and necessary chemical additives. It’s extruded out from special moldings under high temperature and pressure, which is 100% recycled, eco-friendly, saving forest and petroleum resources, and do not contain the toxic chemicals often found in pressure-treated lumber, and are manufactured in a process that produces zero water waste.

Hosung as a ‘Green’ company, has its roots in recycling. Hosung provides consumers with innovative building materials from a sustainable process, while bringing an environmentally friendly green design concept to everyone.

Recycling is a beautiful thing, more than 400 million pounds of plastic bags and wraps are used annually to make durable composite lumber for decking. Feel free to share those eco-credentials with your environmentally aware neighbors at your first deck party!