The IP address is needed so that when you contact a web site, the web site can has an address it can return your requested information to.
Here is an analogy. Think of your IP address as a house or business address. If you order something that needs to be delivered, the business needs an address it can give to the shipping company so they can figure out where the package needs to go. Along the way the package my switch from a truck at a sorting center to a plane, the another sorting center and back on a plane, then a regional sorting center to a truck, and finally yo your door. You address is needed multiple times along the way so the package reaches you.
On the internet, routers are the sorting centers and your IP address is needed for a web pages information to find its way back to your computer.
So every time you use the internet, you IP address is being sent as a return address.