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The Dark Side Of Plastics Article
The Dark Side of Plastics
from: Beverly SaltonstallThere is little doubt that the invention of plastic has made
a big difference in our lives.
Innovative technology using plastic in the aviation sector
has made the Space Shuttle possible and many products we use in our homes were
first developed for space flight.
The construction industry has whole heartedly adapted
plastics for all sorts of building materials from wood replacement to insulation.
The use of plastics in automobiles have resulted in lighter
and more fuel efficient due to light weight plastics.
The packaging industry has been revolutionized by the
versatility of plastics. Hard plastics
have made it more difficult for thieves to steal expensive electronics, while
pliable plastic bags make carrying
groceries easier.
Advances in the medical field due to the use of plastics
have saved countless lives.
On the other side of the coin, there is a dark side to plastic. As the old dieting joke goes, “a moment on
the lips and a lifetime on the hips”, the same adage goes for plastics. The use of a plastic cup for a drink takes
only a few minutes to consume the beverage, but it can take 50- 80 years for
that plastic to decompose in the ground. Estimates even say that plastics can
last 500 years before they decompose fully.
Statistics on the amount of plastic bags used in the United
States alone, how many are actually recycled and how many are discarded, is mind
boggling.
Anywhere from four to five trillion plastic bags are
manufactured each year and sadly only 1-4% is being recycled. The rest end up in our landfill or end up in
the ocean. Once in the ocean, sunlight
begins to degrade the plastic, breaking it up into smaller and smaller pieces. These pieces never go away, and present a
huge hazard to our sea life.
There is an island of garbage floating in the North Pacific that
researchers estimated to be larger than the size of Texas. The death of over a billion
seabirds and mammals are attributed to the ingestion of plastics .
Despite government treaties that ban ships from dumping plastics,
it is estimated that nearly 14 billion pounds of plastics are dumped in the
oceans. The estimates could even be
higher
Plastic bags are a nightmare for recycling machines as they
jam up the machines, resulting in higher
costs to recycle.
Some more disturbing statistics are that Americans use two
and a half million plastic bottles every HOUR and we manufacturer enough plastic
wrap to shrink wrap Texas EVERY YEAR! And nearly every piece of plastic ever
manufactured still exists today.
If that fact alone doesn’t spur you into action, nothing
else will.
So what steps can you take to eliminate plastics in your
life?
.
- Reduce the amount of
products you purchase that have large amounts of packaging . Fresh produce is preferred over packaged
frozen foods.
- “Green Bags” are available
at nearly all grocery stores today. Make it a habit to take them to the
grocery store every time you shop.
- Learn the correct way to
recycle plastics. Find out what the
rules are in effect in your community.
If you have no recycling rules, contact your local government and
find out why not.
- Live by the environmental
rule of always leaving area cleaner
than when you arrived. If you go to
the beach, take time to dispose of plastics in approved containers, or
bring your trash home. If you see plastics on the beach, pick it up and
dispose of it properly.
- Reusable cups for coffee
and beverages should be used as little as possible. Avoid the use of plastic coated
disposable paper plates and avoid plastic silverware.
- Bring your own reusable container
to a restaurant of you are expecting to take leftovers home.
- Reuse plastic bags for
garbage bags instead of buying new bags.
These are only a few suggestions on how to reduce your
consumption of plastic. If everyone
reduced their plastic consumption by half, the savings of oil needed to produce
that plastic would be significantly reduced.
That can only be a good thing for the environment.
Beverly Saltonstall is an environmental writer and webmaster. She is a lecturer on wildlife, pollution, and water pollution issues in Florida.
For more information on the Great Pacific Gyre, visit http://pollutionwebsite.com/blog/?p=36