Plastic is found in virtually everything these days. Your food and hygiene products are packaged in it. Your car, phone and computer are made from it. While most plastics can be recyclable, the reality is that they're “down-cycled.” A plastic milk carton can never be recycled into another carton — it can be made into a lower-quality item like plastic lumber, which can’t be recycled.
How big is our plastic problem? Of the 30 million tons of plastic waste generated in the U.S. in 2009, only 7 percent was recovered for recycling. This plastic waste ends up in landfills, beaches, rivers and oceans and contributes to such devastating problems as the Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch, a swirling vortex of garbage the size of a continent where plastic outnumbers plankton. Plus, most plastic is made from oil.
When we throw our trash away we generally don't stop and categorize our trash for appropriate disposal as it should be done. Many of us will actually use a plastic bag that we gather from grocery stores or any store, to pile up our trash and throw out in one of the three garbage bins. This is where our problem with the ignorance of plastic disposal begins. One of the most common sources disposed in the wrong area is plastic. Plastic, as we all know, should be recycled. However, it is not being done so regularly or as efficiently as we would hope or imagine.
So, where IS our trash going?
1. Landfills.
What this means is that plastic is actually taking over most of the trash in our landfills. We can also clearly see this statement is true from the picture above. We mainly see plastic bags and a couple plastic bottles in a place where they do not belong. For the most part plastic is ending up in landfills because of the lack of knowledge we have about plastic and its consequences.
This picture from the (NRP) and Municipal Solid Waste (MSW) shows the number of plastic bottles that end up in landfills, incinerators, and recycle.2.6 million tonnes are incinerated
2.2 million tonnes are actually recycled.
But that's not the only place plastic is able to sneak into.
2. Oceans
According to a research study published in the journal Biology Letters, our trash load has increased up to a 100 more times in the past 40 years. Most of the that trash is plastic. Americans do not realize how much they contribute to the plastic in our oceans, or how it is affecting our ecosystem. We use disposable cups, plates, bags, etc..., but often we have no idea where it ends up. The plastic we use ends up in oceans, it takes a toll on the ocean life and our food chain. In a recent study done by Scripps researcher's, they discovered that the nine percent of the fish they collected had plastic in their stomach's. It states that fish approximately consume up to 12,000 to 24,000 pieces of plastic per year. Also, sea striders used to lay their eggs on wrecked ships or their cargo, but now they've found a place for their eggs on plastic surfaces. Lastly, these fishes are consuming plastic and toxins that us humans might me consuming as well. We do not know how many of the fish are contaminated, and if they're harming us. It affects our food chain, and we can avoid it by not wasting so much plastic.
Statistics!
-10% of 200 million tons of plastic end up in our ocean's
-70% of 200 million tons of plastics sink and damages ocean life
-80% of trash is plastic
Plastic harms land animals too, not just the creatures in the ocean. In one of the pictures we see how a small lake is polluted with plastic items and the birds still drink from this water, which can be harmful to them. Also, animals often get stuck in plastic containers, rings, and bags. In the other picture, the animals are being harmed by our plastic. This is harmful to the animals, because sometimes it prevents them from breathing or seeing. We want to preserve the wildlife as much as possible. Since we don't see the trash after we throw it away, we don't realize the consequences. We are harming animals by using plastic excessively. They're getting into our trash, and we should take initiative by avoiding these of plastic.
So, how is it affecting us?
1. Public Health
- Garbology, by Edward Humes also states it's concerns with the chain reaction known as bio-magnification that Miriam Goldstein discusses. Goldstein addresses her concern about the contaminated pieces of plastic that reach the ocean and unfortunately are eaten by small fish, the small fish are eaten by bigger fish, and a bigger fish eventually eats a lot of those other contaminated fish, and those fish might end up in the seafood place in our grocery stores (Humes 132-133). This is a concern because this food chain is affecting many of us in the long run the harmful chemicals might cause harm in our bodies as well, not just to the fish in the ocean. We would be able to avoid this if we would just be a little more knowledgeable on ways to reduce the amounts of plastic in harmful places.
2. Environment
We often hear that we cause pollution when we litter and plastic is one of the components that contribute into pollution. Today, most plastic waste goes to landfills where chemicals leach from the plastic into surrounding habitats, according to Policy: Classify plastic waste as hazardous. "Recycling often involves burning plastics and using the energy released for other purposes, but incineration can generate priority pollutants and greenhouse gases (Rochman et al.)." Not to mention, it has already widely polluted the oceans, our foods and drinks, and the air.
3. Money-Wise
Despite the fact that the misplacement of plastic is harming our ecosystem and human health, it is also costing us a lot of money to remove plastic from entering waterways. According to report on the Los Angeles Times, communities are spending a total of $500 million annually to clean up litter. Los Angeles being one of the Top 10, spending a total of $36.3 million. "That's money down the drain that could otherwise be invested in other public services such as schools, firefighting, police departments or improving public parks and other open spaces (Garrison)." Basically a part of the taxes we pay is being used to remove garbage from waterways that contaminate the environment. A problem that is costing $500 million a year when instead we could simply do our part and learn how to recycle more efficiently to keep from wasting that money that could be used on other useful public services.
