| It seems like plastic is everywhere you look. From | | | | is lost. If any product requires downcycling it |
| the cars we drive to the products we consume, | | | | should not be considered a sustainable option. |
| from the pipes in our lawns to the brushes we | | | | What About All My Plastic Shopping Bags? |
| use in our bathrooms. If plastic is everywhere | | | | As many cities are banning plastic bags, many |
| how can it be so bad? | | | | supermarket chains are following suit. Many |
| Our oceans are the source of most of the earths | | | | consumers are literally left holding the bag. If you |
| oxygen and are an integral part of our global | | | | find yourself in this situation, remember even |
| ecosystem. The waste we create from our | | | | downcycling is a better option than creating landfill |
| plastic addiction is literally threatening our oceans. | | | | waste. If you have a large quantity of plastic |
| According to the Californians Against Waste | | | | grocery bags and need to recycle them but have |
| (CAW), "In some of the most polluted areas of | | | | no convenient location then try the following |
| the Pacific, plastic already outweighs plankton by a | | | | website which offers a searchable database of |
| factor of six!" | | | | plastic bag recycling locations: |
| According to a recent article in the San Francisco | | | | - |
| Chronicle there is a "a heap of debris floating in | | | | One of the benefits of this resource is they can |
| the Pacific that's twice the size of Texas." This | | | | help you find locations to recycle more than just |
| continent sized debris heap has been titled the | | | | plastic grocery shopping bags, they can also help |
| Great Pacific Garbage Patch by marine biologists. | | | | you recycle: |
| The Great Pacific Garbage Patch is comprised of | | | | - Retail bags |
| literally millions of points of trash - most of it | | | | - Paper towel and toilet paper plastic wrap |
| plastic. In 2006 the United Nations Environment | | | | - Plastic newspaper bags |
| Program estimated that in each square mile of | | | | - Plastic dry cleaning bags |
| ocean you can find 46,000 pieces of floating | | | | - All clean, clear bags labeled with a #2 or #4 |
| plastic. It is literally the world's largest landfill, and it | | | | Plastic Waste |
| is floating in the Pacific ocean. | | | | Any recycling option is better the creating waste. |
| From Our Litter to Our Oceans | | | | According to SIGG, "Over 100 million plastic water |
| How does the plastic bag you took home from | | | | bottles are dumped into America's landfills -- ever |
| the grocery store end up in the Pacific ocean? Up | | | | day!" By the end of each year we reach a grand |
| to 90% of the plastic found in our oceans sadly | | | | total of nearly 40 billion plastic bottles. If each |
| comes from urban runoff. | | | | piece of plastic takes 1,000 years to |
| A Growing Epidemic | | | | photodegrade, not biodegrade, it seems we are |
| While more and more waste collects, more is | | | | producing waste as an impossible to maintain rate. |
| being created. In the past 20 years plastic | | | | To compound the issue these number represent |
| production has doubled and is still continuing to | | | | "water bottles" which are just a part of our larger |
| expand. With plastic products offering | | | | plastic addiction. |
| manufacturers a lifespan of 1,000 years unless | | | | Doesn't Plastic Biodegrade? |
| consumers respond to this issue, it will only grow. | | | | Unlike many other materials plastic does not |
| The amount of plastic found in our oceans is | | | | biodegrade - instead it photodegrades. As plastic |
| having a profound effect on many different | | | | photodegrades it breaks down into smaller and |
| animals. Some biologists estimate that millions of | | | | smaller pieces of plastic instead of splitting into |
| birds and other marine species have simply died | | | | simpler compounds. With so much plastic in our |
| from starvation or some sort of poisoning after | | | | ocean the small bits of plastic created through |
| mistakenly ingesting plastic when looking for food. | | | | photodegradation are called mermaid tears or |
| Our dwindling sea turtle population is at extreme | | | | nurdles. |
| risk. | | | | It's these small particles that are eaten first by |
| An Impossible Problem | | | | filter feeders in the ocean and then slowly work |
| According to the United Nations Environment | | | | their way up the food chain as they are |
| Program we are facing what some may consider | | | | consumed by larger creatures. |
| an impossible problem, they state that in "some | | | | The Effect of Plastics on Humans |
| areas, big fragments can be collected, but it's | | | | With the astounding quantities of plastic waste |
| simply not possible to thoroughly clean a section | | | | found not only in our oceans but also our landfills it |
| of ocean that spans the area of a continent and | | | | shouldn't be surprising that chemicals are slowing |
| extends 100 feet below the surface." | | | | working their way through the food chain and into |
| Our only real solution is managing our waste on | | | | foods commonly food in our human diets. The |
| land before it reaches our oceans. | | | | CAW states, "Nearly all of us carry in our bodies |
| Can Plastic Be Recycled? | | | | chemicals present in plastics -- raising alarming |
| While plastic can be recycled its not a cut and dry | | | | questions about the role plastics play in human |
| process. Recycling petrochemical resins or plastics | | | | health and diseases such as cancer and autism." |
| is both an expensive and complicated process. | | | | However convenient plastics are, however |
| When plastic are recycled post-consumer they | | | | common they have become it's time for us to |
| are usually " downcycled." When a plastic food | | | | look at the effect they are having on our |
| container is downcycled it is reused, but it will | | | | environment and our health. With more sustainable |
| never qualify as food grade plastic again. Each | | | | options such as glass already available isn't it time |
| time the plastic is downcycled some level of value | | | | we cured ourselves of our plastic addiction. |