just say no to plastic

An article from the Plastic Pollution Coalition website:

Collecting plastics at curbside fosters the belief that, like aluminum and glass, these will be converted into new similar objects. From one glass bottle we can make another glass bottle of similar quality, in an economic manner.  However this is not the case with plastic. The best we can hope for plastics is that these will be turned into other products such as doormats, textiles, plastic lumber, etc.. These products will still end at some point in the landfill – and do NOT stem the need for more virgin petroleum product.  This is NOT recycling, but down-cycling.

But not even this down-cycling is happening.

For instance, in the US 93% of plastics are NOT recovered (put in plastic “recycling” bins). These go straight to landfills. PET bottles that have a redemption value (cash value) fare a bit better: 62% are NOT recovered.  (EPA data 2008)

How big is the problem?  How much waste is generated by single use plastics?  Artist Chris Jordan offers the following visualizations. Imagine 8 football fields covered thickly with plastic bottles: this is  the equivalent to the number of plastic beverage bottles discarded in the US every five minutes (data: 2009)

Now imagine a line of plastic bottles going around the planet five times. This would be equivalent to the number of plastic bottles discarded every week in the US.. just for water!  (data 2009)

Now imagine the waste created by all types of single use plastics put together,  by all the countries in the world (the US is only 5% of the worlds population)… This includes plastic bottles, plastic bags, plastic utensils, cups, containers and more.

It is hard to imagine…  We simply need to stop this insane stream of non-recyclable, non-biodegradable, toxic waste.

In most parts of the world people struggle to build basic infrastructures such as schools and hospitals, and  advanced waste management systems  are beyond their reach.  As a result, most of the developing nations in Asia, Latin America and Africa and literally drowning in plastic waste.

Plastic pollution will not be solved by encouraging “recycling”.  Perpetuating the myth of plastic recycling creates a smoke curtain that delays the adoption of effective and sustainable solutions, such as producer responsibility and the phasing out of single-use plastics.

I spent two days on the island of Taquile in Titicaca. Quite possibly one of the most peaceful and beautiful places I have ever been – I sat on a cliff and watched weather for hours, and at nearly 4000m these boiling, electric weathers seem closer and more impressive than in most places. I spent the day on a perfectly undisturbed little curve of beach, me and a couple of sheep. Plenty of people told me that the lake has some kind of healing properties. So I swam in it. It was clear and blue and mirroring those nearby hanging clouds, and I swam out towards Bolivia chased by a sweep of ripples.Magnificent.

Mines and hotels around the lake are dumping approximately 12 million cubic tons of pollution into the lake annually.

Time it takes for garbage to decompose in the environment:
Glass Bottle…………………….. 1 million years
Monofilament Fishing Line… 600 years
Plastic Beverage Bottles…… 450 years
Disposable Diapers………… 450 years
Aluminum Can………………… 80-200 years
Foamed Plastic Buoy……… 80 years
Foamed Plastic Cups……… 50 years
Rubber-Boot Sole…………… 50-80 years
Tin Cans……………………. 50 years
Leather…………………………… 50 years
Nylon Fabric…………………… 30-40 years
Plastic Film Container…….. 20-30 years
Plastic Bag…………………….. 10-20 years
Cigarette Butt…………………. 1-5 years
Wool Sock………………………. 1-5 years
Plywood…………………….. 1-3 years
Waxed Milk Carton………… 3 months
Apple Core…………………. 2 months
Newspaper………………….. 6 weeks
Orange or Banana Peel…… 2-5 weeks
Paper Towel……………….. 2-4 weeks

Speaking on trash in the ocean in this article, Charles Moore, a sailor and specialist in anthropogenic marine contamination says:

The potential scope of the problem is staggering. Every year some 5.5 quadrillion (5.5 x 10¹⁵) plastic pellets—about 250 billion pounds of them—are produced worldwide for use in the manufacture of plastic products. When those pellets or products degrade, break into fragments, and disperse, the pieces may also become concentrators and transporters of toxic chemicals in the marine environment. Thus an astronomical number of vectors for some of the most toxic pollutants known are being released into an ecosystem dominated by the most efficient natural vacuum cleaners nature ever invented: the jellies and salps living in the ocean. After those organisms ingest the toxins, they are eaten in turn by fish, and so the poisons pass into the food web that leads, in some cases, to human beings. Farmers can grow pesticide-free organic produce, but can nature still produce a pollutant-free organic fish? After what I have seen first hand in the Pacific, I have my doubts.

Quadrillion…?

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