Plastic has outpaced CO₂ as the most concerning environmental catastrophe of this generation. There's not much you can do to stop it, but we suggest you stop using single-use plastic all together.
June 23, 2019
By Green Dream LLC
It took mankind a mere 70 years to create 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic. It will take mother earth anywhere from 450 years to eternity to destroy it. The tireless plastic polluting machine we have created — about 6 decades ago, is being fueled by our old habits. The average American produces about 220 pounds of plastic per year and most of that comes from packaging and other single-use plastics. If we truly want to put an end to this plastic epidemic, we must first understand what will happen if we ignore immediate action.
The 1950’s was when it was first discovered that plastic could be used as a cheap and useful alternative for wood and metal. Since then, plastic production has increased by an annual rate of 8.7%, making it one of the most demanded products of the modern era. Considering the industrial power that has amassed since the second world war, we were able to produce about 8.3 billion tons of it since. The scary part is, over 83% of that plastic is now considered waste, a freightening 6.9 billion metric tons. Of this waste, only about 9% has been recycled — the rest is in a landfill or the ocean.
Disposing of plastic is a challenging task because it simply does not decompose, or at least not in our lifetime. According to a report from Mckinsey and Company, over 8 million metric tons of plastic finds its way into our oceans annually and a staggering 25% of that waste comes from our very own waste management systems. An estimated 150 million metric tons of plastic currently populates the ocean. If this trend continues, a recent calculation by the World Economic Forum and the Ellen MacArthur Foundation predicts that by 2050 “oceans will contain more plastics than fish (by weight)”.
When plastic is in the ocean, it undergoes a rigid transformation while circulating through the ocean’s currents. Natural forces like sunlight and the churning of the waves cause the plastic to degrade and morph into trillions of microscopic fragments. The result is an artificial sand called nanoplastics.
Already, these nanoplastics have colonized every inch of the ocean. In Kamilo beach, on the Big Island of Hawaii, researchers have estimated that up to 15% of the sand is grains of nanoplastics. They have discovered it in sediments that coat the seafloor and even frozen in the polar ice caps, not to mention in our own biome. The average human has enough plastic circulating their body to create a credit card.
The adverse health risks associated to nanoplastics are yet to be fully understood, but the findings from the preliminary studies are sobering. A report done by the Public Health Committee in New Jersey suggests that there is enough “ecological information to support the possibility that humans may be exposed to microplastics or nanoplastics via oral, inhalation, and dermal routes” and in vivo studies, reported by the Current Environmental Health Report, “demonstrated that nanoplastics can translocate to all organs”. Once in our bodies, the Public Health Committee in New Jersey suggests that “Adverse effects from micro/nanoplastics may result from a combination of the plastic’s intrinsic toxicity” and that “microplastics can serve as a vector for pathogens, potentially carrying microbial species to non-native waters.” Essentially, the nanoplastics circulating the environment can spread foreign diseases across the globe.
The inspiriting reality of the situation is that there is hope going forward. The research and issues regarding plastic pollution is finally making headlines and the public can no longer turn a blind eye. Many individuals, companies, and entrepreneurs are looking to find innovative ways to avoid using single-use plastics in hope to drive down its demand and impact on the environment. This may finally be the generation that begins to clean up the monumental plastic-mess 70 years in the making.
The legendary comedian George Burns would often say: "No snowflake thinks it's responsible for the avalanche." Perhaps that quote was ahead of its time, but it still holds true. In that same capacity, the issue of plastic can impact those of the future and perpetually gain new meanings along the way. It is up to us, now, as leaders, teachers, parents, siblings, and even individuals to set an example for generations to come to abandon the consumption of single-use plastics so that one day our children can breathe easy.