So you don’t think you use all that much plastic? I implore you to take a look around you, think about what you do and use on a daily and weekly basis. You will most likely realize that you use more plastic in your life than you once thought.

For the plastic that you currently have, recycling is obviously your best option to get rid of it. However, that does not relieve us of all responsibility of the pollution around us. The sad truth is that even when you throw something in the recycling, it often doesn’t end up being reused. According to an article by the New York Times in May 2018 (https://www.nytimes.com/2018/05/29/climate/recycling-landfills-plastic-papers.html), Western countries have been sending their recyclables to China to be processed. China has since stopped accepting these shipments, and therefore, many recyclables are ending up in landfills, or even in the ocean and other waterways.

In the end, recycling should not be our first solution. So, instead of the old 3-R rule (reduce, reuse, and recycle), we should follow the 4-R rule. That rule is as follows: reduce, refuse, reuse, then recycle, in that order.

The first and best thing that you can do is to reduce your use of plastics! You can try to find and use alternatives instead. Stop buying plastic water bottles and use metal ones instead. Also, consider buying solid toiletries. Solid or “bar” style soaps, shampoos, and conditioners usually have very minimal paper packaging and skip the squeezable plastic bottle or pump. Along the same line, try to use deodorant sold in glass jars or even make your own so that you aren’t buying the plastic roll on stick. A major tip is to bring reusable bags to the store instead of using the plastic bags they provide to you. Also, since plastic toothbrushes are a very common piece of trash in the ocean, try using a bamboo toothbrush. Finally, try to buy in bulk whenever possible to save on packaging, and perhaps even make your own DIY cleaning products to save from buying the name brand versions that come in plastic packaging.

You can also refuse to use plastic too! When at a restaurant, say no to plastic straws. You really don’t need them and can just sip your drink out of the cup. When ordering takeout, tell the restaurant that you don’t need any plastic cutlery. Simply use the reusable, washable cutlery that you already own. Also, carry your own bags and containers to fill when you go shopping or out to eat.

The last resort, after all of this, is to recycle the plastic items that you couldn’t get around using once you can’t use them anymore. These suggestions are in no way easy, the world we live in runs on plastic and it can be hard to get around that. But, with hard work, determination, and effort, we all can reduce our plastic use so that we can save and protect the environment, one step at a time!

 

Microplastics have been found in fish, whales, and now even humans. It was only a matter of time until this happened. To be more precise these tiny particles were found in the stool of eight people who were part of a study. This is not much of a shock considering that microplastics have been identified in drinking water, table salt, beer, and seafood. This is the first time it has been recorded in humans though, making it quite a significant discovery. However, the researchers don’t actually know where the fragments originated from and they aren’t yet aware of the potential risks associated with them.

There are a lot of sources the small plastic fibers could come from. Food packaging can shed tiny fibers; clothing, plastic-based items, and even household carpeting can also shed fiber. Which begs the question, where did the fiber actually come from?

There are also questions regarding their effect on humans’ health. Once they are inside the human body and have broken down into nanofibers, can they work their way into the bloodstream? Or lymphatic system? Or even reach the liver? As of right now, it reminds unknown.

Philipp Schwabl, was the one that conducted this experiment. He is a gastroenterologist at the Medical University of Vienna and is planning to recreate the study in a larger group. For the original experiment, he studied three males and five females all between the ages of 33 to 65, from several different parts of Europe and Japan. The study subjects or participants were asked to keep a food diary for a week and then provide a stool sample. The plastic fiber results of every sample were positive, they each included some type of plastic.

These were the results of the participant’s food diary:  two of them chewed gum daily, six ate seafood, they all consumed food that was wrapped in plastic at some point, and they all drank about 25 ounces of water from bottles made of PET.

Schwabl said that the study was too small to be able to draw conclusions about individual factors that could have been potential sources of the plastics. Schwabl does not want to rush any conclusion or results since he didn’t directly study the harm that the plastics can cause yet. But, he did say: “We showed there are microplastics in human stool. Up to now, people believed it, but now we know it. That’s important.”

Plastic bags take up a large portion of plastic pollution on the Earth. Although other plastic products are very prevalent in the plastic industry, plastic bags have unique characteristics – they are very prone to flying out the trash bins and garbage trucks and getting into the natural environment like rivers, forests, and oceans.

This ThoughtCo. article (https://www.thoughtco.com/why-stop-using-plastic-bags-1204167), says that one plastic bag can take over 1,000 years to break down into microplastic particles and will continue to pollute the environment for many years to come.

Moreover, this The World Counts article (http://www.theworldcounts.com/counters/waste_pollution_facts/plastic_bags_used_per_year) says that humans will have used and disposed of over 5 trillion plastic bags this year! That is an incredibly large number! Also, remember that those plastic bags will take over 1,000 years to break down. Those bags are often mistaken for food and when eaten by animals, may very likely cause death.

Most supermarkets and malls provide plastic bags for free to attract more consumers. Think about this: if the mall does not provide plastic bags, only the people bringing their own bags will go shopping in the mall. They will miss out on consumers who will just walk past. They may even want to buy something at that moment but simply forgot to bring a bag. Also, if a mall provides plastic bags for free, they will be more competitive than other malls who do not provide this service to customers. Many people even like to ask for more plastic bags than they need so that they can use those bags in other places like in their own home as a garbage bag.

However, now it is time to change. If everyone understands the hazards of using plastic bags, then perhaps people who go to malls and stores will remember to bring his or her own bag instead of using harmful plastic ones.

So, what should we do as an individual?

1. Other types of bags like cloth bags are a good choice. Be sure to store some cloth bags in your car so that when we want to shop, you do not need to use the plastic bags provided in the store.
2. If you absolutely need to throw a plastic bag away, fill it with some heavy garbage so that the bag will not fly away in the wind.
3. Spread the word and tell people that you know of the hazards of using plastic bags and encourage people to work together to reduce plastic pollution.

 

You may have seen the video of a sea turtle getting a plastic straw pulled out of its nose. It can be a very sad feeling to see an animal suffering like that because of the actions of human beings.

Plastic straws are terrible for the environment and can permanently damage the earth. The decomposition of the plastic in the natural environment will take hundreds of years. During that time, the plastic will continue to pollute the environment and hurt the health of every life on earth.

While it is true that most plastic products can be recycled, plastic straws cannot be. That is because they are too small. The machines that identify and sort the plastic cannot detect and process such small plastic items. So, the plastic straws are usually left in the normal garbage and will get buried or incinerated.

Like all the plastic pollution, the plastic straws will break down into microplastics and can be ingested by marine or land animals. Moreover, because of the way that the food-chain works, the microplastic will accumulate in higher level predators like human beings. We found that this article: https://www.thesun.co.uk/news/7558924/humans-polluted-plastic-particles/ mentioned that “The smallest microplastic particles are capable of entering the bloodstream, lymphatic system, and may even reach the liver.”

The plastic is affecting not only the life of fish but also our own health.
Moreover, because of the shape and the size of a plastic straw, it can cause more damage to our environment than other plastic products. The plastic straws are often eaten by animals such as turtles, seabirds, and fish, which causes the death of millions of seabirds, over 100,000 marine mammals, and countless numbers of fish every year.

So, not using plastic straws is a very important and helpful idea for everyone to follow. We found that Starbucks is going to take actions in this regard. This article: https://www.bbc.com/news/world-us-canada-44774762 mentions they have announced that they will ban all the plastic straws in every Starbucks location in the U.S. by 2020. The City College of New York campus also bans plastic straws in the cafeteria.

As individuals, it is important for us to try our absolute best not to use any plastic straws. Remember that a plastic straw will only be used for 20 minutes yet it will take over 200 years to break down completely. Also, there are many alternatives like metal and paper straws. Right now, other types of straws only take up only 1% of the straw market with the other 99% of it is being taken up by plastic straws. Let’s work together to change this!