Coca-Cola makes an estimated 110 billion plastic bottles a year. Thus, plastic straws cant be recycled. Affiliate Disclaimer: Some links on this site may be referral or affiliate links. American beaver populations are booming in the western United States as conditions grow hotter and drier. The manufacturing of reusable bags or compostable alternatives to plastic bags offers a new opportunity to create sustainable products and provide jobs that go with them. Plastic bags. Made from petroleum products, Baekland's " bakelite " plastic was a revolutionary material. What to do with plastic bags you already have at home? So that free plastic bag isnt so free after all. Oil and natural gas are non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources and through their extraction and production, they emit greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change. Please share this message with your friends so that together, we can tackle our global plastic problem. Starbucks plans to phase out plastic straws by 2020. A plastic straw ban would serve to reduce the number of plastic straws entering the ocean. Interestingly, these granules contain the seeds of their own destruction: enzymes that break the polymer down when it is needed for food. Spare Yourself the Guilt Trip This Earth DayIts Companies That Need to Clean Up Their Acts, These Fanciful Sea Creatures Were Carried in on the Tide. Individual choicesand the collective shifts they bring aboutadd up quickly. Speak out in support of local plastic bans, whether by calling your local government representative, submitting an op-ed to your citys newspaper, or simply starting conversations with neighbors. There is a lot of research now underway on the health effects of ocean plastics, but we already know that some plastics, and the chemicals that attach themselves to plastics in the water, can cause cancer, genetic disruptions and other ill effects. In fact, I just listed many reasons and points in this article that support both sides of the argument. If plastic straws are completely banned, local small businesses like boba tea shops will have to look for pricier alternatives. Once the wheel starts spinning, it leads to even more positive changes. It started with cardboard straws, but once plastic production in America increased, people realized it was quicker and cheaper to produce plastic straws. We should just stick to plastic. For example, millions of discarded plastic bags clog water drainage channels and sewers in urban areas of Bangladesh. Other states such as Hawaii, cities such as Seattle and New York, and corporations such as Amazon and Starbucks are also considering or have initiated plastic phase-out plans. Plastic straws have an especially high propensity to end up in our rivers after being thrown away. 12 Reasons for Banning Plastic Bags: Plastic Bags Are Made With Non-Renewable Energy Plastic Bags Use Up Lots Of Energy Plastic Bags End Up In The Ocean Beach Plastic Litter Is On The Rise Plastic Bags Kill Millions Of Animals Every Year Plastic Takes A Long Time To Disintegrate Plastic Is Harming The Ocean's Coral Plastic Bags Contain Toxins Plastic straws are one of the most common forms of pollution found on beaches and in oceans all over the world. A plastic straw ban could be a good step in the right direction, but we must use less single-use products overall to actually help the environment. Not only is plastic estimated to kill millions of marine animals and seabirds each year, but its also contaminating seafood that humans have relied on for millennia, particularly with microplastics in animals guts. Oene Moedt-Foto Natura/Minden via National Geographic Images, Major Corporations and Single-Use Plastics, secluded Pyrenees mountain range and down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and research has suggested that human exposure, 4.8 million and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic, one of the most greenhouse gasintensive industries in the manufacturing sector, could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030, an audit of plastic pollution along coastlines. The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, And recent studies found plastic in the guts of 90 percent of the seabirds tested and 100 percent of the turtles. Scientists are showing that we are sending tons of tiny plastic particles into our soils each year, potentially affecting crops and our health. Plastic items are more sanitary than other alternatives. Alternatives to plastic straws, such as paper, may not always be effective for disabled people: paper can be bitten through or broken easily. However, we are all too familiar with situations when a cashier automatically puts your items in a plastic bag before you can oppose it. These modern conveniences are so ubiquitousand so quickly thrown outthat they hardly register in our minds. It may not seem like much, but when you imagine how many bags they have to provide throughout a year, you will quickly realize that plastic bags are costly. As communities act to ban single-use plastics and individual consumers raise concerns, bigger actors pay attention. The first country to ban single-use plastic bags was Bangladesh in 2002 when plastic bag litter clogged drainage channels and contributed to destructive floods. Ill talk about this more in the next section: By itself, a plastic straw ban is unlikely to have a large impact on the environment. We are a couple of environmentalists who seek inspiration for life in simple values based on our love for nature. Plastic bags and plastic products overall contain substances that are harmful to our health. This strategy has been adopted by some countries and municipalities so far and has proven to greatly reduce plastic bag usage by consumers. McDonalds swapped its plastic straws for paper at its United Kingdom and Ireland restaurants. We do not know the full impact of microplastics exceeding the mass of plankton in the ocean. To align with global efforts, India banned single-use plastic items from July 1, 2022. This measure should encourage people to switch to reusable alternatives. What is the root of the problem (consumers or municipal waste management)? However, one thing we know, is that by introducing a pollutant that may never break down in the environment can have implications that will far exceed any of our predictions. Plastic straws are not the first iteration of straws. 2. Plastic straws are also the 6th most common trash item found during ocean cleanups. As a result, they are thrown away and frequently wind up in the ocean, where they pollute the water and eventually kill marine birds, animals, and fish. An outright ban on plastic straws would create an accessibility problem for disabled people while dining in public. McDonald's recently announced . Accompanied by high social accountability and musical garbage trucks, that strategy has proved wildly effective: the island now reports recycling rates above 50 percent. Most drop-off collection points accept plastic bags made from high-density polyethylene (plastic number 2) and low-density polyethylene (plastic number 4). Scientists have recorded some species of zooplankton eating tiny plastic particles. Learn how your comment data is processed. The most heartbreaking part of this is that the affected animals are not aware they eat something that will make them feel miserable and will slowly kill them. We will Rating: 5 (913 reviews) Highest rating: 5. Overall, the main reason for a plastic straw ban is to help the environment by preventing plastic straws pollution. 4. In many instances, it may seem too awkward for you to refuse the bag, so you accept it this one time, but you should know that it is fine to say no politely even at this stage if you dont want that bag. There are many uses for plastic that are not only reasonable but important, such as surgical gloves, or straws for people with disabilities. Ban of Plastic Can be Problematic. Here's a quick list of the ways plastic straws may be harming your health: 1. Talk to the owners of the restaurants you frequent. They are tinier than a palm of your hand and appear so fragile when struggling across the beach to make it to the sea. But a whopping 91 percent of all plastic isnt recycled at all. Straws made of plastic contribute to the pollution of our seas and streams. Since their birth, baby turtles have only one goal to get to the sea and swim into deep waters where they will feed and if successful grow into adult turtles. According to estimates made by scientists, there are 7.5 million polluting straws around the shores of the United States, and anywhere from 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws throughout the coastlines of the rest of the globe. We hear everywhere around us that we need to save energy. Avoid individually packaged goods, like snack packs. Polypropylene is a form of plastic that is frequently used in the production of straws. Our plastic addiction is having a devastating impact on our oceans, our wildlife, and our health. The production of these bags is very energy intensive. Put simply, single-use plastics are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuelbased chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after useoften, in mere minutes. Some tributaries of the river have been filled with plastic waste to the level that you could almost walk across them without getting your feet wet. To make matters worse, if plastic straws get into the ocean, they can be mistaken for food by marine animals. "To us, it was the 'gateway plastic' to the larger, more . Ideally, to be suitable for recycling, bags need to be clean to be accepted, which is often a problem, considering that we use them to carry groceries and potentially leaky goods. But beyond these impacts, the bans have cultural effects. 2015-2023 Greentumble. Plastics also permeate freshwater systems like rivers and streams. This is because the customers voluntarily reduce their consumption of plastic bags, which in turn provides enough time for retailers to find suitable alternatives and switch to them. Increased awareness about the negative effects of single-use plastics would help the environment a lot more than just a simple plastic straw ban. In Taiwan, which was once overflowing with so much trash that it spurred public protest and the nickname Garbage Island, companies now either manage their own waste or subsidize government-run infrastructure. Then, the straw got stuck in the turtles nose after she/he tried to cough the straw back out. (Source: Water in the West), Analysis reveals how restoring relatively narrow forest buffers could substantially improve regional water quality and carbon storage in Costa Rica and elsewhere. 1. But single-use plastics come with a steep environmental priceone that well be paying off for millennia. Read more about us. Buy in bulk. Even human footprints left in the sand represent mountain-like obstacles in their path and waves washing up on the beach are another challenge, as they thrust them back on the dry land to try once again before finally being picked up by a return current and start swimming for their life. Start from yourself and slowly expand to your family and friends. They discovered that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestl products were found most often. We can also decrease costs through improved bioprocessing methods, through metabolic engineering and by exploring and harnessing the incredible diversity of bioplastic-making systems that evolution has already created. As communities act to ban single-use plastics and individual consumers raise concerns, bigger actors pay attention. The small pilot whale, found in a Thai canal this past June, is another symptom of a crisis in the worlds oceans. Help us break the cycle of causing unnecessary harm and damage in the name of "convenience". Plastic use costs approximately $75 billion a year [16].

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