Americans use over 500 million plastic straws every single day—that’s enough to circle the earth’s circumference 2.5 times (Ives et al 2017). By 2050, there will be more plastic debris in the ocean than fish (Kaplan 2016). These staggering statistics are unacceptable and it is our duty to find a realistic, sustainable solution to the issue. Plastic pollution is one of today’s most pressing problems, and minimizing the use of straws is a feasible and realistic step in the right direction. Although the problem of pollution is widely understood, the extent of the damage by plastic straws is not as known or acknowledged. Education of children and adults is an integral component of shifting cultural norms and mindsets. With a more informed population, people will be more likely to refuse and forgo plastic utensils. Furthermore, businesses and influential icons play a vital role in this opportunity. Some restaurants give out both a cup and straw as a mere convenience and a no-straw policy implementation in such businesses can make a big difference. By initially targeting coastal areas of the United States to adopt eco-friendly methods, eventually this transition could inspire a nation-wide law to ban plastic straws to globally shift society-environment interactions to sustainability. While eliminating plastic straws entirely is ideal, it is difficult to make an abrupt shift; an attainable solution is to gradually switch to bio-degradable and eco-friendly straws like glass, metal,
Climate change and environmental sustainability has become one of the most prevalent issues within corporate systems. Waste reduction is an important aspect of environmental sustainability that all organizations should consider. The restaurant and bar industries significantly contribute to waste production as they use a great deal of single-use plastic items. One of the most wasteful, and most futile, plastics that are used in restaurants and bars are straws. Many establishments throughout Canada have already sworn off straws which enables them to reduce waste while simultaneously saving money. This proposal will identify the positive impact that reducing or discontinuing the use of straws and other disposable plastics within The
Nowadays, consumers’ demand for drinking stuff is developing rapidly. As a result, drink industries are growing faster and faster. Well, there is nothing to discuss if “drink products” do not relate to a plastic straw. Besides the plastic bags, plastic straw is also a primary factor that affects our environment. The straws’ size is small, but their amount is not small at all. According to the information from an article in www.bbc.com, it stated, “Wetherspoon, which hands out 70 million straws a year, says bar staff had complained about chucking vast quantities of used straws away
Is anybody aware that on a daily basis you could be consuming the 5 million tonnes of plastic that enters the sea annually? That is why today I will be informing you on the dangers and risks of animal and human lives due to ocean pollution. Clearly, I am against the actions of these careless people. The trash and plastic that is thrown onto the streets everyday ends up blowing into the water and polluting our world’s beautiful oceans.
In the National Geographic article “Eight Million Tons of Plastic Dumped in Ocean Every Year”, author Laura Parker expresses how violent the simple act of dumping trash into the ocean really turns out to be. This article goes into depth telling exactly what plastics pollution is causing, where it’s mostly coming from, and what you can do to decrease this problem and help save both our planet and ocean wildlife.
In 1988, it was determined that the United States alone, was producing 30 million tonnes of plastic per year (Derraik, J.G.B., 2002). This can be compared with the global and annual production of 260 million tonnes of plastic as of 2012 (Pearson, E., 2014). Plastics are lightweight, durable, and cheap to make. This makes them incredibly easy to sell and manufacture. However, these attributes are many of the reasons why plastics are the most prominent type of marine debris, and why they are a serious hazard to various ecosystems and the organisms that live within them (Derraik, J.G.B.,
The reason for millions of people using plastic water bottles is that everyone needs to drink water. However, many people do not know that a plastic bottle can be more harmful than beneficial for the drinker’s health. Refillable water bottles (which may be plastic but are made for refillable use) should be used instead of plastic bottles because they are cheaper, healthier, and better for the Earth.
The ocean’s vast marine life is dying more and more each year due to plastic. Over 100,000 marine animals die each year from plastic entanglement and ingestion says Gianna Andrews, author of the 2012 “Plastic in our Oceans Affecting Human Health” on ser.carlton. Chemicals in the plastic are also intoxicating the marine life. Reducing the use of plastic could save thousands of sea animals and make our ocean a cleaner place. There are many questions concerning our ocean, like how much plastic is in our ocean? What are the effects? How do we stop it? These questions will be answered by explaining and describing our ocean’s plastic.
Earth is drowning in plastic and it is time that we really dig deep on this issue as it’s already affecting the oceans ecosystem. Laws should be passed to make it illegal to dump trash in the ocean and alternative methods of trash disposal need to be sought. Used water bottles, plastic bags, coffee cups, and fish nets make up a huge portion of the Great Pacific garbage patch, this can be avoided by simply passing legislation to make it illegal to dump trash in the ocean. Raising awareness starts with informing your family and friends of what they can do to help reduce their plastic usage and explain to them why it is harmful to the environment. Reduce your everyday plastic usage such as sandwich bags, water bottles, and plastic utensils. These efforts may not sound like much to combat such a huge global issue, but in this instance educating others and developing good habits is our most powerful weapon if we to live in a cleaner, safer
In conclusion, it should have been learned that the issue of plastic pollution has become ruinous. The cost of repair and the inconvenience of lifestyle changes cannot compare to the frightful future this planet is headed. At current rates, hazards are not just inflicted on Earth's oceans but individual human health and the other creatures that rightly inhabit this land. With this concern
150,000 tons of plastic are littered into our ocean each year, yet we do nothing to stop it. Plastic is capable of being deformed continuously and permanently in any direction without rupture, making it almost impossible for the plastic to disintegrate. Our population uses plastic for almost everything, once these objects are used they are left in the street, beaches, and other places, natural sources then carry the objects into the oceans. There, the plastic becomes stuck in currents, where it takes years to disintegrate. The only people benefiting from this are companies who produced the plastic. The problem is this plastic is harming marine life. Some simple solutions to this include using reusable water bottles instead of plastic water
The earth’s oceans take up roughly three fourths of the planet’s surface area and hold roughly 97 percent of all water on earth (Silverman). It is important that people make sure that the oceans are kept clean because the ocean contains many essential elements for the survival of both humans and animals. A rising problem that is not often brought up is the increasing amounts of man-made debris, especially plastic, that are accumulating in these waters that is slowly effecting the oceans ecosystem as well as the health of humans. Some may argue that the plastics have little effect on the environment but the facts show that this is not the case. The amount of ocean debris has increased
Since 1985, America has used plastic bags due to them being waterproof and having handles making them easier to carry goods. Paper and plastic have always been a huge controversy in supermarkets through the preference of customers. Some customers prefer having the paper bags standing up straight in the trunks of their cars. Other customers prefer the plastic bags because of the handles making it easier to walk home and carry their goods. Although both preferences are fine, all customers know the dangers of the plastic bag. Banning plastic bags from stores and replacing them with only paper or reusable bags, will reduce corruption of organic products, reduce CO2 emissions from the creation and destruction of the plastic and prevent harm
Where does all the plastic go. Every bit of plastic that has been created is still here. This is because plastic is one-hundred percent non-biodegradable! Even the most degraded plastic down to polymers cannot be digested by bacteria (Laist, 1997). If global issues like starvation and climate change are not enough to stress on, the weight of an issue literally churning in the Pacific Ocean is startling. For decades the majority of the world’s population has not been properly educated on the nature of plastic and the potential harm it can do to our environment and our physical health. Due to factors of man and the natural effects of nature, a major problem has developed that is now harming our food.
The numbers of how much plastic and trash that are dumped into our oceans every year are sickening. According to Julie Mailto (2017) from her website Plastic Oceans, “More than 8 million tons of plastic are dumped into our oceans every year” (para. 1). Plastic debris in oceans affect more than just simply ocean plants. Around 250 species of ocean animals are affected and are known to suffer from the consequences of severe plastic pollution. Reusable plastics are a great alternative to single use plastics. By using refillable water bottles the amount of plastic waste could be drastically decreased. Not using plastic straws, silverware, and sandwich bags could also lessen the effect of waste in our oceans. Recycling is the best way to cut back on how much debris ends up in the water. I have been recycling since I can remember. If people got paid to recycle then everyone would without question. I believe recycling should be a law in our state because it already is in other states and has been shown to reduce waste pollution so I believe it needs to be implicated in ours.
Many individuals underestimate the amount of plastic we use each day. According to the article “Plastic Bags Wars”, “the world consumes 1 million plastic shopping bags every minute”. Plastic bags, along with many other types of plastics, have become a leading source of pollution worldwide (Doucette). Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita foundation states that we use two million plastic bottles in the United States every five minutes. Discovered by Charles Moore in 1997, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is a prime example of the amount of plastic pollution that enters the