Plastic has made many useful and amazing contributions to our economy and to science, but is does not make sense to produce it for single use. Global plastic production has increased by over 600% since 1975, totaling around 335 million metric tons in 2016. About half of this is used for single use products. Billions upon billions of items are choking our waterways, contaminating our oceans, and piling up in landfills where they can take over 500 years to disintegrate. Plastic pollution threatens wildlife, and our own health, as we consume plastic through both water and food. Plastic toxins are associated with increased risk of cancer, liver damage, and reproductive problems.
What items are we talking about? Bottles, bags, utensils, cups, straws, and packaging. Humans buy 1 million plastic bottles per minute, only about 23% of which are recycled. Approximately 4 trillion plastic bags are used annually worldwide, only 1% of which are recycled. Half a million straws are used in the world EVERY DAY.
However, the main cause of increased plastic production is packaging. About a third of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced annually is left to flow into our oceans, the equivalent of pouring one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute. Even the plastic disposed of in your trash can contribute to pollution, as landfills leak and the wind blows light-weight items away.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
Lori O'Dell McCollum, Co-Facilitator
PACG Environmental Forum
What items are we talking about? Bottles, bags, utensils, cups, straws, and packaging. Humans buy 1 million plastic bottles per minute, only about 23% of which are recycled. Approximately 4 trillion plastic bags are used annually worldwide, only 1% of which are recycled. Half a million straws are used in the world EVERY DAY.
However, the main cause of increased plastic production is packaging. About a third of the 78 million tons of plastic packaging produced annually is left to flow into our oceans, the equivalent of pouring one garbage truck of plastic into the ocean every minute. Even the plastic disposed of in your trash can contribute to pollution, as landfills leak and the wind blows light-weight items away.
WHAT YOU CAN DO
- Invest in a reusable water bottle.
- Invest in reusable bags. These are available everywhere. Bring them into the store with you.
- Decline use of straws, or bring your own paper or stainless steel straw.
- Stop using plastic utensils and cups.
- When shopping, try to find items with the least packaging, and make your feelings known to corporations, or better yet, reduce your consumption!
Lori O'Dell McCollum, Co-Facilitator
PACG Environmental Forum
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