Advantages And Disadvantages Of Plastic

It has a direct and deadly effect on wildlife. Plastic debris, laced with chemicals is often ingested by marine animals and can injure or poison wildlife. Cattle and other animals are ingesting it, a substance that doesn’t break down, piling up within them. Thousands of marine mammals are killed after ingesting plastic mistaking it for food or getting caught in it. The marine animals mainly affected are: sea turtles, ingesting plastic; seals and sea lions, entangled in packaging; seabirds like the Laysan albatross, ingesting plastic; fish, consume and breath plastic; also whales and dolphins, consume 31% of the marine plastic

Overall, recycling plastic benefits the environment, the economy and the future of America. Although there are flaws to recycling plastic such as the sorting step overlooking additives and the washing step leaving some impurities, technological advances and more labor will be needed to fix those drawbacks in order to conserve the environment. Therefore, the U. S government should mandate recycling so that the recycling rate increase. Through this action, America will gain the benefits of recycling plastic. In addition, Americans should recycle specific types of plastic such as PET and HDPE as those two are the most commonly accepted by recycling programs. This will be strenuous upon Americans because they will have to do more work however,

Plastic's end of life cycle involves being discarded, either recycled for reuse or dumped into a landfill or the ocean. Recycling's popularity has significantly grown since the 1970's, as well as the overall number of plastic products being produced. In addition, the amount of plastic products being created as significantly increased over the past 60 years. Due to the endurance of polymers, plastic is filling up landfills faster than it should and invading our natural habitats. Recycling is one of the most critical things we can do for our environment. It can cut down on the amount of plastic in landfills as well. Recycling plastic reduces the need to create more plastic, which also cuts down on oil use and pollutants being released into the air. In the time that recycling has become more popular, technology has advanced to create more job

In fact, many of the major plastics used today began when commissioned to be used for the war effort (Freinkel, 6). When plastic was first brought to The United States, the American people loved it. Not only can plastic imitate other materials, but it is also much more affordable. Overall, plastic is cheap. The leap in plastic produced from the ‘40s until now is extremely substantial. For instance, in 1940 plastic was hardly used, in 1960 a single American used close to 30 pounds of plastic per year, today each individual uses more than 300 pounds of plastic per year (Freinkel, 6). A major impact on the amount of plastic used is directly related to the way Americans, starting in the 1940s, were now able to mass produce plastic products. For instance, a single plastic comb making machine could reproduce ten combs in less than one minute (Freinkel, 22). Overall, plastic is relatively inexpensive and it is made for mass manufacture. Considering this it is east to see why plastic became so popular in the first place, it was a plastic miracle. However, there is a direct relationship between the amount of plastic produced and the amount of plastics that are being polluted into the

Fish and birds could be harmed from accidentally eating the plastic particles, or absorbing substances that leach out into the water. The main problem is the accessibility to freshwater organisms that can be easily confused as natural food.

The plastic around the world is building up to become a huge world problem. Each year eight million tons of plastic

People would say that plastic in landfills would just stay there and if we keep on using plastic the waste problem would just worsen. I think that the problem here is why do people put plastics in landfills mixed with biodegradable materials. There are ways to properly recycle plastic. This comes to my third argument for why plastic beats paper. It is better because we could change its physical shape to things we really need. Richard Stein, from the University of Massachusetts, stated that plastics could be melted and formed into different structures such as propellers for wind turbines, food containers and many more [3]. Imagine being able to reuse plastic as long as the quality of it can still be recyclable, but if it isn’t anymore, Richard Stein also suggested that plastic could be converted to energy by burning it since it is made of petroleum [3].

avoid plastic as a whole will do us all a great deal of good. If we don't, we will surely

“The amount of plastic the world consumes annually has steadily risen over the past seventy years, from almost nil in 1940 to closing in on six hundred billion pounds today. We became plastic people really just in the space of a single generation” (Freinkel, 2011, p. 7). This quote is from the first chapter of Susan Freinkel ’s book, Plastic: A Toxic Love Story. She talks about how much plastic has taken over our world, but specifically in the past decade, she notes, we have produced more plastic than we did the entire 20th century (Freinkel, 2011, p. 10).

1. The main problem with plastics is that they will virtually never go away. Most consumers throw them away, but they do not go away, they just go elsewhere. Out of sight, out of mind. Animals suffer injury, and in many cases death, from their encounters with plastic. Animals can be harmed through entanglement, laceration, suffocation, and ingestion. Depending

One material dominates the entire world, a material incapable of degrading for centuries and used in all facets of life. While very new to the earth, this synthetic polymer has flourished rapidly since the 1950’s, and, still at full throttle in the 21st century, the Age of Plastic sees no imminent end. Plastic continues to ascend at an exponential rate as its plethora of uses extends to new branches of technology and innovation. Even with their differences, both the working class American and the CEO of an industrialized company utilize plastic for its low cost and versatility. Nevertheless, humanity cannot sustain this nonrenewable resource for long, and eventually the issues of this material will one day outnumber the benefits.

In response to the growth of our world indiscriminate use of plastic bags, Summers (2013) has stated that the plastic bad is harmful for people and environment in his article “Bag ban bad for freedom and environment”. He uses some facts, examples, statistical data and rhetorical question. Also, he tried to make emotionally readers when he explained how many jobs can be lost because of the bill and how much waste is caused by plastic bags to compare with paper.

The capstone problem statement: The long term effect of plastic not being recycled properly and thrown into the environment will be devastating. Thiers enough plastic water bottles to actually stretch around the earth three times. The energy we waste using plastic water bottles would be enough energy to power 190,000 homes. Plastic bottles make up to nearly 63% of all plastics accumulated in streams, lakes, and rivers. There are billions of tons of plastic in the oceans causing a substantial amount of damage to marine wildlife. Plastic is so common its injuring humans chemically 93% of all humans over the age of 6 are tested positive for the plastic chemical BPA. The production of plastic water bottles has increased the amount of plastic accumulated in water sources while also damaging humans and wildlife. Plastic water bottles decompose after dozens of years and if incinerated, they will release harmful chemicals into the atmosphere, for example chlorine gas and ash containing heavy metals.

The film Plastic Planet takes an in- depth look of our modern world and it’s major production and consumption of plastic. Released in the year 2010, director Werner Boote reminisces on the time spent with his most memorable childhood figure, his grandfather. Whose fascination at the time was focused toward the production of plastic and what it held for the future to come. This fascination carried on into Boote’s adult life and after considerable research formed from around the world spurred him to ask the question, Is plastic dangerous? In completion, of this film analysis it is my goal to properly convey what was discussed within the hour and thirty- five minute film, and my analysis of the directors finished product.

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.