Plastic pollution is a huge problem worldwide. In science class, we counted the amount of plastic in all the recycling bins in the school. The most common material found was plastic water bottles. The total amount of plastic water bottles was 32. The company with the most plastic was that we examined was Nestle. Scientist predict that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by the year 2050. In the article, Scientists Predict More Plastic than Fish in the Oceans by 2050-Here’s What We Can
trillion pieces of plastic debris in the ocean and of that mass, 269,000 float on the ocean surface, while about four billion plastic microfibers per square kilometer litter the deep sea (Parker, 2015). There is this much plastic trash because they are resistant to degradation, therefore, they can last for hundreds of years in the environment. The accumulation of plastic debris is a serious threat to our planet and it has harmed marine life as they ingest or get tangled in plastic debris. The numbers
Background The overuse of plastics in today's society has become major environmental issue for our oceans. Plastic pollution is the dumping, littering, or disposing of any type of man-made plastic that has been produced and has ended up in our ocean and has not been recycled. History of Plastic "Plastic" entered the world through chemistry in 1909 and was originally coined to describe Bakelite, the first fully synthetic resin. What make's plastic so unique is when it is heated it can be molded
the threat: Plastic debris and litter is a serious pollution that is currently affecting oceans, waterways and coastal lines. Plastic is a man made tangible substance made from a range of organic polymers such as polyethylene, PVC, and nylon. This material is high on demand with the human kind but takes an average of 450 years to disintegrate. This product is impacting the marine environment, wildlife, and then eventually circling back to humans. Currently, the world’s biggest plastic patch is located
for example, is among the longest and most remote island chains in the world. The 19 islands of the archipelago, including Midway atolls, receive massive quantities of plastic debris, shot out from the Pacific gyres (Smith, 2011). Some beaches are buried under 5 to 10 feet of plastic, while other beaches are riddled with “plastic sand”. One of the reasons marine debris accumulates in these islands is the movement of debris within the North Pacific Subtropical Convergence Zone (STCZ) (Steiner and
Plastic isn’t biodegradable which emphasises the lingering threat that plastic waste has posed for years and many more to come. Plastic is regarded as vital in our growing world today but slowly, society is realising that this material has a taste for enormous destruction to our oceans. With the increase in disposal of plastics in the ocean, it is more important now that people do anything they can to minimise their plastic usage. Before someone can better manage their plastic usage, one should ensure
The Global Impact of Plastic Pollution Entering Marine Ecosystems Approximately, 280 million tons of plastic is produced year round around the globe (Sigler, 2014) which accounts for 8% of the worldwide manufacturing for oil (Vegter, et al., 2014). Plastics are a major component in most consumer products; the reason being is that plastic is inexpensive, lightweight, durable, and an excellent insulator. For this reason, plastic can be found in most items from: storage containers, packaging material
surrounded by plastic. Plastic is found in our disposable pens, utensils, water bottles and so much more. To be exact, 300 million tons of plastic are produced each year. To humans, the abundance of reliance on plastic is no catastrophe for it is harmless. However, for marine life, plastic can be fatal because they mistakenly ingest it when 8 million tons swims its way into the ocean each year (Plastic Oceans). For instance, “fish in the North Pacific ingest 12,000- 24,000 tons of plastic each year”
With the ceaseless consumption of plastics, problems arise affecting the current state of the planet along with the existing life that depends on it, negatively impacting the future to come. As Leighton Kille and Rachael Stephens state in their Journalist’s Resource article “Plastics, Human Health and Environmental Impacts: The Road Ahead,” the readily usable products made of plastic create a hazard to people and the environment. Plastics, found in many products and made simple to dispose of, contain
would like for the nation to reduce the use of single use plastic due to the large amounts of waste from it. Not only do our landfills hoard massive amounts of mostly un-biodegradable plastic, but the use of plastic causes harm to a large amount of wildlife as well as humans. Just in the United States alone, more than thirty million tons of plastic is discarded a year and only approximately eight percent of it is recycled (Plastic Pollution Coalition). This may seem inaccurate until you stop and think