Pros And Cons Of Polyethylene

Throughout our entire planet, humans have made their mark of existence in innumerable beautiful and substantial ways; however, there are numberless ways that humans have put our planet, and the life living on it, in danger. Pollution is a problem that cannot easily be solved by one person; nonetheless, if more people would accomplish the meager changes necessary to lessen this problem, the plastic pollution on our planet could decrease greatly. Plastic pollution is slowly killing and disrupting our planet and the animals living on it; however, with a few changes to our everyday lives, we can help save the world.

Plastic isn’t known to be a substance made for consumption, but you may be eating it every day. In “Our Oceans Are Turning into Plastic…Are You?” the author Susan Casey is informing us how bad plastic is polluting our oceans. Susan Casey is the author of a New York Times best seller, “The Devils Teeth”, helped publish Into Thin Air and The Perfect Storm, and is the editor and chief of Oprah Winfrey’s Magazine “O”. She argues that these pollutants are doing damage in multiple facets, such as affecting food chains, disrupts organism reproduction, and directly cause the things we consume to be harmful to us. The author found many creative ways to appeal to all three persuasive appeals which are Logos, Pathos, and Ethos. Although the article was great at the end she added things that weren’t needed and seemed to just be there as filler.

When evaluating the environmental impact of polyethylene we need to take into consideration the input materials, and the amount of energy and emissions/wastes generated by the production processes. Although polyethylene presents fewer environmental hazards than other polymers, its production requires both hydrocarbons and chlorine; chlorine makes plastic’s impact on the environment even greater that it would if only hydrocarbons were required (Frosch & Gallopoulos, 1989). The use of non-renewable resources, chlorine and the energy-intensive nature of the production cycle itself together with the worldwide large-scale production of polyethylene and derivates, approximately 80 million metric tons per year (Piringer & Baner, 2008), make the environmental and human safety impact of polyethylene significant.

The author proves the falsehood of the long known assumption that plastic is a threat to our planet. By citing the research done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the author convinces his readers that not only are plastic bags not harmful as people think, but also beneficial. This surprises his audience and shows them how exaggerated the cries of environmentalists, which gets the readers wondering what else have they falsely believed in and what other information are paper-bags advocates hiding from them, and that pulls them into the argument and intrigues them further. Additionally, Summers lists the harmful consequences of using reusable bags by presenting research results and observations. This alarms the audience and raises concern in their

With over 5000 types of plastics, Heather explains that the problem is very complex. As plastic ends up in marine ecosystems it begins to pollute and has massive monetary effects. Marine litter costs Europeans billions annually though cleanup projects, damage to vessels, and fish catches. Heather also mentioned the harmful amounts of microbeads, which Megan Leslie banned in Canada, in the oceans that are harming small ocean ecosystems. She explained that the effects of marine litter on the economy and ecosystems are extensive, however she noted that there is one place that we haven't check for the harmful effects of plastic. People! Plastics are made with harmful toxic chemicals and it only makes sense that people would be as negatively affected by plastic as our ecosystems and economies are. When asked if parents should be worried about the plastic toys parents buy their children Heather explained how when children put plastic toys in their mouths they are potentially being exposed to toxic flame retardants. Heather explained that our economy is linear, which means it destructively uses finite resources and creates waste. Heather believes that we must create circular economies that feed into each other which would allow us to reuse our resources and recycle our waste (Leslie, H. 2017, February, 2). The idea of a circular economy relates back to the “Green Economics” where

There are many problems that we either face now, or might face in the future, but we do not really look at the problems. Rather, we ignore many of these and continue on our lives not thinking about any consequences. Weisman does not just discuss problems for the environment and move on. He goes into great detail as to why this is a problem, and what harm comes from each issue within the environment. When talking about the plastic, he talks about great effects from the waste such as what happens when animals eat the pieces. Degrading plastic is a problem as well. It gets broken down into extremely small pieces best seen with microscopes or as a group bunched together, yet this is still a problem. As Weisman states, “When they get as small as powder, even zooplankton will swallow them” (Weisman 146). No matter the size or type of plastic, it can be ingested by a variety of animals and

I mean for crying out loud my computer is made WITH plastic! Also after reading it I have started to feel a little bit of guilt. Not that it has me overly messed up it’s just got me asking questions. Such as, “How in the world can this issue be reversed?” Or “Am I compounding the issue with my own consumer notions?” Of course I personally find it disturbing that I would even be remotely linked to this issue. But I am. Most all of America is linked to it with the rest of the world following in suit. But I tend to try and put a positive spin on it myself so that maybe just maybe there is a solution. A clean up method that could work, or a better way of using our current materials so as to try and make our economy bounce back and stop or slow this whole water pollution issue. This chapter is now also making me consider whether or not the shrimp I ate at a restaurant awhile ago may have been affected as well. If it did then what effect has it had on me physically? Also, another thought that comes to mind is if it has had any major affects on the U.S. population as a whole? Or if it has anything to do with why our politicians don’t seem to do anything remotely right or close to what they say they are going to do. Then there is the fact that FOUR MILLION tons of plastic just up and poof, disappear, every year. That in itself could be a major factor in the U.S. economic crisis as well as a number of other ecological issues as

After Berrier saw the problem, he couldn’t stop seeing it, plastic was everywhere! So, he took some time to do research and show the world what the danger truly is with all this plastic. Yes, sure there is plastic everywhere, so what? Why is this a problem? Berrier uses this documentary to explain just that. To bring this big problem to the light, he covers three main topics: Single use disposable items and the effect on our environment, ocean health, and human health.

“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).

There are many accidental scientific discoveries in history, a very pertinent one being polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE) or Teflon. It is most popularly used on non-stick cookware, but is also used as a stain repellant, in the production of artificial body parts, as an electrical wire insulator, and as pipe lining to prevent corrosion, among others. Invented by Dr. Roy Plunkett, PTFE pushed the limits of innovation and has been used to improve human health. In recent years, controversy has risen as to the environmental effects PTFE has during production, and this has become a rising issue that is still being researched. While PTFE is considered serendipitous, a high degree of background knowledge on its components was needed in order to make conclusions as to what

An audience with an ability to grasp concepts based on their college experience and intelligence, I welcome my class members and my professor with amazing credentials to be able to lead and teach this course. The title of the article is Paper beats plastic? How to rethink environmental folklore written by Leyla Acaroglu. As you analyze life cycles, do you know someone who plays a part of the system that affects our natural environment? How does a person know if there actually reducing environmental impacts through their actions involving natural environment? There must be a common ground when it comes to an effective analysis in order to get a clearer picture of what effects the natural environment. Paper beats plastic, the fact that paper beats plastic can be monitored in how our interactions affect life on earth.

Encouraged by the global economy of supply and demand plastic production has taken a major hold of our entire lifestyles. To the extent that as stated multiple times within the film that there is no part of the modern world left untouched by plastic. However, the problem lies not with plastic as a whole, but with the individual chemical compounds that make up plastic. Klaus Rhomberg an environmental physician, states “Plastic decays over time through heat,abrasion, use, or through natural processes”. This decay overtime has been shown to have adverse effects as depicted in the film. Director Werner Bootes undergoes a long journey collecting and documenting evidence of just how harmful plastic has become after it has served its initial use and even before depending on the plastics’ chemical composition.

Increasing fossil energy cost as well as decreasing availability of petroleum based polymers; the researchers have been accelerated to search viable alternatives to reduce the burden of ecosystem. To date, intensified research have been conducted in biodegradable polymeric materials from natural resources in order to fulfil the requirements set by environmental regulation to develop a more sustainable and benign material [9, 5].Biodegradable polymers are obtained from natural resources like cellulose, starch or by biological reaction of renewable based monomer and it decompose into carbon dioxide and water molecules. Amongst the available biopolymers, poly (lactic acid) (PLA) is one of the most fascinating biodegradable polymeric materials and it has been used for many industrial applications ranging from packaging to automobiles owing to its ultimate strength along with recyclability. PLA produced from starch rich resources (corn,

Within the past several years, many people have had heated debates on the topic of what will make this planet greener and more environmentally friendly. Pollution is one of the leading anthropogenic - originating from human activity - causes, and it has been affecting the planet since the time of Ancient Rome. When people discuss pollution many automatically think of plastic, whether that be in lands, waterways, or the ocean, it has the ability to create interruptions in the environment. Because of this controversial topic, it all leads to the long debated question, paper or plastic? People are asked this question everyday, usually towards food shoppers, and it’s the average person's job to make an environmentally conscious decision upon which most are not educationally aware enough to do so. Although many have decided that paper versus plastic war has a simple solution, there are a majority of things that need to be taken into consideration from both sides in order to make the best educated and environmentally sound choice. Many people have been arguing over the paper or plastic debate to decide how and which resource is more cost efficient and does the least amount of damage. Overall, there are many factors that must be put into thought when having to decide on which type of material is considered better for the environment.

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.