The Capstone Problem Statement : The Long Term Effect 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

Plastic water bottles are considered one of the healthiest beverages you can find in any shop. But are they really all that healthy for the environment, or is there a fine line between a plastic bottled water drink and what’s best for everyone? Let’s take a look at bottled water from the very start to find out. To manufacture plastic bottles, polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is used, and to produce PET, crude oil and natural gas is required. If one fills a plastic water bottle 1/4th full with oil, they will be looking at how much oil was used to make that one bottle, so how much oil does it take to make all of America’s water bottles? According to the Pacific Institute, in 2006, making plastic water bottles

There are many impacts that bottled water has on the environment. The choice of packaging determines many impacts. The bottles, which are either plastic, aluminum, or glass, that are not recycled are thrown into landfills and buried. According to the Container Recycling Institute, 86% of plastic water bottles in the United States become garbage. If water bottlers would have used 10% recycled materials in their plastic bottles in 2004, they would have saved the equivalent of 72 million gallons of gasoline. If they used 25%, they would have saved enough energy to power more than 680,000 homes for a year (Jemmott, 2008). Incinerating used bottles produces toxins such as chlorine gas and ash. Water bottles that get buried can take up to thousands of years to biodegrade. The most common type of plastic is polyethylene

The problem with plastic ending up in the ocean is that marine life is being harmed by the presence of it. A study done on the harbor seals in the Netherlands found that more than 12% had plastic in the digestive system (California Coastal Commission). The list of affected species indicates that marine debris is affecting a significant number of species. It affects at least 267 species worldwide, including 86% of all sea turtle species, 44% of all seabird species, and 43% of all marine mammal species (Save our shores). The problem is underestimated because the marine life that ingests plastic or dies from entanglement often goes undiscovered due to the vastness of the ocean, as they either sink or are eaten by predators before they are discovered (Plastic Debris). The potential harm from ingestion of plastics is not restricted to seabirds. Plastic bags drifting on ocean currents resemble the prey of turtles. There is evidence that their survival is being hindered by plastic debris with young sea turtles being vulnerable (Ocean pollution). Over the past 20 years polychlorinated biphenyls (PCBs) have polluted marine food webs at an increasing rate, and are prevalent in seabirds. Though their adverse effects may not always be apparent, PCBs lead to reproductive disorders, increase the risk of disease and alter hormone levels. These chemicals have a detrimental effect on marine organisms even at very low levels and plastic pellets could be a route for PCBs into marine food

Some ways that plastic enters the marine environment can be  through improper waste management, intentional or accidental dumping and littering near shorelines or at sea, or it could even be through stormwater runoff carrying them to sea. “Plastics are used in many aspects of daily life and are a big part of our waste stream. Many plastics are colorful and will float in water, which makes plastic debris a very visible part of the marine debris problem.”(OR&R's Marine Debris)”. Plastic is used by humans everyday because it is in mostly everything. From phones to water bottles to your toothbrush. Plastic comes in many colors and can easily seen floating on the water's surface. That means that it is even easier for fish to see and be mistaken for food.

In the article, "Plastic in Our Oceans", Kimberly Amaral discusses the everyday uses of plastic and how it can be beneficial to humans, but harmful to marine life. As fishermen casually dump waste overboard, animals mistake it for food sources, such as a turtle mistaking a plastic grocery bag for a jellyfish. From the trash brought out to sea, gyres, large circulations of water, carry the garbage through currents, spreading it to all over the ocean, specifically to the central gyre. Amaral notes common ways for marine life to die from plastic, which include entanglement by plastic rings, consumption of plastic bags and pellets which stuff the intestines and lead to health problems, and suffocation. As researchers today work hard to discover

Over the few years, humans have discarded millions of tons of garbage into the oceans. Ever wonder where the cup you threw out this morning will end up? Or the plastic spoon you used for lunch? How about the cap of a water bottle? The calamitous plastic ends up in the water, taking thousands of years to decompose. The consumption of plastic by the marine life is perilous and the leading cause of death for life on shore.

Every year, millions of tons of plastic are tossed into the ocean, harming all types of marine animals as well as the environment. Hundreds of marine mammals like whales and dolphins are found washed ashore filled with bottle caps, plastic bags and basically anything they can swallow. Not only does plastic pollution harm marine life, but it affects the entire ecosystem. If a predator is dependent on a certain species for prey and the predator has a role in the environment, it is important for the prey to not be disturbed by pollution. If that species of prey were to go extinct, then the predator species could be seriously impacted as a result. These problems warrant the need for more research into the magnitude and causes of plastic

According to Oceana, the agency in charge of protecting the world’s oceans, the number one pollutant in the North Pacific Gyre is still plastic. Oceana remains unsure of the quantity of plastic in the water. Our “need” for plastic has harmed innocent little creatures and ourselves as well when we should be searching for safer alternatives instead.

Everyday people visit grocery stores where the majority of products sold are liquids wrapped in plastic. The top sold item in supermarkets today is water. Many people believe that drinking bottled water in grocery stores is safer than drinking tap water, and as a result, plastic is damaging our animal life and oceans. These plastic bottles are often stored in open face refrigerators, freezers and non refrigerated aisles. Unfortunately plastic, after manufactured with coal, is simply used once then thrown away. It is within our reach to educate the general public on more viable resources for obtaining drinking water rather than encourage

The water bottle industry is one of the fastest growing industries in the United States. This being said, our landfills are filled with more than eighty five percent of plastic bottles. Their long lifetime and thoughtless consumers are not only filing our dumps with these plastic bottles, but hurting our oceans too. Since water bottles do not biodegrade, they can float aimlessly on the ocean surface for years. They also may cause a passing predator to be fooled into thinking it is a resting prey. Little did that predator know, they were going to have a serious stomach ache trying to digest a plastic bottle. It also pollutes the soil and waterways as well. Besides the space water bottles physically fill, their production waste is just as dire. In America alone, we use about seventeen

We 're treating the oceans like a trash bin: around 80 percent of marine litter originates on land, and most of that is plastic. Plastic that pollutes our oceans and waterways has severe impacts on our environment and our economy. Seabirds, whales, sea turtles and other marine life are eating marine plastic pollution and dying from choking, intestinal blockage and starvation. Scientists are investigating the long-term impacts of toxic pollutants absorbed, transported, and consumed by fish and other marine life, including the potential effects on human health.

With the combination of polymers that don’t biodegrade and mass overproduction, companies are harming the environment in severe ways. Plastic, a material seen everywhere, is a polymer made from oil. It is mass produced to make everything from shampoo bottles to automobiles and does not biodegrade. When it is eventually thrown out, the waste usually finds it way into the ocean, where it is either buried under sediment or eaten by marine life (Weisman 287-295). Creating a material that will ultimately kill marine life will undoubtedly wreak havoc on the

Plastic water bottles are seen and consumed everywhere. Without knowing the deadly effects that water bottles have on the environment, consumers will keep buying them and contribute to the problem. About 17 million barrels of oil are used each year solely to make water bottles

Due to their regurgitation ability; most studies have focused on the ingestion of plastic pollution by bird, this does little harm to birds used in the studies. The effects of ingestible plastic on fish have not been studied as thoroughly and no studies have been conducted on filter-feeding organisms, which do not possess a feeding mechanism which would allow them to distinguish between plastic and plankton. Plastic pollution is only getting worse due to increasing population of developing countries. A wide variety of marine species is known to be harmed by plastic debris. This could threaten the survival of certain species, especially since many are sadly endangered by other types of anthropogenic actions.