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Five Reasons Banning Plastics May Harm the Environment and Consumers

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Five Reasons Banning Plastics May Harm the Environment and Consumers

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Consumers beware: In response to plastic waste collecting in the oceans, states, businesses, and even the European Union have proposed absurd bans on the use of everyday plastic straws, cups, and other items in an attempt to solve ocean pollution.

This week, Starbucks pledged to remove plastic straws from its nearly 30,000 stores worldwide by 2020. Starbucks joins a going list of companies supporting this effort to decrease or ban the use of plastics: IKEA, Royal Caribbean, McDonald's, Hyatt, American and Alaska Airlines, and more.

Recently, the city of Seattle became the first U.S. city to ban plastic straws and utensils, and in May the European Union joined Great Britain and announced a proposal to ban single-use plastic items, including straws.

Banning plastics has been a growing trend over the last several years. But do such laws and policies actually help solve the problem of plastic waste filling up our oceans? Not exactly.

Here are five reasons from CEI's Angela Logomasini why banning consumer plastics actually diverts attention away from real solutions, and instead harms both consumers and the environment.

Most of the waste is not from consumers. The primary culprit of ocean pollution is not straws, cups, and plastic bags. According to the nonprofit The Ocean Cleanup, 46 percent of the Pacific patch is made up of fish nets. When combined with ropes and lines, it accounts for 52 percent of the trash. The rest ranges from large plastic crates and bottle caps to small fragments called microplastics. Obviously, this is not simply a consumer waste issue, and the solutions need to address that.

Studies show the vast majority of plastic waste is due to poor disposal practices outside of the United States. Data in a 2015 Science magazine report reveals that China and 11 other Asian nations are responsible for 77 to 83 percent of plastic waste entering the oceans because of poor disposal practices. These practices include littering, disposed waste that isn't managed, and uncontrolled or poorly supervised landfills. This is in contrast to U.S. waste management practices, like controlled landfills and recycling programs, that decreases water and ocean pollution. A 2017 Environmental Sciences and Technology study reported that up to 95 percent of plastic waste enters oceans from one of 10 rivers-eight in Asia and two in Africa.

Plastic is more sanitary and safer to use than other alternatives. Plastic items are more sanitary than other alternatives. For example, reusable bags often harbor bacteria and could pose a health risk for consumers. Plastic packaging reduces food waste and makes possible transporting and serving food in a way that reduces disease transmission. Recent claims to the contrary do not hold water.

Plastics have important environmental benefits. In many ways, plastics are better for the environment than other alternatives because they are more efficient and use less energy during production and transport. Plastic consumer goods like straws, foam cups, and utensils are less energy intensive to produce than alternatives like paper or aluminum. Production of these items takes more resources, creates more waste, and results in more pollution than the production of disposable plastic items. Reusable items like foam cups, straws, and bags require more than 100 uses-and in more than 1,000 in the case of foam cups-justify the energy required to produce them.

Plastics are economical. In addition to being more efficient and sanitary, plastic consumer products are also less expensive to produce than paper or aluminum alternatives. Because these items are cheaper to make, they are also less expensive for consumers both in the United States and around the globe. Bans of such economical items simply increase costs for businesses and ultimately consumers.

Bottom line. While bans on plastic consumer items like bags, cups, straws, and whatever else may be great material for grandstanding by politicians, they only divert attention from developing real solutions that actually tackle the problem of plastic waste in our oceans. This includes improving the quality of waste management practices around the globe, but particularly in Asia and Africa.
Read more from CEI Senior Fellow Angela Logomasini on why banning consumer plastics won't solve ocean pollution .

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Five Reasons Banning Plastics May Harm the Environment and Consumers - Competitive Enterprise Institute

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Consumers beware: In response to plastic waste collecting in the oceans, states, businesses, and even the European Union have proposed absurd bans on the use of everyday plastic straws, cups, and other items in an attempt to solve ocean pollution. This week, Starbucks pledged to remove plastic straws from its nearly 30,000 stores worldwide by [...]

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Five ways that plastics harm the enviroment

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Five ways that plastics harm the enviroment

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This article was made in April 23, 2018. This supports my claim and relates to my topic. It was written by Grrlscientist on Forbes.com. This is to inform the reader.

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Plastics may actually be co-opted to help reduce harm to the environment -- but only if we stop screwing it up in all those other ways we mess with it

In 1992, a shipping container filled with 28,000 "rubber" duckies was lost after it fell into the sea somewhere between Hong Kong and the United States. Even today, those plastic bath toys still wash ashore from time to time ( link), even in totally different oceans as far away as the eastern seaboard of the United States, as well as the coasts of Britain and Ireland. That flotilla of escaped plastic ducks joins millions of Lego pieces, sneakers, styrofoam insulation, plastic crates and a plethora of other items lost at sea ( link) that -- surprisingly -- are teaching us about ocean currents and about the astonishing indestructibility of plastics in marine environments.

But all this plastic waste is very harmful: listed here are the five ways that plastics harm the environment, birds and wildlife -- and even people. But as with anything, even plastics may actually have a beneficial use, despite the damage they are causing.
1. Plastic is ubiquitous
Plastic debris is found absolutely everywhere, from the Arctic to Antarctica. It clogs street drains in our cities; it litters campgrounds and national parks, and is even piling up on Mount Everest ( link). But thanks runoff, and to our fondness for directly dumping our trash into the nearest river or lake, plastic is growing increasingly common in the world's oceans.

Mountains of plastic trash have been found everywhere in the world's oceans, from one of the remotest specks of dirt on the planet, Henderson Island, a tiny uninhabited coral atoll in the middle of the Pacific Ocean ( ref), to the deepest spot on Earth, the Mariana Trench ( ref), which plummets to a depth of 10,994 meters (36,070 feet) below sea level. As that flotilla of escaped rubber duckies demonstrated, floating plastic even forms massive "garbage patches" swirling slowly in the middle of the Pacific Ocean, thousands of kilometers away from land.

But more than floating around in the water column, plastic trash is found in the guts of more than 90% of the world's sea birds ( ref), in the stomachs of more than half of the world's sea turtles ( ref), and it's even choking the life out of whales ( ref). At the rate at which plastic is accumulating in the oceans of the planet, it's predicted that, by 2050, the mass of plastic in the world's oceans will exceed the mass of all the fish that live there ( ref).
2. Plastics are one of the main products of fracking
We already know that fracking is bad for the planet -- it pollutes water, soil and air with toxins, it creates underground cavities that collapse into sinkholes, and it raises pressure in underground rock formations, destabilizing them and leading to earthquakes, even in places where earthquakes are uncommon. Adding insult to injury, one of the main products of fracking is ... plastics. Basically, fossil fuels removed from shale and other rock formations are turned into resin pellets that are used to manufacture ever more plastics, plastics that are easily discarded, plastics that usually are designed to be single use.

You may not know that plastics manufacturers are dangerous to the environment, to wildlife and to people in other ways, too. For example, the British chemical industry giant, Ineos, has 75 manufacturing facilities in 22 countries, including the United States. In addition to contributing to growing mountains of plastic rubbish, Ineos facilities can boast an impressive -- and growing -- record of fires, explosions, and chemical leaks.

"The Ineos facility in Cologne, Germany was the site of a massive fire in 2008, and there have been a series of high profile accidents elsewhere -- a major oil leak in Norway, a number of chemical leaks in France, long-running controversies over chemical dumping in Italy, and the release of toxic gas that resulted in the hospitalization of workers in Belgium," according to a report ( ref) written by Food and Water Watch and Food and Water Europe.
3. Plastics kill more than just people
In the last few months, the effects upon wildlife that come from eating, or becoming entangled in, plastic debris have been reported more widely and more often than ever before, leading to public outcry and protests.

These tragic events should come as no surprise: there are an estimated 270,000 tons of plastic floating through the world's seas where it threatens 700 marine species with its presence ( ref). Further, there is growing evidence that plastics play a role in rising rates of species extinctions.

But entangling or lodging inside the digestive tract of an unfortunate victim, like whales and other marine mammals, birds, sea turtles and fishes, is not the end of the line, because plastics do not biodegrade, nor are they digestible. Instead, large plastic pieces break into smaller fragments that are easy for even more animal species to consume. Eating plastics results in malnutrition, intestinal blockage, or slow poisoning from chemicals leached from or attached to plastics.

It's almost as if seabirds and other marine animals are intentionally seeking out plastics and consuming them -- but why? Recent research proposed that plastics in the oceans become covered with marine algae that release a natural sulfur compound, dimethylsulfoniopropionate (DMSP), when they die or become damaged. This chemical is detected by hungry seabirds and other marine creatures, which are attracted to it and then they mistake plastics for lunch ( ref).

Not even microscopic animals, collectively known as zooplankton, are safe from ingesting plastics ( ref), the only difference being that they consume microscopic plastic bits. Similar to plastics consumption by larger animals, microplastics can result in reduced feeding, energetic deficiencies, injury, or death of zooplankton ( ref) -- A Very Bad Thing since zooplankton are part of the essential foundation upon which the entire marine food web rests.
4. Not all plastic is recyclable and not all recyclable plastic is recycled
People are often confused by the terms, "break down" versus "biodegradable" (or "compostable"). When plastics are broken down, this simply means one large piece of plastic is reduced into a bunch of smaller pieces of plastic. These smaller pieces of plastic can be consumed by smaller animals, but are still indigestible.

A minority of plastics are "compostable" or "biodegradable", which means they can be reduced to their chemical components by, say, your home compost. Other plastics can only be successfully composted by industrial or municipal facilities after first being separated from other, non-biodegradable, plastics.

Unfortunately, most people are confused as to which plastics fall into this biodegradable category, and this confusion often is most apparent when confronted with unfamiliar plastics in unfamiliar places. For example, are plastic water bottles purchased, say, at the airport biodegradable? Should they be disposed into the recycling bin or into the food waste bin? It's often challenging to know, especially since little useful information is typically available to quickly make a decision.
5. Most plastics last forever
Once again, as demonstrated by the 1992 rubber duckie escape, plastics survive even the harshest conditions, such as floating around in a marine environment under blistering, unrelenting sunshine or frozen into Arctic ice for years before finally floating away and landing on some faraway shore. For this reason, plastics will probably outlast humanity itself. It is this apparent immortality leads me to my last point, which is that plastics may be co-opted for good.
Plastics could be used to benefit the environment
It is tempting to demonize plastics, but realistically, plastics themselves are not inherently evil. Plastics make life better, and easier, for us. For example, one of the first things you use every morning and one of the last things you use every night -- your toothbrush -- is made of plastics. Every time you visit your supermarket, you meet many sorts of plastics that serve as packaging to prolong the freshness of foods, and in a hospital, a variety of plastics help prolong your life.

In fact, it is the immortality of plastics has inspired some enterprising researchers to begin thinking "outside of the box" to develop innovations to re-purpose already existing plastics, perhaps to even reduce the effects of climate change. How?

The key lies in the chemical structure of plastics. Plastics are made of long chains -- polymers -- of carbon molecules, such as carbon dioxide (CO2) and methane (CH4). Methane gas is a molecule in cow farts that is eighty times more powerful than CO2 for causing climate change. CO2 gas is produced by burning natural things, like gas, oil, wood or plastics, and for this reason, we produce far more CO2 than methane, so the cumulative effects of all that CO2 are much greater than those of methane gas. Basically, if we could permanently remove a portion of CO2 or CH4 gases from the atmosphere by sequestering them into plastics, we would effectively be preventing these gases from causing further damage to the climate.

One such enterprising company, Mango Materials, a small start-up in California, is working to reduce the methane gas problem in wastewater treatment plants by harnessing the ability of particular microbes to capture methane and stick them together to create polymers that then can be manufactured into larger and more useful pieces of plastic.

Another company, which was listed included in Forbes's 2018 "30 under 30" list in Manufacturing and Industry ( link), is Filabot. This company converts already existing plastics, like water bottles, into plastic filaments that are used by 3D printers. This repurposes plastic waste into other useful forms instead of dumping it into the ocean, or incinerating it, which then liberates CO2 into the atmosphere where it can contribute to climate change.

Mother Nature herself has a number of clever innovations that we are only beginning to discover and to understand. For example, there is evidence that at least some animals, such as caterpillars ( link), manage to provide homes to their own special collection of gut microbes that can biodegrade at least some sorts traditionally non-biodegradable plastics -- a discovery that could lead to innovations in truly recycling plastics. And just last week, a paper was published that discusses how a group of Japanese scientists developed a "mutant enzyme" that can degrade the traditionally non-biodegradable plastic, PET, which comprises plastic water bottles ( ref). This "mutant enzyme" is 20% more efficient than its original form, produced by the microbe, Ideonella sakaiensis 201-F6.

Hopefully these new innovations and discoveries will inspire yet more creative thinkers to harness the power of their imaginations, perhaps assisted by vast armies of microbes, so we can re-purpose apparently immortal plastics into other useful forms -- maybe even a few more rubber duckies -- whilst preventing the escape of damaging CO2 and CH4 into the atmosphere.

Five Ways That Plastics Harm The Environment (And One Way They May Help) | @GrrlScientist

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Five Ways That Plastics Harm The Environment (And One Way They May Help)

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Plastics may actually be co-opted to help reduce harm to the environment -- but only if we stop screwing it up in all those other ways we mess with it

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54 of the ways to live that no single use plastic life so you can #savetheturtles

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54 of the ways to live that no single use plastic life so you can #savetheturtles

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This article was made in December 20 2018. This relates to my topic and agrees with it. The author is Stephanie Osmanski and is on Parade.com. This article is to inform.

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More by Stephanie

It's nearly 2020 and it sometimes feels like our society is just starting to figure out that plastic sucks. Like, really-all plastic is pretty terrible. It ends up in our oceans, kills our wildlife, plants, and natural habitats, emits dangerous greenhouse gases that exacerbate global warming, and somehow, even makes its way back into our own bellies as microplastics. Say it with me: Gross.

But single-use plastic in particular is some of the worst stuff on (and for) the planet. If you're new to the sustainable living game, single-use plastic is a plastic item specifically designed for a single use.

So, for example, you use a sandwich baggie to house your lunch, remove the sandwich, and throw away the baggie. #SingleUsePlastic. You grab a plastic bag at the store to bag your fruits and veggies. You bring the produce home in the bag, then throw out the bag. #SingleUsePlastic. You're parched while out in public so you visit the nearest vending machine and buy a bottle of water for $3. Once you finish the water, you throw out (or even recycle!) the bottle.

It's still #SingleUsePlastic even if you throw it in the recycling bin, as even correctly-recycled single-use plastic can find its way into our oceans and also doesn't break down in landfills for hundreds of years.

So, how can you break this single-use plastic cycle? By reading up on the best plastic-free tips and tricks.

Here are the 50 best tips and tricks for living plastic-free:

Tips for getting started on a plastic-free life

More and more stores are banning plastic bags (or by "banning" we mean, charging for them, too). If you want to help the planet and also save yourself the five cents for a plastic bag at the store, bring your reusable tote bags whenever you go shopping.

Reusable tote bags aren't the only way to cut down on plastic when shopping. Did you know that single-use produce bags aren't the only option you have at the grocery store? Sure, it's the option food stores provide in the produce section, but you can actually bring your own reusable produce bag to most grocery stores and they'll honor it. "One of the best alternatives we use is reusable produce bags," says Hayley Tillard, Co-Founder and Director at EcoLust. "The ones we get in particular are made from recycled plastic bottles and are mesh with a drawstring. They are super light so they won't add too much weight when buying fruit and veg and because they are mesh they allow the produce to breathe and you can wash your haul while they are still in the bag. They also are great for hiking, you can fill one with nuts, seeds, lollies and chocolate to keep your energy levels up."

Now for tip #3. Once you invest in a few reusable mesh produce bags and reusable tote bags, make sure to leave them in your car or somewhere where you will remember them. There's nothing more annoying than getting to the grocery store and realizing you don't have your reusable bags. #SustainableLivingFAIL!

"Being prepared at all times is something I have learnt the hard way, multiple times," Tillard says. "Going to a restaurant, you would think you wouldn't need to bring your reusable cutlery but some places only serve plastic cutlery. Having a reusable straw, cutlery, and tote bag can help you avoid almost any situation when you are out and about."

Tip #5 is invest in - those are tips #6 and #7. If you end up bringing leftovers home, you'll avoid the single-use plastic often involved in takeout by instead bringing your own sustainable container and tote bag to carry it in. For sustainable containers, glass, silicone, or stainless steel are reusable cutlery and keep it on you at all times (in the car, in a bag, etc.). When eating out, you'll also want to bring a tote bag and sustainable to-go container better reusable options than plastic.

While you're at it, you may want to throw a reusable, sustainable straw into that tote bag, too. Reusable straws can be made from many different materials including glass, stainless steel, and even bamboo.
Related: The 10 Best Metal Straws on Amazon.com
Speaking of a to-go tote, keeping a tote of all the to-go zero-waste essentials will do wonders whenever you find yourself traveling or even while running errands. "Bringing a reusable tote bag packed with travel cutlery, a reusable water bottle, a travel cup, and produce bags can help you avoid much of the single use plastic waste that pollutes our oceans, landfills, and ground waters," says Gonzalez. Throw a straw in there and you won't accidentally find yourself trying to drink a smoothie as if it's water.

Speaking of water, you'll want to avoid single-use plastic water bottles whenever possible. To do this, keep a reusable water bottle on hand at all times. "Instead of buying disposable bottles of water, everyone in my family has their own reusable water bottle," says Addie Fisher of The Old World New. "To fill it up, we use a Brita water filter and recycle the filter cartridges through Brita and Terracycle."

Water filters are a great way to make sure your water is "clean" and devoid of harmful toxins, but in most cases, filters are made from plastic. If you want to ditch plastic 100%, you could choose a charcoal stick. Charcoal sticks naturally detoxify water and each stick can be used for as long as three months each. No plastic and no toxins!
Related: Rub-A-Dub-Dub-Here's a Step-By-Step Process to Cleaning Your Metal Straw
Plastic-free tips for the home

Start slowly. According to Melanie Gonzalez, Founder of Simple Good, "The most important thing to remember when you start your journey to reducing plastic is to do it slowly." Gonzalez has a point-in order to reduce plastic, you have to use it all up first. "Simply throwing away all your plastic actually adds to the plastic waste in our landfills and having to buy lots of new things is costly," she adds.

Give composting a go. It may seem daunting to get into composting, but it's actually even easier than throwing something in the trash. If you have a yard, you can start a backyard compost or if you live in an apartment or residence without yard access, you can invest in an indoor compost bin. Any organic food scraps that would break down on their own - egg shells, veggie and fruit scraps and peels, cardboard egg boxes, paper, and even things like leaves - should be added to the compost.

Try a - as they can be used for up to one year-but they're also healthier for silicone sponge in place of a conventional sponge. Not only do silicone sponges have a longer life span you, since they're not as porous as traditional sponges. All the nooks and crannies of traditional sponges actually hold onto bacteria longer, which can make you sick and reintroduce the dishes to bacteria.

Say no to plastic baggies of all kinds. Sandwich baggies? You don't need them anymore. A great sustainable alternative to sandwich baggies and freezer baggies are silicone bags. Brands like Stasher, ACCA, and LunchSkins make reusable baggies in snack bag, sandwich, and even bigger sizes. Even better: Silicone bags can be used to cook and can even go in the freezer.

Give biodegradable garbage bags a whirl. Did you know traditional garbage bags actually don't break down? They can't-they're made of plastic! So, how can the garbage inside of these bags break down? The answer is it can't either. Even if you throw a banana peel in there. It won't break down inside the plastic bag! That's why it's important to invest in biodegradable bags like Bio Bags, which break down on their own as to give the trash inside a chance to also break down.

Plastic-free tips for the bathroom

There's more plastic and single-use plastic associated with your bathroom than you may realize. Did you know your toothbrush is primarily made from plastic? Sure, it's designed for more than a single use, but even still, toothbrushes account for 50 million pounds of the trash that sits in landfills in the U.S. Tillard recommends bamboo toothbrushes as an alternative. "Bamboo is a sustainable material and very durable," Tillard says. "When the toothbrush comes to the end of its life, remember to break off the head of the brush with the bristles and throw that in the bin and the bamboo handle can be composted."

Toothbrushes aren't the only mainly plastic item in your bathroom wreaking havoc. Have you ever considered how much plastic it takes to make a razor? And if you keep throwing out your disposable razors, how much waste that equates to? According to the EPA, 2 billion razors are thrown away each year. "Switching from disposable razors to safety razors is a priority," says Gonzalez. "This switch can also save you money since you can buy a great safety razor for under $20 that will last you a lifetime. And because the blades (as well as the razor) are recyclable, we can keep lots of plastic out of the landfill."

Your shampoo, conditioner, and body wash are likely packaged in plastic. But how can you avoid plastic packaging when seemingly every brand makes shampoo, conditioner, and shower gel in plastic bottles? Two words: bar soaps! Bar soaps aren't just for washing your hands. "A great first step would be to switch to bar soap for your body and hair. Water is the first ingredient in body wash and shampoo and is added by manufacturers so that you run out faster," says Gonzalez. "You can find all-natural soaps that are package-free (and cruelty free, too) that will last you the equivalent of three medium size plastic bottles!"
Related: Eco-Friendly Products That Make It Easy to Be Green on Earth Day (and Every Day)
Here's another tip once you switch to bar soaps. Actually, it's more of a hack, really. "I recommend buying yourself a soap saver sack for your bar soaps," adds Gonzalez. "Soap savers help you prolong the life of the soap by allowing the soap bar to dry out between uses, helps prevent the soap from breaking apart, and ensures you use every last ounce of that soap bar!"

Say you have curly hair and are wary of bar soaps. Never fear. According to Fisher, the Heali Kiwi shampoo bar by Ethique is a saving grace bar soap for curly-haired humans. "To utilize less plastic in our bathroom, we buy bar soap and shampoo bars. Shampoo bars have been the hardest adjustment because of my naturally curly hair," Fisher adds. "I finally found one that works amazingly for me."

Let's not forget toilet paper and how harmful it can be (especially the chlorine-bleached stuff) for the environment. With TP, you have a few options. First TP tip is that you can buy recycled toilet paper made from a more sustainable material - bamboo. Who Gives a Crap is a TP company that makes sustainable toilet paper and delivers it right to your door without excess (plastic) packaging. Their rolls come wrapped in paper, not plastic, and the cardboard rolls can be shredded and added to the compost.

Now, for TP option #2. Did you know using a bidet actually reduces how much toilet paper you need? Think about it, if the water spray from the bidet washes you off, there's less work for the TP to do. Using a bidet in your bathroom can actually reduce how much you spend on TP by 75 percent according to Business Insider.

Now we couldn't talk about sustainable bathrooms without discussing sustainable periods. Even if you're a person that has a period, you might not realize how much waste period management takes. National Geographic reports that people in the U.S. bought 5.8 billion tampons in 2018. Since a single menstruator will use anywhere between 5,000 and 15,000 pads and tampons in their life, all of that single-use product (including its plastic applicators and packaging) will inevitably end up in landfills.

So, what sustainable options are out there? "A menstrual cup is another favorite of mine," says Tillard. "This can be intimidating for a lot of women and it was for me too. It is very convenient when traveling and lasts a long time." Since silicone menstrual cups can last up to 10 years, theoretically, one menstruator could only use four menstrual cups in a lifetime as opposed to 15,000 pads or tampons.

If a silicone menstrual cup isn't your cup of tea, another sustainable period management option is reusable cloth pads. "I have now coupled my menstrual cup with some reusable pads just in case of leakage and towards the end of my cycle when the cup is not required," Tillard says. "The brand I use donates a pack of reusable pads to women in need for every purchase." Reusable cloth pads can be thrown in the washing machine.

Plastic-free laundry tips

From the plastic laundry basket to the container our Tide Pods come in (not to mention the toxins and microplastics that may be lurking in traditional fabric softeners and detergents), your laundry routine has a lot of hidden plastic. When it comes to mitigating plastic-use in your laundry routine, let's start with the plastic bottles that detergent generally comes in.

"You can buy laundry drops in bulk that are package-free, as well as laundry powder that comes in kraft paper bags," says Gonzalez.
Related: The Last Straw: These Restaurants Are Joining Starbucks in Ending Plastic Straw Use
Even some bulk stores offer laundry detergent. "If you are lucky enough to have a bulk store near you, you will be able to visit and refill your old laundry detergent bottles," says Tillard. "They should have other household cleaners that you will be able to refill there as well. Google will be your friend in finding a store near you!"

And what about our clothes? They, too, contribute microplastics, polluting our water. Gonzalez adds, "Much of our clothing is made from plastic. Synthetic fibers such as polyester, acrylic, nylon, and rayon release microplastic fibers into the wash that ultimately wind up in our ground water." Luckily, there's a way to mitigate this issue. "This is especially true if you wash your clothes in hot water." Instead of washing clothes with hot water, use cold water. It also uses up less energy, which means a lesser carbon footprint for you!

Another way to help reduce microplastics in your laundry routine is to buy clothes made from more sustainable fibers. "Try to avoid buying clothing from these synthetic fibers. Clothing made from organic cotton, hemp, and bamboo are better choices," advises Gonzalez.

That's not all you can do - washing your clothes with a special filter can help. "There are also special filters like a Guppy Bag that you can put your clothes in to stop micrplastics from entering the water."

If the Guppy Bag doesn't suit your lifestyle, give the Cora Ball a whirl. "You can toss a Cora Ball in the wash and it helps to catch microplastics."

Plastic-free tips for the kitchen

Remember that "start slowly" advice? A meaningful way to do that is to be intentional with the plastic in your kitchen as you start to phase it out. "As your plastic kitchen items reach their end of life, try to find different uses for your plastic containers or donate them instead of throwing them away." Examples of repurposing items include using anything (literally, anything) as a planter, turning containers into bird feeders, and so much more.

Gonzalez adds, "And of course, recycle what you can." Not sure how to best recycle old plastic items? There's probably a Terracycle program for that. Terracycle is a nationwide social enterprise with the goal of eliminating waste. Via mail, they accept all kinds of products that normally can't be recycled. And it's free!

Cleaning products are typically packaged in plastic and often contain harmful and toxic ingredients. Bypass both of these issues by making your own green cleaners at home. All it takes is a few simple ingredients. "A huge source of plastic (and toxins!) are kitchen cleaners, since they come in plastic bottles," says Gonzalez. "Try making your own cleaners from essential oils and vinegar, which are [both] naturally anti-bacterial."
Related: Why 'Quitting Trash' Can Streamline Your Life, According to Zero-Waste Expert Kathryn Kellogg
Once you make your at-home, non-toxic cleaners, you need a bottle to put them in, right? Skip the plastic bottle at the five and dime and invest in a better, healthier option. "Store the natural cleaners in reusable tinted glass spray bottles to preserve the potency of the essential oils," says Gonzalez. These typically come in blue, green, or amber.

Reusable containers can save you a lot of waste but even multi-use plastic isn't the best. Luckily, stainless steel is a much more sustainable option. "Preparing lunch for yourself (and your family) also creates lots of plastic waste," says Gonzalez. "Try to eliminate things like disposable snack bags, plastic bento boxes, and food storage containers. Stainless steel containers will last you forever and are dishwasher safe."

If you're not into the silicone snack bag trend, there's also another option: cloth snack bags. "Although silicone bags have become popular, I prefer cloth snack bags since they degrade faster in a landfill than silicone," Gonzalez says.

What about all that Saran wrap and tinfoil? That stuff is single-use. You use it once, it goes in the trash. So, if you're looking for a longer-lasting, healthier alternative, beeswax wrap is an excellent option. "Beeswax wraps are a fantastic plastic-free swap for the kitchen, "explains Tillard. "You will never need to buy cling wrap again and they can be used as snack cups for kids, so they are great for school lunches. Buying beeswax wraps can help to support local beekeepers and they can be composted when they are at the end of their life."

If you're not sure which materials are considered "sustainable," then you should know that bamboo is generally always the more sustainable option. "Bamboo is also a great alternative to plastic," says Gonzalez. "It grows as much as two feet per day and can be grown without chemical fertilizers and pesticides. Unlike plastic, it can be composted and does not take hundreds of years to degrade."
Related: What Is The 'Slow Fashion' Movement Everyone's Hashtagging On Instagram?
So, what kinds of things could benefit from a bamboo alternative? If silicone sponges aren't your style, Gonzalez recommends replacing your sponge with a pot scrubber made from bamboo or other sustainable materials like coconut wood or agave. "These sustainable alternatives are super affordable, highly effective and will not wash microplastics down the drain and into our ground water."

Stop buying paper towels. Sure, they're not plastic, but they certainly are single-use. Instead, invest in something called "un-paper towels," which is basically the reusable version. They're made from bamboo and can be washed many times before the end of their life.

If un-paper towels aren't your jam, take a hint from Jules Hunt, Founder of Om and the City. "First I'd like to say I don't think plastic is necessarily evil. It has allowed us to advance in society and it's great for items we need to be long-lasting and durable," Hunt says. "With that said, when it's treated as disposable and is thrown away within a matter of seconds, that's where it has become a big issue. I'm proud to say we've virtually eliminated most single-use household items. Instead of paper towels, we use cotton dish rags to clean surfaces."

Also stop buying paper napkins. "But it's paper, right?" A lot of paper napkins are actually bleached, which means they won't break down since they've been treated with toxic chemicals. Buy cloth napkins instead or you can even make your own napkins out of t-shirt or old towel scraps. Get crafty with it!

And what about all the plastic packaging that comes with grocery shopping? According to Hunt, making certain things at home can really help you cut down on waste. "I like to make my own nut milk and nut butters to avoid plastic packaging, but when I do purchase these items, I typically go for the glass container."

Remy Park, creator of @veggiekins, also offers: "If there is something you need to purchase that comes in unavoidable packaging, consider buying the largest size available. Often, this creates less waste than purchasing five smaller sized packages of the item."

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HOW I TRAVEL WELL ✈️✨ A condensed version anyway, for a 6 hour flight to Amsterdam! Usually, there's a lot more in the bag when I'm going somewhere new and if the flight is longer, and things tend to vary often but here are some basics. ⁣ 〰️ @stasherbag packed with hydrating snacks, cucumber + strawb and mini with lemon half to add to my water ⁣ 〰️ @wandpdesign reusable mug so I can skip the single use cups in flight and at cafes ⁣ 〰️ @eyebuydirect blue light glasses for laptop/phone work and minimizing disrupted circadian rhythm⁣ 〰️ @foreo mini size + @concur__ buffing grain, travel friendly skincare⁣ 〰️ @spiritdaughter sag journal & book I *still* have to finish, for entertainment⁣ 〰️ @portandpolish pill case with @seed symbiotic, @megafood b12, @simris vegan fish oil & zinc.⁣ 〰️ @sajewellness essentials travel kit with fortify, gutzy & pep halo⁣ ⁣ #veggiekins #sustainabletravel #travelhacks

A post shared by Remy Morimoto Park | NYC Vegan (@veggiekins) on

"If you're interested in composting, but don't have access to a building compost program or your own bin, store food scraps in a bag in the freezer," she adds. "This will keep any food odors out of your kitchen and also keeps your trash smelling a lot fresher in general."

Plastic-free tips for the bedroom

"There's not much plastic in my bedroom, right?" Wrong! The first tip to reducing plastic in the bedroom is to take survey of what you have. What's in there that's plastic or single-use? Maybe a tissue box, a hairbrush on your dresser, phone chargers - even your sheets might be made of microplastics. So, where do you start?

In lieu of tissues, you can try three other options. First, Who Gives a Crap also makes "forest-friendly" tissues, also made from 100% bamboo.

If you'd rather try a reusable option, you can make reusable, washable hankies from old t-shirts or other scrap fabric.

And if that doesn't work for you, you can always repurpose some of those un-paper towels and use them to blow your nose in 'em!

Now, let's talk phone accessories. Your phone's charger is likely made from plastic and while it's not single use, there are more sustainable options out there. Nimble For Good is a sustainable company that makes phone accessories like wireless chargers, phone cases, and more out of materials like hemp, recycled plastic, and corn. Even their packaging is 100% made from recycled scrap pulp paper.

"Not directly for the bedroom, but [this is] bedroom related," says Tillard. "You can use an old pillowcase as a bread bag. Take it to your local bakery and ask them to put the bread in the pillowcase instead of a plastic bag." Whatever works, right??

What about your sheets, pillow cases, and comforter? Are they sustainable, too? It depends on what materials they are made with. Buffy makes sheets and other bed accessories out of eucalpytus; organic cotton, wool, linen, satin, silk are generally regarded as sustainable materials. Note: silk and wool are not vegan options.

Have you ever stopped to wonder what your hairbrush is made out of? What about the packaging your cosmetics come in? Chances are the answers are plastic and plastic. Ugh.

There are some sustainable hairbrushes on the market that are made from bamboo rather than nasty plastic. Just make sure the bristles are also made from bamboo, too.

As for your makeup, a lot of makeup comes in plastic packaging. If you're looking to make the switch to some plastic-free cosmetic brands, the good news is they definitely exist. They're just generally lesser known because many plastic-free cosmetics aren't available in big beauty stores like Ulta or Sephora. Brands like Axiology, Elate, Antonym, and Kjaer Weiss offer sustainable packaging and non-toxic makeup thanks to either recycled aluminum, bamboo, or glass packaging.

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And for the 52nd tip, you can eliminate a lot of paper waste by simply opting out of bills my mail. Simply switch your car bill, electric bill, insurance bill, phone bill, and any other monthly bill to the online option. That'll cut down the mail waste you get by a lot and you can feel good about paying your bill online, all while helping the environment!

That's a whole lot of sustainable tips and while it might seem overwhelming, remember that the goal isn't to do zero waste perfectly. It's for a whole lot of people to try. Even imperfectly!

"All in all, I do my best to avoid single-use plastic by planning ahead, anticipating, and understanding my daily habits and needs, and slowing down so I can be more aware of my actions and impulses," says Hunt. "I'm far from perfect and I realize I am privileged to be able to have the money, time, and resources to consider the environment. We have to realize perfection isn't the goal and that strength lies in numbers... So the more of us making imperfect efforts is what really makes a difference."
Next up, find out why millennials are thrifting their gifts-and the best secondhand gifts to give!

Mike Bloom, Contributor

Mike Bloom, Contributor

Mike Bloom, Contributor

Mike Bloom, Contributor

1 Samuel R. Murrian, Contributor

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54 of the Best Ways to Live That No-Single-Use-Plastic Life So You Can #SaveTheTurtles

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It's nearly 2020 and it sometimes feels like our society is just starting to figure out that plastic sucks. Like, really-all plastic is pretty terrible. It ends up in our oceans, kills our wildlife, plants, and natural habitats, emits dangerous greenhouse gases that exacerbate global warming, and somehow, even makes its way back into our [...]

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This article was made in January 9 2020 This relates to my topic and agrees with it. The author is Courtney Lindwall and is on Nrdc.org. This article is to Inform.

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What Are Single-Use Plastics?

Put simply, single-use plastics are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuel-based chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after use-often, in mere minutes. Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and serviceware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags.

Though plastic-a chain of synthetic polymers, essentially-was invented in the mid-19th century, it wasn't until the 1970s that its popularity skyrocketed. Manufacturers began replacing traditionally paper or glass staples with lighter or more durable and affordable plastic alternatives; plastic jugs replaced milk jars, for instance. Since the 1950s, 8.3 billion metric tons of plastics have been produced, and half of that in the past 15 years alone.

There are many uses for plastic that are not only reasonable but important, such as surgical gloves, or straws for people with disabilities. But these cases make up a small fraction of single-use plastic. According to a 2017 study, more than half of non-fiber plastic, which excludes synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon, comes from plastic packaging alone, much of which is for single-use items.

Why Is Single-Use Plastic Bad?

Single-use plastics are a glaring example of the problems with throwaway culture. Instead of investing in quality goods that will last, we often prioritize convenience over durability and consideration of long-term impacts. Our reliance on these plastics means we are accumulating waste at a staggering rate. We produce 300 million tons of plastic each year worldwide, half of which is for single-use items. That's nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population.

Reducing plastic use is the most effective means of avoiding this waste (and the impacts linked to plastic production and use). Carrying reusable bags and bottles is one great way to avoid single-use plastics in our day-to-day lives; more on preventing plastic waste can be found below.

Recycling more plastic, more frequently, reduces its footprint. Polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most commonly recycled plastics and the material that makes up most water and soda bottles, can be turned into everything from polyester fabric to automotive parts. But a whopping 91 percent of all plastic isn't recycled at all. Instead it ends up in landfills or in the environment. Single-use plastics in particular-especially small items like straws, bags, and cutlery-are traditionally hard to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery and therefore are often not accepted by recycling centers.

Left alone, plastics don't really break down; they just break up. Over time, sun and heat slowly turn plastics into smaller and smaller pieces until they eventually become what are known as microplastics. These microscopic plastic fragments, no more than 5 millimeters long, are hard to detect-and are just about everywhere. Some microplastics are even small by design, like the microbeads used in facial scrubs or the microfibers in polyester clothing. They end up in the water, eaten by wildlife, and inside our bodies. They've even made their way up to the secluded Pyrenees mountain range and down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. For wildlife, microplastics can be particularly dangerous; when eaten they can easily accumulate inside an animal's body and cause health issues, like punctured organs or fatal intestinal blockages.

Single-Use Plastics and Pollution

Although single-use plastic pollution accumulates most visibly on our streets, in fact our water suffers even more. Litter can be the first stage in a waste stream that enters waterways as plastics tossed on the street are washed away by rain or travel via storm drains into rivers and streams. Our waterway plastic pollution is particularly concentrated: Just ten rivers carry 93 percent of the world's total amount of plastic that enters the oceans via rivers each year.

In 2015 researchers from the University of Georgia estimated that between 4.8 million and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic per year make their way into the oceans via people living within 30 miles of a coast. The majority of this pollution-dominated by single-use plastic waste-comes from countries lacking infrastructure to properly manage waste, particularly in Asia. India, for example, generates 25,940 tons of plastic waste every day but collects only 60 percent of it. (It's also important to remember that waste management is just one part of the global materials cycle. For instance, a lot of the plastic produced in Asian countries is for products that serve U.S. demand-and the United States often sends plastic waste back to these countries for recycling.)

Marine animals bear the burden of this influx of garbage into their habitats. Beached whales have been found with stomachs full of plastic trash. And recent studies found plastic in the guts of 90 percent of the seabirds tested and 100 percent of the turtles. Alarmingly, scientists estimate that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight in 2050. Not only is plastic estimated to kill millions of marine animals and seabirds each year, but it's also contaminating seafood that humans have relied on for millennia, particularly with microplastics in animals' guts.

Our addiction to plastic also has negative impacts on the climate. A recent report showed that plastic production contributes to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions at every point in its life cycle. The process of drilling for plastic's source materials, oil and gas, leads to methane leaking and flaring and is often combined with clearing forests and wetlands that otherwise would have sequestered carbon. Refineries where crude oil is turned into plastic make up one of the most greenhouse gas-intensive industries in the manufacturing sector. And "cracker plants"-which break, or "crack," ethane molecules, a component of natural gas, into the chemical building blocks of plastic products-are energy intensive and highly polluting. In 2015 a mere 24 of these ethane cracker facilities in the United States had the combined carbon output of 3.8 million passenger vehicles. And the recent fracking boom, resulting in a surplus of oil, is fueling a subsequent rise in cracker plants, too. That's bad news for our carbon reduction goals: if plastic production continues unabated, its greenhouse gas emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030 -equal to adding nearly 300 new coal-fired power plants-even as the need to curb global climate change becomes more urgent.

Plastic pollution-whether in our oceans, piling up on our coastlines, or contributing to our climate crisis-impacts vulnerable communities first. Even if plastic doesn't end up in the ocean, recycled plastic is often exported from high-income countries to developing countries to process. But the sheer amount of plastic waste inundates communities until they are drowning under thousands of tons of plastic trash. This is the case particularly in Southeast Asia, which has begun to import much of the plastic that used to go to China for recycling. Not only does the waste destroy the land itself, but when plastic is incinerated (as is the case for unrecyclable plastic at some illegal facilities) its toxic fumes quickly become a health hazard for residents, leading to everything from skin rashes to cancer. Such is the case with many environmental crises: the worst effects are pushed onto overburdened communities with the fewest resources to fight back.

Should We Ban Single-Use Plastics?

Plastic is putting a strain on waste management systems, our oceans, and vulnerable communities the world over. A wave of single-use plastic bans is sweeping the country and the globe-most often on plastic bags, straws, stirrers, and takeout clamshells. (Some places are going so far as to ban single-use plastics entirely; most notably, India intends to go this route by 2022.) Among the U.S. cities to outlaw plastic straws are Malibu, Berkeley, Seattle, and Miami Beach. Plastic bag bans-ideally accompanied by a fee on paper bags-are also catching on. New York State and Hawaii just passed theirs, set to go into effect in 2020, and California's bag ban, which was passed in 2014, has been shown to have reduced plastic bag usage by 85 percent (with some customers opting to pay a 10 cent fee for thicker plastic bags) and has reduced coastal pollution.

What do the bans accomplish? They prevent millions of tons of plastic from entering the waste stream each year. And when it comes to waste that lasts forever, every ton counts. In New York, 23 billion plastic bags are used by residents each year. Not only does banning single-use plastic reduce pollution, but it also reduces demand for plastic production that's contributing to global climate change. But beyond these impacts, the bans have cultural effects. Companies are forced to innovate, rethinking their designs and sourcing sustainable materials. And they help shift consumer mind-sets, as people begin to recognize that exorbitant and avoidable waste is not sustainable.

Large producers of single-use plastics can make a big environmental impact. As part of the Break Free From Plastic movement, Greenpeace volunteers conducted an audit of plastic pollution along coastlines, sifting through tens of thousands of individual pieces across 42 countries to identify the pollution's sources. They discovered that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestlé products were found most often. Coca-Cola has said that it alone produces three million tons of plastic packaging each year, equivalent to a terrifying 200,000 plastic bottles per minute. Policies like bottle bill laws-which generally require retailers to add a fee on individual bottles, which can then be partially redeemed by customers when they recycle-are a way to increase corporate responsibility for waste while providing a monetary incentive to recycle. In Taiwan, which was once overflowing with so much trash that it spurred public protest and the nickname "Garbage Island," companies now either manage their own waste or subsidize government-run infrastructure. Accompanied by high social accountability and musical garbage trucks, that strategy has proved wildly effective: the island now reports recycling rates above 50 percent.

Some companies are taking initiative on their own. McDonald's swapped its plastic straws for paper at its United Kingdom and Ireland restaurants. Disney is eliminating single-use plastic straws and stirrers at all its theme parks, resorts and properties. And Starbucks, which uses an estimated one billion plastic straws per year, is phasing them out in favor of paper ones. These actions are a response to calls for change and shifting consumer habits.

Avoiding Single-Use Plastics

Individual choices -and the collective shifts they bring about-add up quickly. Making just one simple swap, like purchasing a reusable water bottle, can spare the environment hundreds of plastic bottles each year. Here are a few more tips for ridding your life (and your community) of single-use plastics for good.

Always pack a reusable bag when shopping. (And yes-reusable totes are better for the environment than plastics, recent media claims aside.)

Cook more often, to reduce your use of plastic-heavy takeout containers.

Buy in bulk. Avoid individually packaged goods, like snack packs.

Though buying online sometimes has a lower carbon footprint than shopping in a store (skip the express delivery option, if you can), online shipments are still chock-full of plastic. Your best bet to reduce your footprint and plastic waste? Walk, bike, or take public transit to buy in-person.

Avoid plastic wrap altogether by storing leftovers in reusable containers. Try reusable and compostable beeswax wrap for an easy and decorative option.

Buy a metal or bamboo reusable straw. Pack it alongside reusable cutlery (like wood, bamboo, or metal chopsticks) for sustainable eating on the go.

Talk to the owners of the restaurants you frequent. Ask if they have nonplastic alternatives to plastic straws, stirrers, or bags.

Speak out in support of local plastic bans, whether by calling your local government representative, submitting an op-ed to your city's newspaper, or simply starting conversations with neighbors.

Let companies that make your favorite products know that you care about the packaging. Tweet, call, or send letters to these companies to ask them to switch to more durable, recyclable, compostable, renewable, and/or recycled-content packaging with less fossil fuel-derived plastic.

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Here's everything you need to know about the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of plastic waste: the kind made to be tossed in mere minutes.

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What are Single-use Plastics and Should they be Banned

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What are Single-use Plastics and Should they be Banned

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https://science.howstuffworks.com/environmental/conservation/issues/single-use-plastics.htm

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300 divers and on-land volunteers will scour Newport Harbor for trash

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300 divers and on-land volunteers will scour Newport Harbor for trash

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https://www.ocregister.com/2019/05/31/300-divers-and-on-land-volunteers-will-scour-newport-harbor-for-trash/

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This cartoon was made in 2018 and hasn't been updated. This image is against the topic which basically is saying people are to worried about plastic polluting our world rather than guns and violence. The artist of this image is Rob Rogers. There isn't any spelling or grammar errors. This image is

persuade the viewer.

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This cartoon was made in July 13 2013 and hasn't been updated. However it relates to the topic at question. The artist of this imagine is Joe Heller. There isn't any spelling or grammar errors. This image is to inform the viewer.