Oceanic Plastics Artistic Project by s/Reilly Williams https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715 About the impacts of plastic on our environment and its species en-us 2019-04-30 15:59:00 UTC 2025-10-23 11:47:19 UTC hello@padlet.com Many kinds of plastics are found in our Oceans s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/355507779 Picture from: http://www.utas.edu.au/news/2018/2/22/544-why-plastic-in-our-oceans-is-impacting-the-un/]]> 2019-04-30 16:09:27 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/355507779 Plastics impact the land, as well as the sea, as seen on many beaches s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/355515199 Picture from: http://sitn.hms.harvard.edu/flash/2018/plastic-oceans-cleanup/]]> 2019-04-30 16:24:45 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/355515199 Plastic harms many species through entanglement s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/355516777 Picture from: https://act.biologicaldiversity.org/onlineactions/hsZaqAwduU-kKLslrMWw_Q2?sourceid=1004649]]> 2019-04-30 16:27:48 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/355516777 Plastic was created in order to take shape of any object. Plastics have many different types and polymers, and the polymerization of plastics made through natural gases help control the physical properties of plastic. Plastics are made from natural gases, different pressures, and high heat. By creating a plastic resin, plastics are able to be made into objects of many uses. s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356268993 Here is a source on how plastics are made:  https://extension.psu.edu/how-plastic-is-made-from-natural-gas]]> 2019-05-02 15:52:58 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356268993 Our oceans are essentially a "plastic soup," as they contain a vast amount of plastic, usually carried through wind, storms, human error, and even animals. When plastic ends up in the ocean, they usually find themselves in one of the world's five main gyres. These gyres are swirling ocean currents, and they easily trap plastics within themselves. Plastics found in ocean gyres are found to also contain natural pollutants, such as carcinogenic and endocrine-disrupting polychlorinated biphenyls, "and when consumed by marine animals, the POPs endanger both the creatures that ingest them and humans higher up on the food chain, especially infants." s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356272207 https://blogs.ei.columbia.edu/2011/01/26/our-oceans-a-plastic-soup/]]> 2019-05-02 15:58:36 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356272207 When ingested by seabirds, plastics block their digestive tract, resulting in starvation. Seabirds that ingest plastic can receive physical damage to their digestive tract, impairment of their foraging efficiency, and also get affected by the toxins released by plastics. Not all species are able to regurgitate the plastics ingested, resulting in their starvation. s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356278239 https://swfsc.noaa.gov/publications/TM/SWFSC/NOAA-TM-NMFS-SWFSC-154_P623.PDF]]> 2019-05-02 16:09:35 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356278239 Potential solution #1 s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356281394 If the government were to place a tax on plastic usage, creation, and purchasing, overall plastic production and use would most likely decrease. This is due to the fact that people do not want to pay unnecessary taxes on their goods or products. A potential challenge is that many rich companies would most likely continue with the creation and purchase of plastics. A way to get around this challenge would be to increase the tax amount for how much plastic is being made or used, meaning that the more plastic you make, the more you are taxed. ]]> 2019-05-02 16:15:15 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356281394 Potential solution #2 s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356285343 Making companies that offer jobs to citizens or those in need of work in order to help clean plastic would help reduce the amount of plastic in our oceans/land. This could be funded by the government, as it is important for plastics to be cleaned in order to prevent longer term damage to the environment and its species. A potential challenge would be politics, as convincing people and politicians to support the cause would be difficult. One of the only ways to to get around this is to keep presenting facts and data, and to convince them of the importance of this cause.]]> 2019-05-02 16:23:20 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356285343 Potential Solution #3 s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356289553 Socially, telling people to stop using plastic, in person or through social media, would help to reduce the overall usage of plastic by citizens. This would in turn cause companies to stop producing plastic, as they typically want to advocate to customers. A challenge of this would be citizens being too lazy to put in the effort to not buying plastic, as well as those who don't believe in the harms of plastic. A way to get around this would be to keep encouraging citizens, and make it the new trend to stop using plastic, that way many people will feel the need to participate in helping the environment.]]> 2019-05-02 16:31:32 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356289553 Many animals nowadays are at risk of ingesting plastic, as seen by this sperm whale. s632909 https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356291500 2019-05-02 16:35:49 UTC https://padlet.com/s632909/m8cz84cam715/wish/356291500