If plastic pollution continues to rise, it is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in Earth’s oceans by weight than fish. (Google Images)
During Earth Week 2023, Earth Day Network organizers focus their attention on plastic pollution:
Plastic pollution is one of the most visible sources of pollution. We see plastics everywhere in our daily lives and those same plastics, more often than not, end up harming our Earth’s waterways, natural landscapes and ecosystem health. The use of plastics is also increasing at a rapid rate.
It’s hard to believe that three-quarters of all the plastic that exists on Earth today was made after 1990 — the year many of us were first learning about the dangers of climate change. Let that sink in for a moment: 75% of all the plastic ever made is less than 33 years old. And the production of plastic, marketed to a global audience, is growing quickly.
The life of plastic begins at the wellhead, where fracking for oil and gas is just the first of many threats to human health during its lifecycle. The creation of plastic nurdles at ethane crackers and the production of consumer products — most of which are designed for single use — compound the dangers. Until we decide one day that we’re done with it and dump plastic and its toxic components into landfills and streams and oceans, into our air and water and food, and, eventually, into you and me. (Leaky gas pipelines, compressors, processing plants, and “bomb trains” carrying petrochemicals also appear in the life of plastic, as residents of East Palestine, OH and Beaver County, PA rudely discovered in early February.)
Science is quickly learning that the toxic emissions and chemicals associated with plastics are harmful to OUR health throughout OUR lifecycle. Many are highly irritating to our skin, our gastrointestinal tract, and our lungs. Many affect the outcome of pregnancies and interfere with fetal and infant growth and brain development. We now understand how some toxics act as endocrine disrupting chemicals, even at extremely low concentrations, affecting human development and reproduction. Some weaken the immune system, some increase the risk of chronic inflammatory diseases, some damage end organs directly — especially the brain, liver, and kidneys. And dozens of chemicals appearing in the life of plastics are linked to cancers in adults and children, including at least 55 individual chemicals used in fracking.
When plastic finally outlives its usefulness — after 15 seconds or 15 minutes of use, or after 15 days or 15 years or longer — it gets thrown away. Most of the plastic trash ends up in landfills, lots of it gets littered on our highways, waterways, and oceans, and some gets incinerated to generate electricity or simply get rid of it. Despite popular perceptions, very little plastic is ever recycled or even recyclable.
Plastics are strong. They’re durable. They’re cheap. But these same properties that make plastic so useful to our society — strength, durability, affordability — make plastic so dangerous when we throw them away. Once in the environment, plastic breaks down and erodes into smaller units, eventually becoming tiny particles called microplastics that can be carried by winds and currents to near and distant places. As this happens, the chemicals added to plastics — plasticizers (phthalates, for example), stabilizers like lead, coatings (bisphenol A or BPA), dyes, flame retardants, biocides, and other petrochemicals (“forever” PFAS chemicals, for instance) — separate and enter the environment, contaminating the air, water, and soil, and the food chain we and our children depend on.
Humans aren’t the only lifeforms who face the growing threat of plastic and petrochemicals:
Other species on Earth are also harmed by plastic pollution. In oceans, marine animals mistake many types of plastic for food and ingest them. This puts them at risk of absorbing the toxic chemicals found inside plastics, and these toxins can accumulate throughout the food web. Animals, including humans, that consume animals with these toxins can be impacted as well. Many of the toxins harm habitats such as coral reefs, seagrass beds and even the ocean floor that reaches thousands of meters deep. Some studies have found that these chemicals can also disrupt the reproductive systems of some species, which can cause population decline.
Plastic debris in the water is also responsible for entangling or harming species. Straws have been found in turtles’ noses and soda can rings can get caught around the necks of many species. The fishing industry is responsible for a large portion of dangerous plastic debris in oceans. Sea life of all sizes have been caught and tangled by discarded fishing nets. This problem continues to worsen as over 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean yearly.
Of course, plastics and petrochemicals exacerbate rather than solve the climate crisis because of the prodigious greenhouse gas emissions produced in their creation. Plastic and petrochemicals may be convenient for modern-day consumers, but they are inconvenient for people who wish to breathe clean air, drink clean water, live within a stable global climate system, and stay healthy and safe.
There are a few things we will all need to do to move beyond plastics. Just like solving the climate crisis, we learned yesterday on the blog that people don’t need to change everything all at once:
Refuse: When possible, just say “No thank you” when offered plastic products like plastic beverage bottles and cups, straws, utensils, condiment sachets, and shopping bags. Choose earth-friendly, non-synthetic clothing that doesn’t shed microfibers that pollute the air and water.
Reduce: Avoid buying plastic products and packaging when alternatives are available. Bringing your own reusable shopping bags, refillable water bottles and coffee mugs, washable silverware or bamboo utensils and straws, and reusable takeout containers can help lower demand and lessen plastic waste.
Reuse: Even plastic designed for single use — shopping and produce/bread bags, straws (you don’t need a new one for every refill), eating utensils (they’re washable!) — can be used again (and again and again and…)
Recycle: Unfortunately, this isn’t always possible. Make sure you know what can and can’t be recycled in your community or wherever it is you travel to. If you come upon plastic litter, pick it up and dispose of it properly. Today, the safest place for plastic trash is buried in a landfill rather than littered in the environment. Of course, having no plastic trash to dispose of would be safest of all.
Read more from the Earth Day Network on reducing plastic pollution and its threat to health here.