Logs & Blogs

With a world population approaching the 7 billion mark, to say the planet in under pressure is an understatement. The earth is sustaining not only the weight of the human race, and might I add we are not light, but also everything we consume, produce, and throw away. Powerful leading nations rule the world while developing nations hurriedly try to catch up and take part in the growing trend to build, buy, consume and discard.

It seems that everywhere I look, buildings are going up while nature is breaking down. Practically all of our surroundings are synthetic and disposable, and fewer people seem to be aware of their impact on this earth. In saying that, now more than ever, pollution is engulfing the environment and we are the guilty culprits being fed plastic by the ton and hardly even noticing.

Nearly everything we touch is made of plastic, and our waste is mainly composed of disposable materials that will forever be a part of our world. Wastelands grow by the day, while an added 10 million tons of plastic invades our oceans, leaving nearly 40% as a living vortex of rubbish.

Where did we go wrong?

As I look around my desk and type on my laptop, plastic and me are bonded, and I am fully dependant on this material to even write my thoughts into a computer. My reliance on plastic extends into every aspect of my life, seemingly unavoidable at any level. Supermarkets cover fresh produce in plastic, life-giving water is bottled in it, and nearly everything we purchase is packaged in plastic. Within days, hours, or minutes, our plastic materials are discarded, only to begin their eternal journey of polluting the planet.

The world’s use of plastic is so widespread it has become a material we think little about, let alone ponder over where it actually ends up. In fact, out of the 100 million tons of plastic discarded every year, almost none of it will ever disappear. As small as it may degrade, even reaching molecular size, plastic will always be present and capable of infiltrating vital components of our global environment. Whether it is tucked away in a landfill to slowly sink into the earth or dumped into the ocean where 70% of it will sink to the bottom, plastic is here to stay.

A garbage patch

Until recently, my knowledge of ocean pollution was rather basic compared to what I now know humans force the ocean to consume. Individuals, businesses, and large scale industries are all responsible for contributing to ocean pollution, for the dependence on disposable plastics is a global addiction.

There is plastic floating in every ocean of the world as it represents 80% of marine debris. An additional 5 pressure zones in the Pacific, Indian, and Atlantic ocean are slowly circulating debris around like a giant swirling sewer. Described as “Gyres”, these areas of deep water are where plastic is so highly concentrated it can outnumber the amount of marine organisms.

In the north Pacific ‘Gyre’, plastic is 6 times more prevalent than plankton, a main food source and crucial component of our ocean ecosystems. Once plastic particles are consumed by small organisms who are quickly ingested by bigger species and carried all the way up the food chain, toxins from plastic may end up in the bloodstream of the fish on your dinner plate. Humans are not immune to consuming plastic, and if our oceans are becoming inundated with plastic, then so are we.

Plastic rehab please!

Attacking the plastic plague of today is no easy feet, but it begins with me and you. For every plastic bag that you refuse at the supermarket, you can save 400-600 plastic bags from polluting the environment each year. And like kicking any habit, its better just to stop cold turkey! Well established as a ‘throwaway’ culture, we must grow beyond buying disposable products, and take ownership for the impact our consumerism is having on the global environment.

Even re-cycling is proving to be a faulty guilt-free alternative; for we now know that plastics are in fact down-cycled into materials of lesser quality, re-usability, and value, only to end up in the same landfills as previously destined. The global plastic problem is not likely to be solved by re-cycling, as its efficiency is too minimal.

Putting an end to plastic pollution must be attempted at the source of production. Industries that create plastic products must bare more responsibility for where their products end up, just as individuals should think about the eternal impact a momentary decision can make. The earth cannot continue supporting our indiscriminate use of plastic, nor can it survive humankind’s blatant disregard for our precious environment. There is an urgent need for reform, education and regulation within the plastic producing industry, and a global alliance to change our pattern of thinking and implement strategies to help humankind kick this destructive habit.

For more information on plastic pollution and how you can take steps to curb your use of plastic, please visit the Plastic Pollution Coalition’s website and link to this informative article: “Plastic, not so fantastic” from the New Zealand Newspaper ‘Taranaki News’:

http://www.stuff.co.nz/taranaki-daily-news/life-style/5450586/Plastic-not-so-fantastichttp://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/

MJ Arsenault