and reefs composed of coral, F) I Plastic straws are one of the top five most often used items. What never leaves, Read More Sustainable Diving & Snorkeling: How to Prevent Damage to Marine EcosystemsContinue, Top 3 Ways Kids can Help the Earth! Only then would a plastic straw ban be able to actually help preserve the environment. Straws are notorious for being readily blown away by the wind. The consumed plastic congests the digestive tracts of these animals, and can lead to health issues such as infections, painful intestinal blockage, starvation or death by suffocation. Here are a few more tips for ridding your life (and your community) of single-use plastics for good. We all are just trying to do our job well. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. CRIDDLE:We need to think about what incentives will promote a culture of recycling and innovation with respect to waste streams. About half the cost of making biodegradable polymers is the cost of feedstock. Communities and consumers can play vital roles in sparking action. What can I do for you? The phthalate DEHP, as just one example from dozens, is often added to plastic goods like shower curtains and garden hoses to make them more flexiblebut was also found to be a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. A recent report showed that plastic production contributes to planet-warming greenhouse gas emissions at every point in its life cycle. Car Recycling: Everything You Need to Know (With Statistics), Sustainable Diving & Snorkeling: How to Prevent Damage to Marine Ecosystems, What Are Microplastics and Why Are They a Concern? 1. plastic straws litter our environment Every day, about 3-6 billion plastic straws are produced. Some experts estimate that more than 1 million sea animals are killed each year by straws and other types of plastic trash. Greentumble was founded in the summer of 2015 by us, Sara and Ovi. Over time, sun and heat slowly turn plastics into smaller and smaller pieces until they eventually become what are known as microplastics. Plastic straws have an especially high propensity to end up in our rivers after being thrown away. (Its also important to remember that waste management is just one part of the global materials cycle. its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. It may not seem like much, but when you imagine how many bags they have to provide throughout a year, you will quickly realize that plastic bags are costly. Forty years after the launch of the first universal recycling symbol, only 14 percent of plastic packaging is recycled. Read more about us. According to some estimates, the cost of plastic bag cleanup is about 17 cents per bag [14] and the cost is paid by us once again. ), then its clean! Ideally, to be suitable for recycling, bags need to be clean to be accepted, which is often a problem, considering that we use them to carry groceries and potentially leaky goods. Such changes could have outsized benefits for vulnerable populations that rely on rivers for their water supply. Hi, Im Hugh, and my mission with Get Green Now is to raise awareness of environmental issues and teach people how to live sustainably. But should plastic straws really be banned? Which brings us to the second part. They prevent millions of tons of plastic from entering the waste stream each year. But the sheer amount of plastic waste inundates communities until they are drowning under thousands of tons of plastic trash. Plastic waste that clogs water drainage channels and river tributaries of many Asian cities increases exposure of residents to water-borne diseases, as it creates a toxic soup that remains stranded in one place for prolonged periods of time. Most of it is either dumped in landfills or ends up in the ocean. The very best alternative is a reusable bag. We will Similar fate has met dolphins, seals, cats, dogs, deer and many other animals which got severely cut on their bodies due to plastic bag entanglement. Getting rid of a single plastic straw may not have a very large effect on the environment. But only a few of us realize that each time we accept those disposable plastic grocery bags at store checkout, we actively participate in wasting energy and depleting non-renewable resources.
10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned? Interestingly, these granules contain the seeds of their own destruction: enzymes that break the polymer down when it is needed for food. If the environmental movement drew up a Most Unwanted list for 2018, the plastic drinking straw surely would land If youd like to learn more about how plastic straws negatively impact the environment, you can check out this article I wrote about the environmental impact of plastic straws. New York State and Hawaii just passed theirs, set to go into effect in 2020, and Californias 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. We shouldnt ban plastic straws if it creates an accessibility issue. Spare Yourself the Guilt Trip This Earth DayIts Companies That Need to Clean Up Their Acts, These Fanciful Sea Creatures Were Carried in on the Tide. 15. Plastic items are more sanitary than other alternatives. Microplastics are plastic debris that measures less than five millimetres, or 0.2 inches, in diameter. Unfortunately, such costs are typically not included in most economic analyses, as they are not easy to calculate because the equation would have to involve many indirect variables. You probably already saw the video, but if you didnt, you can watch it below (WARNING: Graphic Content): Supporters of plastic straw bans claim that the ban will help reduce our use of single-use plastics. Refineries where crude oil is turned into plastic make up one of the most greenhouse gasintensive industries in the manufacturing sector. The crisis is so serious that many people are saying that plastic straws should be outlawed. Our reliance on these plastics means we are accumulating waste at a staggering rate. Banning straws may confer 'moral license' allowing companies and their customers to feel they have done their part. Another indirect danger of plastic bags has breeding ground in the pollution they create. Beached whales have been found with stomachs full of plastic trash. You need to know what effects plastic bags have on the environment and health. 2. And cracker plantswhich break, or crack, ethane molecules, a component of natural gas, into the chemical building blocks of plastic productsare energy intensive and highly polluting. Starbucks recently announced that it would phase out use of plastic straws by the year 2020.
Why Plastic Bags And Straws Should Not Be Banned A wave of single-use plastic bans is sweeping the country and the globemost often on plastic bags, straws, stirrers, and takeout clamshells. There is a lot of research now underway on the health effects of ocean plastics, but we already know that some plastics, and the chemicals that attach themselves to plastics in the water, can cause cancer, genetic disruptions and other ill effects. the eight worst source of ocean plastic pollution, Impact of Plastic Bags on the Environment, non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources, Plastic Bag Degradation: What You Should Know, Serious Effects of Plastic Pollution on Human Health.
10 Reasons Why Plastic Bags Should Be Banned | IUCN Water So that free plastic bag isnt so free after all. LEAPE:Microplastics pervade the oceans. Straws have been found stuck in a sea turtle's nose and wedged in the stomachs of dead birds and dolphins. But these cases make up a small fraction of single-use plastic. These pieces can be so small that they are invisible to our eye. We are working hard to improve our content. This amount of marine life, which includes fish and turtles, is sufficient to fill 125 school buses. Search for jobs related to Reasons why smoking should be banned articles or hire on the world's largest freelancing marketplace with 22m+ jobs.
According to the researchers, the turtle likely mistook the straw for food and swallowed it. However, if a plastic straw ban is properly implemented with education about single-use plastics, then the ban could encourage the public to reduce their usage of other single-use plastics as well. Thats bad news for our carbon reduction goals: if plastic production continues unabated, its greenhouse gas emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030equal to adding nearly 300 new coal-fired power plantseven as the need to curb global climate change becomes more urgent. This NRDC.org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as time and place elements, style, and grammar); you cant resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you cant republish our material wholesale or automaticallyyou need to select stories individually; you can't republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when youve used one of our stories. You could either discuss with a store manager a possibility of bringing your own containers for these products.
'Banning plastic straws will not be enough': The fight to clean the oceans Help raise awareness of fellow consumers that means everyone when you think about it (unless they dont shopever). Some tributaries of the river have been filled with plastic waste to the level that you could almost walk across them without getting your feet wet. One of the most significant negative effects that plastic bags have on the natural world is that it takes a very long time for them to degrade.In addition, the breakdown of plastic bags in the sun results in the release of hazardous compounds into the surrounding soil, and the combustion of plastic bags results in the release of a poisonous material into the surrounding air, contributing to the problem of ambient air pollution. For example, some disabled people may not be able to properly hold or pick up a cup, so they need to use straws to drink properly. Actress Nina Nelson and other celebrities made a video claiming that plastic. When animals ingest plastic, it clogs up their digestive systems, which can easily choke or kill animals like birds or sea turtles. But this comes along with many unanswered questions. These tiny plastic particles have been found in our oceans, soil, and even in the air. BY Rob Jordan, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, As Colorado River wanes, water supplies and ecosystems hang in the balance, Riverfront forest restoration can deliver outsized benefits, Stanford Woods Institute for the Environment, An AI solution to climate models gravity wave problem, Beavers will become a bigger boon to river water quality as U.S. West warms. "To us, it was the 'gateway plastic' to the larger, more .
Using these non-renewable resources to make plastic bags is very short-sighted, considering that the typical useful life of each plastic bag is about 12 minutes and that the worlds oil reserves contain enough oil to cover our needs through 2050, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. Plastic bag litter has even caused great problems in some areas. How Plastic Bottles Become Death Traps for Hermit Crabs. The first answer to this question that comes to everyones mind is to stop using plastic bags, right? 2. It means that most bags can be recycled. But, are paper straws really better for the environment? The reason to worry is that scientists do not know how our metabolism and immunity will react to the increased concentration of plastic particles in our system. Avoid plastic wrap altogether by storing leftovers in reusable containers. This leaves few other alternatives other than plastic straws. But single-use plastics come with a steep environmental priceone that well be paying off for millennia. What do the bans accomplish? We should also try to give up plastic straws if we are capable of doing so. After all, ask your grandparents, they will remember that during their time people were used to go shopping with their own bags or baskets.
Why are Plastic Straws Bad and What are the Alernatives? Plastic Straws: Is Paper Really Better for the Environment? Not only does banning single-use plastic reduce pollution, but it also reduces demand for plastic production thats contributing to global climate change. Plastic bag bansideally accompanied by a fee on paper bagsare also catching on. Some Disabled People Require Plastic Straws to Drink For some people with disabilities, straws are the only way they. 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. Ill also go over whether or not plastic straw bans will actually help the environment, and explain everything else youll need to know. Start from yourself and slowly expand to your family and friends. In the United States, California has banned single-use plastic bags in 2016, but the city of San Francisco has locally issued this ban already in 2012 and consumers pay a little fee for other alternatives like compostable bags or recycled paper bags. They end up in the water, eaten by wildlife, and inside our bodies. Companies are forced to innovate, rethinking their designs and sourcing sustainable materials.
Banning Straws and Bags Won't Solve our Plastic Problem 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned Theyre in about a quarter of the seafood in our markets, and even in table salt. (Source: Water in the West), Analysis reveals how restoring relatively narrow forest buffers could substantially improve regional water quality and carbon storage in Costa Rica and elsewhere. Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and serviceware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags. Activists Say Straws Should Be Banned Because They Are a 'Gateway Plastic' Advocates hope a straw ban will be the first step toward broader plastic prohibitions. India, for example, generates 25,940 tons of plastic waste every day but collects only 60 percent of it. However, we are all too familiar with situations when a cashier automatically puts your items in a plastic bag before you can oppose it. 13.07.2022 Harry Brown THE TOP 10 REASONS TO DO NOT USE THE STRAW O This requires the usage of 500 million straws Straws and other items made of plastic are harmful Every day in the United States. Also, giving a speech in . This means that you are not consuming more resources every time you need to carry your groceries home. Additionally, plastics in our digestive tract may affect absorption of some important trace elements (like iron) which we need for maintaining proper health [13]. According to a study that was published by Bloomberg News, it is predicted that the percentage of contaminated ocean water that is caused by plastic straws and stirrers is a shockingly modest 0.03 percent. Plastics also permeate freshwater systems like rivers and streams. But, getting rid of all single-use plastics definitely will. What about you? Reducing plastic use is the most effective means of avoiding this waste (and the impacts linked to plastic production and use). Oil and natural gas are non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources and through their extraction and production, they emit greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change. 1. Yes, it should. Additionally, a plastic straw ban could also act as a gateway into other single-use plastic bans for items like plastic bottles and plastic bags, which are worse for the environment than plastic straws. And Starbucks, which uses an estimated one billion plastic straws per year, is phasing them out in favor of paper ones. But you should also consider the other perspective what effect single-use bags have had on the local economy and product affordability. As a result, the ban will reduce the number of plastic straws polluting the ocean. Is the Tide Turning on Our Plastic Addiction? As plastic bags are not disposed properly . Plastic bags. Alternatives to plastic straws, such as paper, may not always be effective for disabled people: paper can be bitten through or broken easily. 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 fuelderived plastic. However, one thing we know, is that by introducing a pollutant that may never break down in the environment can have implications that will far exceed any of our predictions. It is possible to enhance ones risk of developing cavities by using a straw while consuming liquids that are either sweet or acidic.
10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned - manufacturer, factory 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. Plastic straws are also the 6th most common trash item found during ocean cleanups. Large producers of single-use plastics can make a big environmental impact. Single use plastics wreak havoc on wildlife and the earth. Plastic fragments in the ocean such as those from plastic bags can absorb pollutants like PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyls) and PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons) easily. Among the U.S. cities to outlaw plastic straws are Malibu, Berkeley, Seattle, and Miami Beach. The crucial challenge is to ensure that these bans are just a first step, offering a natural place to start with low-hanging fruit so long as its part of a much more fundamental shift away from single-use plastics across the value chains of these companies and our economy. This is because the customers voluntarily reduce their consumption of plastic bags, which in turn provides enough time for retailers to find suitable alternatives and switch to them. Plastic straws (like most plastic) are non-biodegradable, meaning that it cant be naturally broken down by decomposers. Stanford Reportspoke withJim Leape, co-director of theStanford Center for Ocean Solutions, andCraig Criddle, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, about the path to reducing ocean plastic pollution. What Does the Plastic Bag Ban Mean for New Yorkers? Sugar and oils are too expensive. The inaccuracy of this number calls into doubt the veracity of the overall case against using plastic straws as a drinking implement. Accompanied by high social accountability and musical garbage trucks, that strategy has proved wildly effective: the island now reports recycling rates above 50 percent. NDLA National Disability Leadership Alliance: Nothing About Us Without Us. What does occur in most instances is that when out in the environment, the plastic breaks up into tiny microscopic pieces that get deposited in soils (where we grow food) or contaminate waterways. The small pilot whale, found in a Thai canal this past June, is another symptom of a crisis in the worlds oceans. Prior the ban, 70 percent of livestock losses were attributed to plastic bag ingestion. Natural Resources Defense Council 2023 Privacy Policy Thoughtful laws are needed to control the problem and at the same time encourage innovation. As plastic bags tend to get caught in recycling machinery, most recycling facilities do not have the capacity to recycle plastic bags and therefore do not accept them. Plastic bags have become such a nuisance because we as consumers use them excessively even when not needed and authorities havent figured out effective ways of dealing with them as waste. Paper straws cost on average around 2.5 cents ($0.025), whereas plastic straws cost only half a cent ($0.005). Straws are said to be one of the top 10 objects recovered during beach clean-ups by the Ocean Conservancy. A laboratory photograph of microplastics found in the Corsica River in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Maryland, An albatross found dead with a belly full of plastic on Midway Atoll. Plastic bags are often mistaken for food by animals, birds, and marine life. However, I do believe that we should limit our use of plastic straws by asking businesses to only give out straws on request. According to the United States National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, microplastics are so small that they move straight through water filtration, Read More What Are Microplastics and Why Are They a Concern? By 2030, CEO James Quincey has pledged to use 50 percent recycled material in its bottles and cans and recycle one bottle or can. Look for another place that does accept or use alternative packaging, such as small local stores that use paper wraps or compostable bags. The Pasig River in the Philippines is another scary example of the negative effects of plastic bags on the environment.
A brief history of how plastic straws took over the world - Environment These microscopic plastic fragments, no more than 5 millimeters long, are hard to detectand are just about everywhere. Globally, 8 to 10 percent of our current oil supply goes to a plastic bag manufacture [4]. Its because Asian and US coastlines release large amounts of plastic waste in the ocean [7]. The following are ten lines on why plastic bags need to be prohibited: 1) The careless disposal of trash in plastic bags leads to an increase in litter.2) The use of plastic bags contributes to the depletion of our natural resources, including water, trees, and agricultural products.3) Because of the danger it causes to marine life, the total New research shows their prolific dam building benefits river water quality so much, it outweighs the damaging influence of climate-driven droughts. update email soon. Then, they have a propensity to break down into microplastics, which then clutter the ecosystems in question. A straw with our iced coffee, a plastic bag to carry our takeout, a wrapper on a candy bar: taken individually, each seems harmless. This blog covers a variety of topics including plastic pollution, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and much more. As a result, the actual recycling rate for plastic bags globally is between 5 to 15 percent, while in the United States it makes only 1 percent a year [17]. You as an individual have the power to make a gradual change in your community.