You are on vacation and you're walking along a white coastline on a hot August day. You're trying to walk as straight as possible, pretending you're an acrobat on a tightrope high above the circus floor. One heel in front of the other foot's big toe, one by one, slowly combing through grains of sand as you go. The closer you get to the beach parking lot, the more trash you see scattered across the shoreline. Cigarette butts, white, plastic spoons, and ziploc snack bags. Shredded fragments of grocery bags and a couple bright orange bottle caps. It's a disgrace, the way people throw their garbage wherever they want, whenever they want. It's also one of the biggest environmental crises of the 21st century.
Plastics are ubiquitous. They are used to package processed foods and to make beverage bottles. They are even in our clothing. While plastics serve many useful purposes, especially in the medical field, they can be harmful to the earth and to humans. Most people simply throw plastic away when they are done with it. But where is "away?" Unfortunately, it is not as distant a place as it seems. "Away" is usually the closest landfill. Plastics (as well as other waste forms) are not stuck there. They can be washed or blown away, and many times trash winds up in rivers and streams, which carry it into the ocean. Anyone who's been on a boat in the middle of the sea will tell you how endless the open expanse seems. Wouldn't the debris simply disperse? Wouldn't it permeate the ocean like food coloring in a cup of water during a middle school demonstration of diffusion? The answer is no. Trash gets caught in swirling currents that keep it bobbing like a buoy in a great garbage patch. There are currently five spots around the globe where garbage is suspended in the ocean like this: the North Pacific, South Pacific, North Atlantic, South Atlantic, and Indian gyres.
[...] Plastic-Assisted Suicide: How Humans are Killing Themselves You are on vacation and you're walking along a white coastline on a hot August day. You're trying to walk as straight as possible, pretending you're an acrobat on a tightrope high above the circus floor. One heel in front of the other foot's big toe, one by one, slowly combing through grains of sand as you go. The closer you get to the beach parking lot, the more trash you see scattered across the shoreline. [...]
[...] Plastics (as well as other waste forms) are not stuck there. They can be washed or blown away, and many times trash winds up in rivers and streams, which carry it into the ocean. Anyone who's been on a boat in the middle of the sea will tell you how endless the open expanse seems. Wouldn't the debris simply disperse? Wouldn't it permeate the ocean like food coloring in a cup of water during a middle school demonstration of diffusion? [...]
[...] Only when you've entirely exhausted a plastic item should you then send it away to be reincarnated. Plastic pollution can be prevented it just might not be convenient. Plastic pollution is one of the biggest hurdles humanity is facing to a sustainable life; however, it is not an insurmountable one. One by one individuals can make choices in their daily life to reduce the amount of plastic ending up in oceans. These choices may be difficult, and it may be hard at first to adjust to a less wasteful regimen. [...]
[...] As keen as ever, plastic manufacturers have taken this as an opportunity to feign corporate responsibility. Companies are continuing to sell their plastic products, and consumers are continuing to buy them. The products look the same, except that their labels now boast of being The reality is that BPA has been supplemented with Bisphenol-S (BPS) which, of course, is not so readily advertised. So what can we do? Plastic is everywhere, and it's harming humans and wildlife. Cleaning it up is not a viable option since it's just too expensive. [...]
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