Plastic may be useful, as it is in lots of things people use on an everyday basis. From computer parts to smartphones, plastic is everywhere.
Without it, the medical field would suffer, so would the average Joe. At the same time, the most significant impact comes from single-use plastics like plastic grocery bags.
Those plastics end up in places where they shouldn’t be, even when there are services like the San Diego trash service that provide trash pick up as well as recycling.
What is plastic pollution?
Plastic pollution is plastic that is found in the oceans, on the beaches, on the side of the road, in our national parks, and everywhere else you find random plastics.
People use more plastic today than they ever did in history. It makes sense, but the oceans are especially feeling the brunt of the plastics that make their way into the open waters every day.
According to National Geographic, 40 percent of the plastic produced every single year is made up of single-use plastic, like bags and food wrappers.
Key plastic pollution facts you need to know
The persistence of plastics in the environment is, unfortunately here to stay. Here are some critical facts that should make you reconsider using plastics.
- Eight million tons in plastic trash and waste makes its ways into the oceans annually.
- Out of all plastics ever made, half of them have been manufactured in the past 15 years.
- Plastic production in 1950 was 2.3 million tons annually. As of 2015, it was 448 million tons annually.
- The additives that make plastic stronger also keep them from breaking down for up to hundreds of years.
How does plastic pollution impact the environment?
Microplastics are less than one-fifth of an inch and are the bane of environmental pollution. They are found around the globe from Everest to the Mariana Trench.
Out in the world, these plastics are deadly for wildlife. The plastics get mistaken for food. There are birds with stomachs full of plastic because they thought it was food.
A beaked whale was found in Norway that had to be put to sleep. When an autopsy was performed, the whale’s digestive tract was full of plastic bags and plastic packaging.
How does plastic pollution affect you?
Many people think that plastic pollution doesn’t affect them directly since waste is picked up by your local commercial trash service. The truth of the matter is that it does affect you.
The fish that you eat is often found having eaten plastic. Those same plastics could have absorbed dangerous chemicals that you are now eating.
Being outside and connecting with nature is part of humanity. When the outside is littered with plastic, the outdoors doesn’t hold the same appeal.
Why plastic pollution should matter
You’re not going to want to spend time at a beach that is covered in dirty, old, broken plastic. The same goes for the national park that is covered in trash.
Those trees and marine plants that live in those places? They are largely responsible for the oxygen you breathe, so it would make sense to be a steward of the environment and realize plastic pollution matters.