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Whither plastics and whither humanity?
By Nneka Leiba, MPH and Olga Naidenko, PhD
No corner of the planet, however remote, is now free from synthetic chemical contaminants. Especially plastic. Big. Small. In every color. In every shape. Everywhere. We use it and discard it, seldom pausing to think what happens to all the plastic debris tossed on pavements, blown from open landfills and dumped directly into the rivers and off the coast.
Nowhere is this problem as desperate and distressing as in the oceans, which end up as dumps for all the plastic trash the modern world produces. As described by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation, non-biodegradable plastic travels over vast distances and accumulates on beaches and in the ocean depths.
In the central Pacific Ocean, circulating currents known as the North Pacific subtropical gyre have gathered tons of plastic into "the great Pacific garbage patch." This human-made island twice the size of the state of Texas, is composed of such large quantities of plastic debris that it outweighs zooplankton, the microscopic backbone of the marine ecosystem, by six to one.
Fish, seabirds, turtles and other marine wildlife often consume plastic debris or become entangled in it, suffering injury as they try to escape or dying in the man-made maze. Ingested plastic may also release harmful toxicants, such as plastic additives and pesticide residues. Many of these chemicals accumulate in the tissues of marine animals and plants and end up in the human food chain.
The International Bottled Water Association defends the amount of waste produced by its industry by pointing out that "bottled water containers make up only 0.3% of the municipal waste stream in the U.S. But in an article published in the October 2008 issue of the journal Environmental Research, Algalita founder Charles Moore, author of pioneering studies on oceanic pollution, reports that that "marine litter is now 60-80% plastic, reaching 90-95% in some areas." The reason, Moore says, is that "between 1970 and 2003, plastics became the fastest growing segment of the US municipal waste stream, increasing nine-fold." Clearly, he argues, much of that non-degradable waste finds its way to blue water.
These numbers are indefensible. That we have allowed a deathly swirl of plastic to kill vital marine life and poison our food supply is a moral failure. Will we tell our children, "Look, this is what our generation has done to the oceans"? For the sake of their future, and, indeed, the future of the planet, we can no longer ignore the plastic plague.
Although there is no instant fix for plastic pollution, there are a number of steps all of us can take to reduce the amount of plastic waste carried to the oceans. In an online publication entitled Plastic Debris from Rivers to Sea, Algalita Research Foundation offers a sensible list of "10 things you can do to conserve your watershed." Environmental activist and founder of Blue Frontier Campaign, David Helvarg, also offers valuable advice in his book 50 Ways to Save the Ocean.
Some of our favorite tips:
- Use your own cloth or recycled grocery bags to carry your purchases.
- Choose paper, glass or biodegradable plastic whenever possible.
- Buy products that are recycled or reused and packaged with minimal plastic.
Photos courtesy Algalita.org. For additional information on ocean plastic pollution, click here
This is exactly what inspired me to undertake a one-week buy-no-plastic week starting this coming Tuesday, 10/28. Check on Enviroblog for some words of wisdom from Beth @ Fake Plastic Fish. I have a feeling it's gonna be a $-saving week!!
I already taped a piece of paper with the words "Pacific Gyre" on our back door.
Woo hoo! Great article on a subject that seems to be getting more and more attention!
Great article and awareness of the deadly effects of plastic in our environment.
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