So why is it important to keep various plastics off our streets?
Short answer:
Plastic products littered in the streets and oceans are mistakenly consumed by animals. This presents a choking hazard, and a lot of times, death. It also breaks down into microparticles that find their way into and toxifies our food and water supply.
In detail:
Plastic by definition and process is a synthetic organic polymer meant for a wide variety of uses including straws, cups, and bags.
There are many different effects plastic bags have on the environment but among popular culture the decomposition is the most well known, because plastic bags contain chemicals PET (polyethylene terephthalate). This is known to be extremely persistent in nature - the amount of years it takes for an individual plastic bag to break down is 450 years give or take. Even then, the bags don’t properly decompose and instead photo-degrade becoming microplastics which absorb toxins and continue to harm the environment. Over 100,000 aquatic animals are killed by plastic bags each year, in fact 1 in 3 leatherback turtles are found with plastic in their stomachs. For every 14 plastic bags that amount is equivalent to the amount of gas it takes to drive one mile. Referencing a study made by Waste Management only 1% of plastic bags are actually returned for proper recycling which means the average household recycles about 15 bags per year; the rest end up in the ocean or dumped as litter. Speaking again of the harm inflicted upon aquatic creatures, up to 80% of the ocean’s plastic issues comes from the land into the ocean. It is also very common for animals to get tangled and drown in the water, in fact many endangered species of tortoises. Moreover, it has developed into a global pollution epidemic, compounds leaking from the plastic bags are suspected and have caused higher levels of reported toxicity. Not only does this affect the ocean but also agricultural land. The dilapidation of the atmosphere and land has led to the obsolete uses of the earth’s resources with a specific focus and concern of the usage of oil.
Many times, invisible plastics have been identified in a variety of drinks, water, beer, and it is well known that many chemicals used in plastic bags are carcinogenic and disrupt the endocrine system which causes developmental, reproductive, neurological, and immune disorders in both the human and wildlife. Microplastics that enter the human body through direct exposure in terms of direct ingestion or inhalation can lead to wide variety of health issues some of which include inflammation, genotoxicity, oxidative stress, apoptosis, and necrosis which is known to lead to more severe health problems such as cancer, cardiovascular diseases, diabetes, and rheumatoid arthritis to name a few.
In cases where plastics are incinerated, carbon dioxide is released, causing an increase in carbon emissions.
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