By Dr. Mercola
While you may not directly feel the impact of garbage
while going about your day to day life, it's quite literally
choking the life out of our ecosystem, and the situation is
getting worse with each passing day.
Eventually, we will all suffer the very real consequences
as the world dies around us. As stated in the featured
documentary, Inside the Garbage of the World,
"we're going to create an environmental catastrophe that we
may not be able to recover from."
Many take for granted that their garbage "magically
disappears" once it's picked up by the garbage truck, but
nothing could be further from the truth. Most garbage does
not disappear. It's simply relocated to a landfill or a
recycling center. Trash also makes its way down storm drains
and into nearby waterways.
The Abomination That Is Plastic...
Our throwaway mentality has created a pollution problem
that now threatens the future of humanity itself.
Plastic trash is of particular concern, as bits and
pieces of plastic are mistaken for food by birds and sea
animals.
Debris in the ocean also blocks sunlight from which
plankton and algae sustain themselves, and this has negative
implications on up the food chain as it eventually becomes
micronized and winds up in some of the seafood you eat.
Also, once in the waterways, plastic particles also act
like sponges for waterborne contaminants such as PCBs,
pesticides like DDT,
herbicides, PAHs, and other persistent organic
pollutants.
This phenomenon makes plastics far from benign, and
scientists have yet to determine the full extent of the
dangers posed by their consumption, or the effects higher up
the food chain—which is where you are.
Plastic pollution is an enormous problem, worldwide.
According to the documentary, an estimated 4.7 million tons
of plastic ends up in our oceans each year, where wave
action turns them into a plastic soup that damages sea life
and marine ecosystems.
Eighty percent of this plastic comes from land; the rest
is litter from ships, boats, and industrial platforms.
Rivers and streams are equally affected by plastic trash.
For example, as noted by Dan Glaser with the Surfrider
Foundation, 30-75 percent of all pollution found in the
Ventura River in California is plastic.
In Hawaii, there are remote beaches where you cannot even
see the sand for all the plastic washed ashore. An estimated
17 tons of debris is collected on Kamilo Point and adjacent
beaches each year.
Out of Sight, Out of Mind—Oceans Turning into Landfills
Plastics such as polycarbonate, polystyrene, and PETE
sink to the bottom, where they smother and kill marine life
on the ocean floor. Other plastics such as LDPE, HDPE,
polypropylene and foamed plastics float.
Partially broken down plastic particulate also fills the
water column between the ocean floor and the surface. The
largest landfill in the world is in fact not located on land
but in the Pacific Ocean, in the North Pacific Gyre. Ninety
percent of the trash making up this "Great Pacific Garbage
Patch" is plastic.
The North Pacific gyre contains two sub-gyres (Eastern
and Western) where trash collects as a result of rotating
currents. The Eastern Garbage Patch covers an area equal to
half the size of the continental United States, and the
Western Garbage Patch is somewhat smaller.
Contrary to the image publicized by the media, these are
not solid floating "islands" of trash. The pollution is
dispersed; not only on the surface, but also throughout the
water column and across the ocean floor, but the rotating
currents do gather and concentrate the trash into these
great swaths of ocean covering thousands of miles.
As noted by Anna Cummins, co-founder of 5 Gyres
Institute:1
"If it were an island of garbage, it would
actually be a better thing, because we'd be able to
really, truly communicate this issue to the public.
One of the difficulties with this plastic issue
is that it's so hard to engage the public in feeling the
urgency... People want to see an island of garbage, and
when they see images of blue waters, they think that
it's not really a big deal.
The reality... is that it's more like a plastic
soup... It's this plastic soup of "confetti" that is
very diffuse. The difficulty is that it covers so much
ground..."
Plastic Particles Outnumber Plankton 36 to 1
According to one United Nations report,2
there are 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of
ocean. But larger pieces of plastic do not remain intact. It
breaks up into increasingly smaller pieces, which make their
way into the food chain.
An estimated 300,000 animals die each year either from
ingested plastic, or getting tangled in plastic. One young
sperm whale that washed ashore dead in California was found
to have 400 pounds of plastic in its stomach.
In Midway Island, where 20 tons of plastic wash ashore
each year, deceased albatrosses have been found with
lighters, bottle caps and other chunks of plastic in their
bellies. Ditto for birds, turtles, dolphins, seals, fish,
and more.
Disturbingly, the plastic to plankton ratio in the North
Pacific is increasing rapidly and exponentially. Tests in
1999 found a plastic to plankton ratio of six to one. By
2007, that ratio had jumped to 36 to one! So it got six
times worse in a matter of about eight years.
Now another eight years have gone by, so that ratio is
undoubtedly even higher today, and will continue to rise
until we change our ways... The question is how long will
our oceans continue to sustain life at this pace?
Research3
shows that biodegradable plastics aren’t all they’re cracked
up to be either. Biodegradable plastics are treated with
additives that are supposed to help the plastic break down
faster. But a recent study found that biodegradable plastics
degraded no faster than untreated, non-biodegradable
plastic, so this really isn’t a viable alternative either.
ALL of the World's Oceans Are Clogging Up with Plastic
There are a total of five subtropical gyres: the Indian,
North and South Atlantic, and North and South Pacific. All
of them trap and collect trash in their rotating currents,
and as noted by Anna Cummins, whose 5 Gyres Institute has
now collected water samples from all five gyres, mankind has
altered the constitution of our oceans on a global scale.
All but two of the 500 water samples the Institute has
gathered contained plastic. The two that did not were
collected in an area off of Chile. Plastic chemicals are an
added concern. The potential for catastrophic biological
consequences for every species on the planet is growing with
every discarded bottle and bag.
Plasticizing chemicals like
BPA disrupt embryonic development in both animals and
humans, and are linked to heart disease and cancer. As
reported in this film, one seafood test done in Singapore
revealed BPA in every single seafood sampled. This is a real
concern—the fish are eating plastic and swimming in plastic
chemicals, and we're at the top of the food chain eating
them...
Phthalates—another plastic chemical—dysregulate gene
expression and cause genital anomalies, especially in baby
boys, that may pass down several generations. Prenatal
phthalate exposure has also been linked to reduced IQ in
children, and
DEHP may lead to multiple organ damage.
By altering the composition of our oceans with plastic,
we're ruining the building blocks of life, including carbon,
oxygen, and food production. So, whether you look at
environmental or biological effects, our careless use of
plastics has created a rapidly encroaching nightmare.
We Can No Longer Afford the Price of Convenience
At the heart of the waste problem is a materialistic
society that encourages buying more and more "stuff."
Acquiring things you don't really need can take a massive
toll on the environment, in more ways than you may realize.
The Western penchant for single-use items is particularly
destructive. If you have not seen it yet, I highly recommend
you watch The Story
of Stuff, as it does a phenomenal job of illustrating
the real effects of over-consumption and over-production.
All of this "stuff" -- the electronics, the toys, the
single-use conveniences, the clothes and all the other
material goods that we use to express our status and
"personal value" -- carry a hefty price tag, not just for
your wallet but also for the planet and the people who live
on it. The Story of Stuff details what goes into the making
of all these products; the processes of extraction (trashing
the planet), production (adding in toxic chemicals),
distribution, consumption, and ultimately disposal. The
impact all of this has on communities at home and abroad are
hidden from your view, yet it is immense.
Adding to the problem is planned obsolescence, on a
functional, design, and even aesthetic level, which makes
perfectly good products obsolete or just plain
"undesirable." It is because of built-in obsolescence that
you've probably traded in your perfectly good computer or
smartphone just to get a newer model. It's also the reason
why certain products break after a number of uses and have
to be repeatedly replaced.
How to Cut Down on Your Waste
Bottled water is perhaps one of the most environmentally
unfriendly industries there is. Americans alone go through
and ultimately discard about half a billion bottles of
water every week. The environmental ramifications of
this practice are enormous, so becoming more responsible
about what we buy and how we discard our waste is not just a
"nice idea." I believe it is an absolute necessity.
Recycling responsibly is one step in the right direction,
but I believe it's even more important to reduce and reuse
what we have first, as much as possible. It's worth
remembering that mankind had a zero waste lifestyle
up until about 100 years ago. There were no plastic wraps
around the foods and items you bought, and virtually every
scrap, be it fabric, paper, wood, or metal, was repeatedly
reused; creatively refashioned into new products.
We need to rethink our throwaway culture and become more
sustainably creative. Ideally, seek to purchase products
that are not made from or packaged in plastic. Another
important point is to choose reusable over single-use, which
is possible in most instances. Here are a few ideas:
Use reusable shopping bags for groceries |
Take your own leftovers container to restaurants |
Bring your own mug for coffee, and bring
drinking water from home in glass water bottles
instead of buying bottled water |
Request no plastic wrap on your newspaper and
dry cleaning |
Store foods in glass containers or mason jars
rather than plastic containers and plastic freezer
bags |
Avoid disposable utensils and buy foods in bulk
when you can |
Opt for non-disposable razors, washable feminine
hygiene products for women, cloth diapers,
handkerchiefs instead of paper tissues, rags in lieu
of paper towels, and infant toys made of wood rather
than plastic |
Avoid processed foods (which are stored in
plastic bags with chemicals). Buy fresh produce
instead, and forgo the plastic bags |
Where Will Your Descendants Live, if Not on Earth?
These are just a few ideas — I'm sure you can think of
many more. Please do take care to recycle and repurpose
products whenever possible, especially ones that are not
available in anything other than plastic. This includes
giving your clothes or gently used household items to
charities, and frequenting second-hand stores instead of
buying new. Make use of online sites like Freecycle.org that
allow you to give products you no longer need away to others
instead of throwing them away.
In general, purchasing locally sourced and locally
crafted goods will be best for the environment and your
local economy. You may need to pay more for such items, but
chances are they'll far outlast mass-produced versions,
which means you won't need to throw it away and acquire a
new one. For items you cannot get made locally, seek out
responsible companies that do not exploit people or the
environment to make your purchases from.
Last but not least, consider asking yourself more often:
"Do I really need this?" Overconsumption in general is an
issue for most people in Western societies; the problem is,
all this buying and throwing items away is like borrowing
life from our children that we can never pay back. Once the
Earth is too clogged with plastic to sustain life, where
will our children and grandchildren live?
Copyright 1997- 2015 Dr. Joseph Mercola. All Rights Reserved.
http://articles.mercola.com/sites/articles/archive/2015/03/21/plastic-trash-ocean.aspx