Are We Really Recycling?
Forty percent of Americans believe that plastic biodegrades (meaning naturally breaks down) in landfills, oceans, and composts. Once again, we have assumed that the responsibility of an immediate risk is carefully managed with our best interest in mind. The United States employs China to export some plastics; many of our polyethylene bottles are transported to China for plastic waste.32 This may be because it is cheaper to dispose and there are less stringent regulations on recycling and pollution prevention. Increases in the use of plastic have been directly linked to the amount of marine litter.33
An area of concentrated floating debris known as Garbage Island located in the North Pacific Gyre is estimated to be twice the size of Texas has been discovered in the Pacific Ocean and is continuing to grow. Our natural cycle of life is now victims of plastics as the smaller marine animals feed from the plastics dumped in the ocean, the fish eat the smaller animals, and we eat the fish, and so on. Soon, if you "teach a man to fish" you he'll eat with the increased chance of ingesting carcinogens prepared for nourishment.
In the United States, plastics must be separated due to resins that may be toxic when manufactured into new products. In addition, the cost to complete this process is a deterrent for most companies. Unfortunately, the task of carefully managing the potentially deadly substance is placed in the hands of others. To add insult to injury, the American Plastics estimated that only about five percent of manufactured plastics were recycled.34 I repeat (testing one, two…clearing my throat this time…did you hear that…) ONLY ABOUT FIVE PERCENT OF MANUFACTURED PLASTICS WERE RECYCLED!!! Unbelievable!
Plastic is not biodegradable which makes it even more important to monitor its consumption. Most plastics break down through photodegradation (to break down with light), oxidation (to take away hydrogen, as by the action of oxygen; add oxygen or any nonmetal) and mechanical abrasion (the removal of surface impurities, usually by sandblasting).35 This natural resource is not only needed to fuel our modes of transportation, but it is also used in fertilizers, perfumes, beauty products, medicines, and other household items.
This guides a discussion that centralizes our need to be more informed about issues that directly affect us. Issues in trade (we receive most of our plastic from China which has had a problem with regulations of products) should prompt us to become more engaged in our consumption. This topic is one that should be examined more closely, but I digress with caution to focus on something you, the citizen and consumer, may find great joy in knowing. Our world can be better! We are flexible enough to exhibit the durability of our moral consciousness (oh, the puns!)
Trust Yourself to Do Something Good For Yourself and Others - Easily!
Close your eyes and think of the wonderful things that you will do to minimize exposure. Thoughtful decisions not confined in the trickery and emotional groundings provided by persuasive advertisements will be made to limit plastic use and decrease production. Spread the word! Treat your knowledge like juicy gossip that you must tell or you will simply explode! Continue to recycle with an effort to conserve as well. More importantly, encourage your family, friends and community to become more informed about health and social issues such as the ones discussed with the hope that our lives will be long-lived without the guilt of allowing others to determine our fate.
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