Criddle and Leape are also senior fellows at theStanford Woods Institute for the Environment. A complete ban on plastic straws would harm disabled people, which definitely isnt the goal of such a ban. Thats bad news for our carbon reduction goals: if plastic production continues unabated, its greenhouse gas emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030equal to adding nearly 300 new coal-fired power plantseven as the need to curb global climate change becomes more urgent. The first is to invest in better waste collection in the handful of countries that account for most of the plastic flowing into the ocean. How? Start from yourself and slowly expand to your family and friends. update email soon. And, if you dont like wearing the same shirt or pants, Read More Dont wash it if it doesnt look dirtyContinue, At age 50, Kay is a little over halfway through her life as a driver. Plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds will no longer be sold in Britain as part of a plan to eradicate "avoidable plastic waste" by 2042, and Prime Minister Theresa May actively called on other leaders in the Commonwealth to implement similar policies. Plastic Straws: Is Paper Really Better for the Environment?Continue. Or you may need to accept that plastic bag this time and then start campaigning for a plastic bag ban in your area . Have you ever seen endangered sea turtles hatch? A plastic straw ban could be a good step in the right direction, but we must use less single-use products overall to actually help the environment. (Photo credit: Shutterstock). Communities with good awareness about negative impacts of plastic bags have been more successful at enforcing the ban [20]. We are a couple of environmentalists who seek inspiration for life in simple values based on our love for nature. Greentumble is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. These actions are a response to calls for change and shifting consumer habits. A laboratory photograph of microplastics found in the Corsica River in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Maryland, An albatross found dead with a belly full of plastic on Midway Atoll. But beyond these impacts, the bans have cultural effects. Alarmingly, scientists estimate that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight in 2050. If environmental zealots and sycophants get their way, you won't be allowed to sip it through a plastic straw. You need to know what effects plastic bags have on the environment and health. 2015-2023 Greentumble. Ask if they have nonplastic alternatives to plastic straws, stirrers, or bags. Plastic straws only account for roughly one percent of the total amount of waste plastic found in the ocean. We do not know the full impact of microplastics exceeding the mass of plankton in the ocean. Lizzie Carr is shining a light on what is floating through the worlds waterways, and breaking athletic records along the way. The ban also kept them from littering neighborhoods and the environment. Killing wildlife 5. Even if plastic doesnt end up in the ocean, recycled plastic is often exported from high-income countries to developing countries to process. CRAIG CRIDDLE: In addition to recycling more and reusing materials more, we need new materials that can do the same jobs as current plastics, but are biodegradable, nontoxic and do not concentrate in food chains. As a result, the actual recycling rate for plastic bags globally is between 5 to 15 percent, while in the United States it makes only 1 percent a year [17]. 4. Companies are forced to innovate, rethinking their designs and sourcing sustainable materials. In early January 2020, China joined the growing movement of more than 120 countries pledging to ban single-use plastics.The country of 1.4 billion citizens is the No. Fortunately, microorganisms can also use cheap, renewable substrates, such as food wastes, biogas methane, carbon dioxide and renewable hydrogen. Heres everything you need to know about the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of plastic waste: the kind made to be tossed in mere minutes. Once in the ocean, plastic pollution is extremely dangerous to marine life, and plastic straws are no exception. But should plastic straws really be banned? Scientists are showing that we are sending tons of tiny plastic particles into our soils each year, potentially affecting crops and our health. (Its also important to remember that waste management is just one part of the global materials cycle. How can you help to ban plastic bags in your area? Tweet, call, or send letters to these companies to ask them to switch to more durable, recyclable, compostable, renewable, and/or recycled-content packaging with less fossil fuelderived plastic. This way, disabled people can continue to be served, while also reducing the number of plastic straws that we use. Such materials already exist in nature. Our goal is to inspire people to change their attitudes and behaviors toward a more sustainable life. In the spirit of eliminating waste, plastic straws appeared to be a way to further the cause: straws aren't essential to the dining experience, and by banning them, oceans, streets, and general society would theoretically benefit. What about you? Well, before putting it into the laundry basket, take a look at it closely. Leape has long been a leader in ocean conservation efforts. What does occur in most instances is that when out in the environment, the plastic breaks up into tiny microscopic pieces that get deposited in soils (where we grow food) or contaminate waterways. Plastic items are more sanitary than other alternatives. Learn how your comment data is processed. Growing public concern has inspired movements to ban single-use plastics, most notably straws. This NRDC.org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as time and place elements, style, and grammar); you cant resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you cant republish our material wholesale or automaticallyyou need to select stories individually; you can't republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when youve used one of our stories. Although, really, these tips can be used by anyone, not just kids. Help raise awareness of fellow consumers that means everyone when you think about it (unless they dont shopever). edinburgh airport address. Thoughtful laws are needed to control the problem and at the same time encourage innovation. [PDF] Skip The Straw - 10 Reasons Fact Sheet - Kids. China 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned Manufacturers, Supply 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned with High Quality, Wholesale 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned with Low Price, High Quality. Many of you may have heard it already. Buy a metal or bamboo reusable straw. As communities act to ban single-use plastics and individual consumers raise concerns, bigger actors pay attention. In fact, plastic bags are considered by many recycling facilities the number one contaminant and their removal from the recycling stream costs municipalities close to $1 million a year [18]. All rights reserved. How Plastic Bottles Become Death Traps for Hermit Crabs. Juan Cristobal Cobo/Bloomberg via Getty Images. Well, a possible alternative solution could be to encourage businesses to only give out plastic straws on request. Post date: 18 yesterday. A study analyzes water transactions that leave water in the river, and shows how they could be scaled up to avert cuts for major water users while supporting imperiled ecosystems. Search for jobs related to Reasons why smoking should be banned articles or hire on the world's largest freelancing marketplace with 22m+ jobs. Plastic straws are one of the most common forms of pollution found on beaches and in oceans all over the world. The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, These pieces can be so small that they are invisible to our eye. Plastic bag litter has even caused great problems in some areas. . Straws made of paper are neither recyclable nor capable of decomposition. Facebook; Contact Now . Items made of plastic that come into contact with food can be recycled, whereas products made of paper that absorb both food and garbage cannot. In effect, nature has designed this plastic for disassembly. Polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most commonly recycled plastics and the material that makes up most water and soda bottles, can be turned into everything from polyester fabric to automotive parts. Plastic straws are also the 6th most common trash item found during ocean cleanups. They also arent accepted by recycling facilities because they can jam recycling machinery (due to their small size). The subtropical gyres of the North Pacific Ocean are also documented to contain the highest concentrations of plastic. However, we are all too familiar with situations when a cashier automatically puts your items in a plastic bag before you can oppose it. Without further due, here are the top 3 ways kids can help, Read More 3 Ways Kids can Help the EarthContinue, What Are Microplastics? High costs for cleanup 8. Plastic bags floating in the ocean resemble jellyfish, one of the main sources of food for some species of sea turtles, especially the critically-endangered Leatherback turtles. The truth is that we do not know yet the full scale of negative impacts plastic waste can have on marine and terrestrial environments because it hasnt been around long enough to allow us to assess possible scenarios of its influence on natural cycles. Driven by public pressure, governments and corporations are considering eliminating or phasing out single-use plastics such as straws. But you should also consider the other perspective what effect single-use bags have had on the local economy and product affordability. They are also capable of being ingested by fish, seabirds, and marine mammals, which in turn causes the animals injury and, in the case of fish, allows them to enter the human food chain. The most common are inorganic dyes that are added to change the color of plastic bags. When you sip beverages through a straw you end up inhaling more air into your belly than you would otherwise. And cracker plantswhich break, or crack, ethane molecules, a component of natural gas, into the chemical building blocks of plastic productsare energy intensive and highly polluting. Animals living in the ocean might frequently confuse the plastic for food. What is the root of the problem (consumers or municipal waste management)? In my opinion, plastic straws should not be banned outright, because many disabled people require plastic straws to drink. It's free to sign up and bid on jobs. For the oceans sake, wed better hope so. (Some places are going so far as to ban single-use plastics entirely; most notably, India intends to go this route by 2022.) Large producers of single-use plastics can make a big environmental impact. It started with cardboard straws, but once plastic production in America increased, people realized it was quicker and cheaper to produce plastic straws. Plastic waste, mostly broken down into tiny particles, floats in huge blobs amid ocean current patterns called gyres that together cover as much as 40 percent of Earths ocean surface. Many of the chemicals in plastics are known endocrine disruptors,and research has suggested that human exposure could cause health impacts including hormonal imbalances, reproductive problems like infertility, and even cancer. We should do likewise. | | Plastic bags are everywhere. 6461 garfield street hollywood, fl. Plastic is more sanitary and safer to use than other alternatives. The crucial challenge is to ensure that these bans are just a first step. Dont re-wash something if you can wear it again. If this happens, there are a few scenarios you can follow: The best thing you can do with those old plastic bags that have been stashed in that overflowing drawer in your kitchen is to recycle them. They discovered that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestl products were found most often. Have some dirty clothes that you just wore today? Left alone, plastics dont really break down; they just break up. Some Disabled People Require Plastic Straws to Drink For some people with disabilities, straws are the only way they. Criddle isdirector of StanfordsCodiga Resource Recovery Center,a member ofStanford Bio-Xand an affiliate of thePrecourt Institute for Energy. McDonalds swapped its plastic straws for paper at its United Kingdom and Ireland restaurants. 2. LEAPE:Plastic straws are only a tiny fraction of the problem less than 1 percent. Its because Asian and US coastlines release large amounts of plastic waste in the ocean [7]. Single-use plastics in particularespecially small items like straws, bags, and cutleryare traditionally hard to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery and therefore are often not accepted by recycling centers. And will a plastic straw ban actually be effective when it comes to saving our oceans and environment? In 2015 a mere 24 of these ethane cracker facilities in the United States had the combined carbon output of 3.8 million passenger vehicles. This blog covers a variety of topics including plastic pollution, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and much more. Companies are trying to sell communities on a toxic solution to the plastic pollution crisis. On other issues, from overfishing to deforestation, we have seen that consumer-facing companies like McDonalds, Unilever and Walmart can be exquisitely sensitive to the concerns of their customers. It is estimated that there are now 150 million metric tons of plastic in the ocean. Try reusable and compostable beeswax wrap for an easy and decorative option. Affiliate Disclaimer: Some links on this site may be referral or affiliate links. In countries with a lack of awareness about negative impacts of plastic bags, a polite refusal might not be met with much understanding. Cook more often, to reduce your use of plastic-heavy takeout containers. Most of it is either dumped in landfills or ends up in the ocean. Some companies are taking initiative on their own. An outright ban on plastic straws would create an accessibility problem for disabled people while dining in public. And they help shift consumer mind-sets, as people begin to recognize that exorbitant and avoidable waste is not sustainable. Stanford Reportspoke withJim Leape, co-director of theStanford Center for Ocean Solutions, andCraig Criddle, a professor of civil and environmental engineering, about the path to reducing ocean plastic pollution. In addition, despite the fact that the FDA has deemed this to be safe for consumption, chemicals from the plastic may seep into liquids, releasing substances that have the potential to influence estrogen levels. Better alternatives are available 10. In the United States, California has banned single-use plastic bags in 2016, but the city of San Francisco has locally issued this ban already in 2012 and consumers pay a little fee for other alternatives like compostable bags or recycled paper bags. The first answer to this question that comes to everyones mind is to stop using plastic bags, right? Its Plastic Incineration. What Does the Plastic Bag Ban Mean for New Yorkers? There are many uses for plastic that are not only reasonable but important, such as surgical gloves, or straws for people with disabilities. So, plastic waste only speeds up the destruction of these most biodiverse ecosystems on earth. If it looks clean, smells clean (and sounds clean! We've all become too hooked on the availability and comfort of the stuff. One of the most significant negative effects that plastic bags have on the natural world is that it takes a very long time for them to degrade.In addition, the breakdown of plastic bags in the sun results in the release of hazardous compounds into the surrounding soil, and the combustion of plastic bags results in the release of a poisonous material into the surrounding air, contributing to the problem of ambient air pollution. Plastics also permeate freshwater systems like rivers and streams. Because they are so lightweight, plastic bags get easily picked up by wind and travel long distances by wind and water to pollute the nature. Then, the straw got stuck in the turtles nose after she/he tried to cough the straw back out. Instead it ends up in landfills or in the environment. Overall, the goal of a plastic straw ban should be to increase public awareness for single-use plastics and their nasty effects on the environment. Let us know if you liked this article. Will Shifting to Reusable Straws Really Make a Difference? What to do with plastic bags you already have at home? But, are paper straws really better for the environment? Martin Grimm/Picture-alliance via Associated Press. The production of these bags is very energy intensive. We should also try to give up plastic straws if we are capable of doing so. Additionally, a plastic straw ban could also act as a gateway into other single-use plastic bans for items like plastic bottles and plastic bags, which are worse for the environment than plastic straws. 1. Instead of investing in quality goods that will last, we often prioritize convenience over durability and consideration of long-term impacts. At the beginning of July 2018, Seattle became the largest U.S. city to ban plastic straws. American beaver populations are booming in the western United States as conditions grow hotter and drier. Straws, Ives says, made the perfect target: too inconsequential to really be missed but so ubiquitous that their absence would be noticed. As a result, the ban will reduce the number of plastic straws polluting the ocean. The single biggest reason why people want to ban plastic straws is because of their negative effects on the environment. Also, giving a speech in . Plastic straws are everywhere we look. its plants and animals, and the natural systems on which all life depends. Each day, the United States of America uses 500 million drinking straws. Required fields are marked *. The crisis is so serious that many people are saying that plastic straws should be outlawed. If plastic straws are completely banned, local small businesses like boba tea shops will have to look for pricier alternatives. The small pilot whale, found in a Thai canal this past June, is another symptom of a crisis in the worlds oceans. Quick Navigation for Reasons Why Plastic Shopping Bags Should Be Banned, [1] https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25496/singleUsePlastic_sustainability.pdf, [2] https://www.eco-business.com/opinion/getting-rid-of-plastic-bags-a-windfall-for-supermarkets-but-it-wont-do-much-for-the-environment/, [3] https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/2018/04/09/plastic-chokes-dhakas-drainage/, [4] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bags-petroleum/, [5] https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2935417&page=1, [6] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/, [7] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/124006/pdf, [8] https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/rare-sea-turtles-eating-plastic-at-record-rate, [9] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.12126, [10] http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/index.en.php?id=934, [11] http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2008/12/plastic-bags-and-animals-making-the-wild-safe-for-wildlife/, [12] http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6374/460, [13] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/22/microplastics-found-in-human-stools-for-the-first-time, [14] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bag-clean-costs/, [15] http://www.bagmonster.com/2010/04/the-true-cost-of-single-use-bags.html, [16] http://www.cep.unep.org/cep-documents/unep-press-release-on-the-effects-of-plastic-waste-on-marine-ecosystems.pdf, [17] https://greentumble.com/can-plastic-bags-be-recycled/, [18] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bag-clean-costs/, [19] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-countries-are-in-the-world.html, [20] https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25496/singleUsePlastic_sustainability.pdf. Disney is eliminating single-use plastic straws and stirrers at all its theme parks, resorts and properties. Ideally, to be suitable for recycling, bags need to be clean to be accepted, which is often a problem, considering that we use them to carry groceries and potentially leaky goods. Banning plastic straws is also increasingly popular. Marine animals bear the burden of this influx of garbage into their habitats. Car Recycling: Everything You Need to Know (With Statistics), Sustainable Diving & Snorkeling: How to Prevent Damage to Marine Ecosystems, What Are Microplastics and Why Are They a Concern? Author: floridadep.gov. An additional problem with plastic grocery bags recycling is their cleanliness. What Is Plastic Made Of And How Is It Manufactured? Not only does banning single-use plastic reduce pollution, but it also reduces demand for plastic production thats contributing to global climate change. Participate in beach or river cleanups. There is a lot of research now underway on the health effects of ocean plastics, but we already know that some plastics, and the chemicals that attach themselves to plastics in the water, can cause cancer, genetic disruptions and other ill effects. There are definitely differing opinions on whether or not plastic straws should be banned. They are tinier than a palm of your hand and appear so fragile when struggling across the beach to make it to the sea. Pack it alongside reusable cutlery (like wood, bamboo, or metal chopsticks) for sustainable eating on the go. These costs include the true environmental costs of resource extraction and depletion, the loss of quality of life, economic loss from littering, and wildlife loss. Making just one simple swap, like purchasing a reusable water bottle, can spare the environment hundreds of plastic bottles each year. By being aware about these issues, you will be ready to present some strong arguments why plastic bags should be banned in your area and answer questions of people who will become your ally if you will persuade them about your good intentions. You should examine what alternatives are available and whether local retailers, who often operate with a limited monthly budget, have the ability to make the switch. Theyve even made their way up to the secluded Pyrenees mountain range and down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. In Ireland, where this fee was instituted in 2002, plastic bag usage decreased by about 90 percent.