Driven by public pressure, governments and corporations are considering eliminating or phasing out single-use plastics such as straws. Those global companies can be important levers in driving change and shifting to a regenerative, circular economy. However, if a plastic straw ban is properly implemented with education about single-use plastics, then the ban could encourage the public to reduce their usage of other single-use plastics as well. Our addiction to plastic also has negative impacts on the climate. 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? Natural Resources Defense Council 2023 Privacy Policy Plastic bags are often mistaken for food by animals, birds, and marine life. For wildlife, microplastics can be particularly dangerous; when eaten they can easily accumulate inside an animals body and cause health issues, like punctured organs or fatal intestinal blockages. LEAPE:There are two clear imperatives. Already in 2001, researchers found that the mass of microscopic plastic fragments in the North Pacific Central Gyre was 6 times higher than of plankton. What do the bans accomplish? Alternatives to plastic straws, such as paper, may not always be effective for disabled people: paper can be bitten through or broken easily. However, I do believe that we should limit our use of plastic straws by asking businesses to only give out straws on request. If environmental zealots and sycophants get their way, you won't be allowed to sip it through a plastic straw. This measure should encourage people to switch to reusable alternatives. (Source: Water in the West), Analysis reveals how restoring relatively narrow forest buffers could substantially improve regional water quality and carbon storage in Costa Rica and elsewhere. In effect, nature has designed this plastic for disassembly. An Oregon community is making spectacular statues out of ocean plastic to raise awareness about a crisis at sea. 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. (Some places are going so far as to ban single-use plastics entirely; most notably, India intends to go this route by 2022.) Well, a possible alternative solution could be to encourage businesses to only give out plastic straws on request. 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. Left alone, plastics dont really break down; they just break up. Now, lets get into the negatives of a plastic straw ban: While banning plastic straws might help the environment in some aspects (well talk about this later), there are also many reasons against (or cons) of a plastic straw ban. Among the U.S. cities to outlaw plastic straws are Malibu, Berkeley, Seattle, and Miami Beach. We all are just trying to do our job well. They prevent millions of tons of plastic from entering the waste stream each year. A wave of single-use plastic bans is sweeping the country and the globemost often on plastic bags, straws, stirrers, and takeout clamshells. Most retailers will get your point, but it can also happen that they will not be willing to sell you some products without placing it in their plastic bags because of having to oblige with some hygiene and sanitary standards (for example when selling meat products). They contribute to the contamination of our landfills and seas when they are discarded after use. Better alternatives are available 10. It also took 100% of those plastic grocery bags out of the recycling system, where they bound up machinery and increased costs. But only a few of us realize that each time we accept those disposable plastic grocery bags at store checkout, we actively participate in wasting energy and depleting non-renewable resources. As it turns out, many microorganisms make moldable bioplastic polymers that are fully degradable. Paper vs. CRIDDLE:Cost is a huge issue. Plastic straws are one of the most common forms of pollution found on beaches and in oceans all over the world. Single-use plastics are a glaring example of the problems with throwaway culture. Polypropylene is a form of plastic that is frequently used in the production of straws. Let us know if you liked this article. Will Shifting to Reusable Straws Really Make a Difference? Plastic Straws: Is Paper Really Better for the Environment? So, retailers incorporate this cost hiddenly into prices of other items sold at stores. As communities act to ban single-use plastics and individual consumers raise concerns, bigger actors pay attention. 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. We hear everywhere around us that we need to save energy. As plastic bags are not disposed properly . Rating: 5 (913 reviews) Highest rating: 5. As for reusable straws, they arent flexible as plastic ones and can be easily forgotten at home. Skip the Straw - Florida Department of Environmental Protection Buy in bulk. There are some great initiatives that strive to provide jobs for women in rural communities with limited possibilities of securing monthly income. When animals ingest plastic, it clogs up their digestive systems, which can easily choke or kill animals like birds or sea turtles. There were numerous cases of birds caught in plastic bags, unable to fly and feed, eventually strangling themselves to death. According to estimates made by scientists, there are 7.5 million polluting straws around the shores of the United States, and anywhere from 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws throughout the coastlines of the rest of the globe. 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. A Ban Could Harm Local Businesses If We add another 8 million tons each year thats about five grocery bags full of plastic waste on every foot of shoreline around the world, according to a recent study. After all, ask your grandparents, they will remember that during their time people were used to go shopping with their own bags or baskets. Ill also go over whether or not plastic straw bans will actually help the environment, and explain everything else youll need to know. An additional problem with plastic grocery bags recycling is their cleanliness. Also, giving a speech in . For example, millions of discarded plastic bags clog water drainage channels and sewers in urban areas of Bangladesh. On average, plastic bags cost retailers about 3-5 cents each. Nearly 20 years ago, a dead pelican was found with its stomach filled with 17 plastic bags [10]. American beaver populations are booming in the western United States as conditions grow hotter and drier. You cannot recycle them in the regular curbside collection of plastic, but you should be able to find many larger food stores and retailers (for example: Target, Walmart, Tesco, Morrisons, etc.) Well, lets have a look at the most important reasons why single-use plastic bags should be banned right now. These pieces can be so small that they are invisible to our eye. Martin Grimm/Picture-alliance via Associated Press. That is why the United Nations Environmental Programme Secretariat has recommended a ban on all plastic bags globally. In Ireland, where this fee was instituted in 2002, plastic bag usage decreased by about 90 percent. Ask if they have nonplastic alternatives to plastic straws, stirrers, or bags. This is because the customers voluntarily reduce their consumption of plastic bags, which in turn provides enough time for retailers to find suitable alternatives and switch to them. They are also not biodegradable and cannot be broken down naturally by bacteria and other decomposers into non-toxic materials. Sugar and oils are too expensive. 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. The crucial challenge is to ensure that these bans are just a first step, offering a natural place to start with low-hanging fruit so long as its part of a much more fundamental shift away from single-use plastics across the value chains of these companies and our economy. Accompanied by high social accountability and musical garbage trucks, that strategy has proved wildly effective: the island now reports recycling rates above 50 percent. We should just stick to plastic. Plastic bags. Though plastica chain of synthetic polymers, essentiallywas invented in the mid-19th century, it wasnt until the 1970s that its popularity skyrocketed. While we may not pay for plastic bags directly when we go shopping, they are anything but free.. Straws are notorious for being readily blown away by the wind. 1. plastic straws litter our environment Every day, about 3-6 billion plastic straws are produced. 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. Plastic straws, being so lightweight and non-biodegradable, are readily carried into the water, where they eventually break down into smaller and smaller pieces of microplastic. Refineries where crude oil is turned into plastic make up one of the most greenhouse gasintensive industries in the manufacturing sector. Most drop-off collection points accept plastic bags made from high-density polyethylene (plastic number 2) and low-density polyethylene (plastic number 4). China doesnt want our plastic waste anymore. If you are constantly feeling gassy, then you should definitely consider drinking beverages the old fashioned way. Scientists are showing that we are sending tons of tiny plastic particles into our soils each year, potentially affecting crops and our health. If youd like to learn more about how plastic straws negatively impact the environment, you can check out this article I wrote about the environmental impact of plastic straws. Plastic straws have an especially high propensity to end up in our rivers after being thrown away. Even if plastic doesnt end up in the ocean, recycled plastic is often exported from high-income countries to developing countries to process. The second, more fundamental imperative is to get plastics out of our waste stream. They suspect that it may add stress on the liver by introducing more pathogens into the body. Scientists have recorded some species of zooplankton eating tiny plastic particles. Therefore, a plastic straw ban by itself is unlikely to be very effective in actually helping the environment, although it could act as a gateway into the reduction of other single-use plastics. Sea turtles are not the only species suffering from plastic bag pollution of the environment. Here are 3 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned, explained in a simple and easy-to-understand manner: 1. The very best alternative is a reusable bag. Plastic straws are not the first iteration of straws. National Geographic made a video on how helpless it feels to be caught in a plastic bag. Paper straws cannot be recycled in any way. and reefs composed of coral, F) I Plastic straws are one of the top five most often used items. Since plastic bag recycling requires a specialized equipment that can break down the plastic and mold it into a new product, most municipalities do not have the budget to include their recycling in their waste management program. 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. The resulting number is staggering. Hi, Im Hugh, and my mission with Get Green Now is to raise awareness of environmental issues and teach people how to live sustainably. India, for example, generates 25,940 tons of plastic waste every day but collects only 60 percent of it. Criddle has evaluated use of microorganisms to biodegrade plastic materials and to synthesize biodegradable bioplastics from waste feedstocks. A 2017 Environmental Sciences and Technology study reported that up to 95 percent of plastic waste enters oceans from one of 10 riverseight in Asia and two in Africa. However, in 2014, the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) supported the first project to calculate the real cost of plastic, including adverse environmental impacts of its production, use and disposal. Stanford experts discuss the limitations of these bans and the potential for meaningful change. . Greenwashing Alert: Chemical Recycling Isnt Actually Recycling. Some opposers of the plastic straw ban say that a ban is unlikely to actually help the environment, as plastic straws do not make up a large percentage of plastic in the ocean. Even when you dont see it, these indestructible particles are everywhere around us, including in the food chain. 2. And recent studies found plastic in the guts of 90 percent of the seabirds tested and 100 percent of the turtles. A last example of a true horror caused by plastic has been discovered just recently. You can use some easy online locators to see the closest plastic bag drop-off. They're bad for the environment, kill marine life and damage human health. They are tinier than a palm of your hand and appear so fragile when struggling across the beach to make it to the sea. Ill talk about this more in the next section: By itself, a plastic straw ban is unlikely to have a large impact on the environment. At the beginning of July 2018, Seattle became the largest U.S. city to ban plastic straws. 2. We use them to drink beverages at home and we get them at almost every restaurant. About half the cost of making biodegradable polymers is the cost of feedstock. As communities act to ban single-use plastics and individual consumers raise concerns, bigger actors pay attention. If plastic straws are completely banned, local small businesses like boba tea shops will have to look for pricier alternatives. How Plastic Bottles Become Death Traps for Hermit Crabs. Animals living in the ocean might frequently confuse the plastic for food. 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. As a result, they are thrown away and frequently wind up in the ocean, where they pollute the water and eventually kill marine birds, animals, and fish. 82 percent of the responding food service establishments were aware of the prohibition, and 69 percent of those establishments viewed the ban favorably. Logically, the key to starting a change in your community is education. Other country that has decided to enforce the country-wide plastic bag ban after suffering of negative consequences was Mauritania. They end up in the water, eaten by wildlife, and inside our bodies. This amount of marine life, which includes fish and turtles, is sufficient to fill 125 school buses. Some experts estimate that more than 1 million sea animals are killed each year by straws and other types of plastic trash. About; Disability Vote Blog; Organizer's Forum; Issues; News; NDLA Webinars We should do likewise. Some Disabled People Require Plastic Straws to Drink For some people with disabilities, straws are the only way they can drink. NRDCs Eric Goldstein gives the scoop on the latest environmental villain and explains why plastic straws really are a big menace to our oceans. Some Disabled People Require Plastic Straws to Drink For some people with disabilities, straws are the only way they. No! Globally, 8 to 10 percent of our current oil supply goes to a plastic bag manufacture [4]. Unfortunately, such costs are typically not included in most economic analyses, as they are not easy to calculate because the equation would have to involve many indirect variables. Many of you may have heard it already. According to some estimates, the cost of plastic bag cleanup is about 17 cents per bag [14] and the cost is paid by us once again. Look for another place that does accept or use alternative packaging, such as small local stores that use paper wraps or compostable bags. If the answer is yes, you should know that this inadvertent overconsumption of single-use plastic carries with it a very high cost to the environment, which in turn also negatively affects our health. 1. Made from fossil fuels 3. According to market research firms, Americans use about 350 million plastic straws every single day. These examples could go on for a long time. 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned. You probably already saw the video, but if you didnt, you can watch it below (WARNING: Graphic Content): Supporters of plastic straw bans claim that the ban will help reduce our use of single-use plastics. Thats nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. Policies like bottle bill lawswhich generally require retailers to add a fee on individual bottles, which can then be partially redeemed by customers when they recycleare a way to increase corporate responsibility for waste while providing a monetary incentive to recycle. Lizzie Carr is shining a light on what is floating through the worlds waterways, and breaking athletic records along the way. According to the findings of a study that was carried out in 2019 by students at the University of Washington, 78 percent of respondents used straws made of biodegradable materials that are in compliance with the prohibition, and 68 percent used utensils that are in compliance with the ban. Your email address will not be published. For many of us it is hard to imagine that something as small as a plastic bag can actually cause flooding, but residents of some cities in Bangladesh have been struggling with this problem every monsoon season for the past two decades [3]. Instead, you are actually reusing a product, and that means that you are utilizing earths resources smartly, while at the same time reducing waste. Not only does the waste destroy the land itself, but when plastic is incinerated (as is the case for unrecyclable plastic at some illegal facilities) its toxic fumes quickly become a health hazard for residents, leading to everything from skin rashes to cancer. We are working hard to improve our content. Litter can be the first stage in a waste stream that enters waterways as plastics tossed on the street are washed away by rain or travel via storm drains into rivers and streams. 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.
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