The Problem With Plastics: Our Dependence

We’ve come now to the last in our series of “The Problem With Plastics.” Here’s a boiled-down version of everything we’ve learned so far:

Plastics are made at an alarming rate from petroleum, a highly-polluting, non-renewable resource, and are critically damaging our most important ecosystem on our planet- Mother Ocean- and all the creatures who inhabit her. Plastic manufacturers want to keep plastics in our homes, as single-use items, to keep their wallets nice and plush- and as long as we keep buying plastics, we keep telling them we want them to make more. The Waste Hierarchy is not sustainable, does not work, and that we are backwards in our disposal of plastics, sending half our plastics to a landfill and only 5% to be downcycled into a less valuable, less usable product. Plastics should never have been deemed as “disposable,” as they were designed to last forever, and yet used today to throw away after only one use. When you use just one plastic bottle, or just one plastic bag, you’re contributing to an accumulation of pollution that takes 1,000 years to break down, and during that process, leaks chemicals into the soil we grow our food in and into the water we drink every single day.

Phew!

And now we’ve one more thing to learn about… This one might be a toughie…

Look around your home. How many things are made out of plastic? How much plastic do you touch everyday? What would you do if all that plastic went away?

The last problem, and maybe the most defining one, is that we are unbelievably dependent on plastics in our daily life. And the biggest problem is not that we consume so much, but that we never have to see our trash after it is consumed.

Here are some facts most of us have heard before, taken from ­­­Clean Air, Envirosax, Earth 911, and Green Living Tips:

827,000 to 1.3 million tons of plastic PET water bottles were produced in the U.S. in 2006, requiring the energy equivalent of 50 million barrels of oil. 76.5 % of these bottles ended up in landfills. According to the Beverage Marketing Corp, the average American consumed 1.6 gallons of bottled water in 1976. In 2006, that number jumped to 28.3 gallons.

Of the 2.25 million tons of electronics (TVs, cell phones, computers, etc) retired in 2007, 82 percent were discarded, mostly to landfills.

Approximately 380 billion plastic bags are used in the United States every year. That’s more than 1,200 bags per US resident, per year.

Americans consume more than 10 billion paper bags per year. Approximately 14 million trees are cut down every year for paper bag production.

The United Nations Environment Programme estimates that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean.

Greenpeace says that at least 267 marine species are known to have suffered from getting entangled in or ingesting marine debris. Nearly 90% of that debris is plastic.

If the Chinese consume resources in 2031 at a level that Americans do now, grain consumption per person there would climb from around 600 pounds today to around 2000 pounds needed to sustain a typical western diet. This would equate to 1,352 million tons of grain, equal to two thirds of all the grain harvested in the world in 2004. The average American buys 53 times as many products as someone in China and one American's consumption of resources is equal valent to that of 35 Indians. Over a lifetime, the typical American will create 13 times as much environmental damage as the average Brazilian.

Atmospheric carbon dioxide levels in November of 1958 were at 313.34 parts per million. In March 2009, levels were at 387.41 parts per million, an increase of over 20%.

  

We first started to refuse when we saw the plastic trash washed up on our favorite beach. Through research we learned how horrible a problem plastic is. Then we started trying to rid our lives of as much plastic as possible, while simultaneously realizing how incredibly difficult that task really is.

Look… It’s hard to ask you to do something, especially when it confronts our daily lifestyles. Refuse To Use is incredibly aware of the fact that this is a delicate subject. We, as an entire species of humans, have really mucked it all up, and now it’s time to make a change and do the right thing.

Refuse To Use has now laid before you a similar realization- through research and documentation of the pollution the world is encountering- and if you were moved as we were, we believe it’s time to make a decision. Is reducing our use of non-renewable resources important to you? Do you want to reduce pollution that harms both you and the living things of our Earth?

Refuse To Use has laid the groundwork about the problems with plastic, and now it’s your turn to do your part. Refuse the use of single-use plastics in your daily lives, and take the time to search out your daily items of purchase that come in different packaging.

When we first started this venture, we were overwhelmed. But have no fear! We want you to know- you’re not alone. Plastics have infiltrated our lives in a way we are hardly even aware of- that is, until you start noticing and trying to consume more responsibly.

This is where Refuse To Use wants to help you! 

We are here to help you make better choices! We have already written about refusing single-use plastic bags, coffee creamer bottles, and soda/water bottles- and how you can replace them in your daily lives easily, by just simply choosing another option that was already readily available for you.

We will continue to think of as many ways for you to replace your normal essentials that are made out of plastic with items that are not.

We hope you will continue to learn with us how we can refuse the use of plastics and be more responsible citizens of this beautiful planet.