Question

essay on REDUCING AND IMPACT OG SINGLE USE PLASTIC PRODUCTS THROUGH ALTERNATIVE PRODUCTS​

Answer 1

Answer:

One of the largest culprits of environmental harm we face today is single use plastic. These plastics come in all different forms and have a variety of uses for humans globally. When considering the negative environmental impacts of single use plastics, their value to us as humans might diminish, as the harm they are causing to our planet may not be worth their minor conveniences. Studies show that out of the approximate 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic produced since 1950, only nine percent of this plastic has been recycled. To put this staggering number into perspective, the weight of this plastic would equate to 25,000 Empire State Buildings or one billion elephants according to the British Broadcasting Corporation (BBC). Of the rest of the 91 percent of plastics that are not recycled, twelve percent is incinerated, while the 79 percent majority makes its way to landfills, dumps or into earth’s natural environment, and namely our planet’s oceans. Once this plastic enters our environment, it does not biodegrade, or break down naturally, and return to the environment in a benign state. Instead, these plastics gradually deteriorate into smaller pieces of plastic called “microplastics”.

For some types of single use plastics, including plastic bags and styrofoam, they can take from twenty to one thousand years to fully degrade. This means that during the many years that these plastics spend in our oceans and natural environment, they are contaminating our water and soil with the toxic chemicals used to manufacture them. These chemicals then poison the tissue of animals who live in earth’s natural environment. This poison enters and pollutes the human food chain, as we will then eat the animals that have been affected by these toxic chemicals. In essence, as our oceans and natural land environments are polluted with plastics, we end up eating our own plastic waste.