Yushan ShiApril 26, 2011

Stop❤Plastic Pollution❤

• How have the governments resolved the plastic pollution?

• Are the plastic chemicals really good for us and wildlife?

500 billion to 1 tril

lion plastic bags

are used every year, worldwide.

About 1 million plastic bags are used

every minute.

A single plastic bag can take up to

1,000 years to degrade.

More than 3.5 million tons of plastic

bags, sacks and wraps were discarded

in 2008.

The U.S. goes through 100 billion

single-use plastic bags. This costs

retailers about $4 billion a year.

Every square mile of ocean has

about 46,000 pieces of plastic

floating in it.

The solution is not a plastic bag ban, which is an emotional response which fails to strike at the heart of the issue; instead of a market-based solution, a ban shifts production to paper bags and compostable bags, both of which have heavy environmental consequences.

The solution is not switching

to paper bags or compostable

plastic bags. A study on the life

cycle of three types of disposable

bags showed that both compostable

plastic and paper bags require more

material per bag in the manufacturing

process.

This market-based solution discourages daily,

thoughtless use of plastic bags by charging a

nominal fee per bag at checkout. In a study by

the U.S. Department of the Environment it w

as

found that plastic bag usage had dropped 93.5%.

This breaks down to a drop from 328 to 21 bags

per person each year.

Back

Environmentally-friendly Lifestyle:

The Great Plastic Tide

“Washed Ashore”

Food Chain

Back

From the whale, sea lions, and birds to the microscopic organisms called zooplankton, plastic has been, and is, greatly affecting marine life on shore and off shore. In a 2006 report, Plastic Debris in the World’s Oceans, Greenpeace stated that at least 267 different animal species are known to have suffered from entanglement and ingestion of plastic debris. According to the National Oceanographic and Atmospheric Administration, plastic debris kills an estimated 100,000 marine mammals annually, as well as millions of birds and fishes.

According to Algalita Marine Research Foundation, these plastic bags cause the death of many marineanimals (fish, sea turtles, etc.), every year when animals mistake them for food.

Back

Bringing environmental issues to the fore using art a group of volunteers under Angela Haseltine Pozzi, artist and Executive Director of Artula Institute havetried to put the problem of plastic pollution in perspective. Working under a project called “Washed Ashore” the team has crafted large sculptures of birds and animals impacted by plastic ingestion.

Plastic rubbish is ingested by fish, and then we humankind indirectly eat unhealthy, and even toxic things.

Stop it!!

Aha, so much money

Work CitedSources:“Facts About the Plastic Bag Pandemic.” Reuseit. N.p. n.d. Web. 19 April 2011Claire Le Guern Lytle. “When the Mermaids Cry: The Great Plastic Tide.” Coastalcare. N.p. n.d. Web.13 Apr 2011Suknmani. “Bioneers 2010 highlights the impact of plastic pollution on wildlife.” Greendiary. N.p. 19 Oct 2010. Web.16 Apr 2011

Video:http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GKAABayRuXs

Pictures:http://paultoon.com/rich-cartoon-businessman-illustration-money-mhttp://www.shellen.com/2003/10/governor-rainier-mcbain-wolfcastle.asphttp://coastalcare.org/2009/11/plastic-pollution/http://daniellarusso.org/http://onemoregeneration.org/2011/01/06/plastic-its-whats-for-dinner/http://www.greendiary.com/entry/bioneers-2010-highlights-the-impact-of-plastic-pollution-on-wildlifehttp://www.sacredearthtrust.org/content/solutions/waste/Ban-Plastic-Bags-in-Bodh-Gaya.asphttp://blog.epromos.com/hot-product/bagvertising-hot-bags-bag-news/http://loveforlife.com.au/content/08/09/01/plastic-pollution-poisoning-environmental-damage-poisoned-milk-using-melamine-indus