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Plastic Crisis - Why and What to Do!
By David Alexander of PlanetThoughts.org
The purpose of this article is to point out the harm that plastic does to we humans, to animals, and to the health of the planet. I will simply list the major problems (there are likely others of which I am not aware, yet): * Manufacturing plastic requires extensive mining and refining, which use energy and produce greenhouse gasses
* Manufacturing plastic uses toxic chemicals, of which the by-products are also toxic and not disposed of in a safe manner
* Certain plastics leak out bisphenol A (BPA), which is an estrogen analogue which is implicated in certain cancers and hormone disruption, or phthalates (including DEHP, which causes birth defects and infertility)
* On disposal, plastics are either dumped into landfill, where they are a ticking time bomb, or blow away onto fields, rivers, lakes, and oceans. Exposed to sun and water, they give off toxic chemicals that are found in human bodies worldwide
* Plastic bags, six-pack rings, and other larger pieces of plastic often entangle wildlife, killing or crippling them
* Tiny or moderate-sized particles of plastic, from the original items or from breakdown of larger items, are mistaken for food and consumed by all kinds of wildlife, in some cases releasing toxins in their bodies and into the food chain, in other cases just killing those that eat excessive plastic
* In some large areas of the ocean, plastic particles outweigh food particles (for small fish, for example) by a factor of 6 to 1.
Seeing all this, humanity needs to 1) reduce overall consumption of unneeded items made of or wrapped in plastic, 2) replacements for plastic should also be researched and brought into production rapidly, 3) when possible, individuals should contact manufacturers that are using excessive or unneeded plastic in their packaging, 4) we must not accept plastic bags when shopping; bring your own reusable bags. Some food packaging is now starting to appear that uses bioplastic. One example is organicgirl (http://iloveorganicgirl.com), and hopefully this is a new trend. Ultimately, a combination of economics (due to rising oil prices) and government policy is necessary to force a new economy that is far less dependent on plastic. |
Emissions from Plastic Manufacturing Damaging Cattle DNA
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