Plastic

Let’s do a quick crash course in plastics and plastic history. Plastics are synthetic polymers, meaning they’re made “of many [fake] things”. The many things they’re made of are generally petroleum and other fossil fuels which are molded into long compounds of molecules. This long string of compounds makes plastics strong, lightweight, and durable. The first plastic was created in 1869 by John Wesley Hyatt. It was made with cellulose (from cotton fiber) and camphor. He created the substance for a firm in New York that offered $10,000 for anyone who could find a substitute for ivory, due to the growing popularity of billiards. This invention saved numerous animals from ivory poaching. Plastic continued developing with Leo Baekeland in 1907 who invented Bakelite, the first fully synthetic plastic.

Hyatt’s and Baekeland’s work ignited the spark that would fuel major chemical companies to invest in researching and developing new plastics. WWII encouraged the expansion of the plastic industry because of its cheap variability, with plastic production increasing by 300% in the U.S. In the beginning, as plastic began to replace the natural materials that existed in other products, it had a positive light. According to the Science History Institute, it provided “an almost utopian vision of a future with abundant material wealth thanks to an inexpensive, safe, sanitary substance that could be shaped by humans to their every whim”. The postwar years are when we see plastic begin to take on its negative connotations. This is because the first observance of plastic debris in the ocean in the 1960s coincided with the average American’s growing awareness of environmental issues like oil spills and chemical pesticides. Plastic was designed to be thrown away after one use, but no thought was put into where it would go after it was used. As more Americans came to care about the earth, the waste anxiety of the 70s and 80s saw plastic as a negative due to its polluting nature. This was when the plastic companies came up with the idea of recycling. The Science History Institute says that “in the 1980s the plastics industry led an influential drive encouraging municipalities to collect and process recyclable materials as part of their waste-management systems. However, recycling is far from perfect, and most plastics still end up in landfills or in the environment.” This effectively shifted the blame away from the large companies and towards the consumer, even though the biggest footprint of plastic comes from its production it, is a part of the process consumers don’t even control!

Now that you know a little bit about plastic and where it came from, let’s look at why it’s damaging to humans as well as our environment. For starters, plastic takes years to decompose, meaning it sticks around for longer than its intended purpose. Plastic bags and fishing nets can get into waterways and the ocean. Once there, marine life could confuse it for food or get tangled up. If entanglement occurs and the animal doesn’t die immediately, they might go through life with that preventing their growth or causing them to choke later on. An additional consideration with plastic is the chemicals. As I mentioned, during plastic production chemicals are added to the mixture to make it transparent, have color, and be flexible. The chemical compounds are responsive to heat, so if you were to reheat your leftovers in a plastic bowl, the heat would break up some of the compounds, allowing them to leach into your food. Once those chemicals have been introduced into your body, they result in things like cancer and reproductive issues. Therefore, the best thing would be to leave the plastic in nature to decompose where it won’t cause harm to humans right? As the item decomposes it breaks down into microplastics (which are smaller than 5 millimeters), which causes another host of issues. If microplastics get into waterways and eventually the ocean, the microplastics can get confused for food by creatures that eat Zooplankton. The microplastics get into their bloodstream and cause issues such as slower swimming speeds and impaired reproductive systems. Additionally, the plastics can have sharp edges which can tear tissue as it passes through their bodies.

So, plastic is bad. What can we do about it? One of the first solutions that may come to mind is recycling. I mentioned before how flawed recycling is, but in theory, recycling makes sense, taking something old and turning it into something new makes it circular, right? Unfortunately in practice recycling has become the most common form of greenwashing (meaning, passing as a green solution but not helping). In truth, only 9% of plastic collected annually is recycled (and some sources deem that an overestimate). There are many reasons why recycling doesn’t work in the way we think it does. 

The first reason is that not all plastic is recyclable, whether that’s because the local recycling centers aren’t equipped to process the materials, the plastic is contaminated, or there is no market for it. Money and infrastructure are the two biggest reasons plastic can’t be recycled. Certain municipalities won’t take certain plastic types (more on that later), because they either physically cannot recycle it, or because it costs too much to process it. Another component of this is that plastic can’t be recycled if it’s contaminated. On the consumer level, we see this if there’s liquid or foodstuffs on the plastic. Many facilities don’t have the money, workers, or time to clean the plastic before processing, so it’s much easier to throw it away. The final part of this piece of the puzzle is that there’s simply no market for recycled plastic. If nobody wants it, there’s no incentive for companies to go through the arduous process of recycling it, so it ends up in a landfill. 

The next reason recycling doesn’t work is because many people don’t know how recycling works. Most people don’t care enough to look into the situation to learn more, they only do what they're told, and oftentimes that information comes from greenwashing sources. This causes them to “wishcycle” tossing something that isn’t recyclable but they hope will be. For example, pizza boxes. Many waste management companies take cardboard, but as I mentioned before, contamination doesn’t allow an item to be recycled, so the grease stains make the box unrecyclable. So when someone puts that box into the recycle bin they are wishcycling. It may not be clear as to why wishcycling is so bad. The reason is that it contaminates the bag, even if the grease touches nothing else. Most facilities don’t have the resources to sort through too closely, so if they see something that can’t be recycled, they are more likely to throw the entire bag away instead of just the pizza box. Imagine you’re someone who puts extra care into making sure you don’t wishcycle items, but your neighbor throws a pizza box into your mixed bag. All that work, gone. 

The final reason recycling isn’t viable is connected to the market demand. Oftentimes plastic can’t be recycled into the same thing it was before because the compounds that make up the plastic aren’t as strong, so plastic gets downcycled. So even in a perfect world where plastic is “recycled”, the more it is the less strong it becomes, until it eventually can’t be recycled anymore. There it has two options, being incorporated into another item (like construction) or landfill. More often than not, it will end up in the landfill, assuming it doesn’t get blown into the ocean first.

As I mentioned before, the companies that make plastic were put under fire for polluting the environment with plastic waste, so the companies began marketing the viability of recycling the plastic to shift the blame onto consumers. For years this belief that we can recycle our way out of the climate crisis has persisted, even though it was never meant to be a real option in the first place. While the process of recycling has improved over the years, it is not the solution you should focus on if you want to make a change. I’ll briefly dive into what you need to know about recycling plastic (what little of it can be) and then explore the wider range of options available to make a greater impact.

Plastic comes in seven different types. On most plastics, you will find a little recycling symbol with a number on the inside telling you the type of plastic. This is important because your local recycling center might not take all types of plastic, so you need to be conscious about what type you have. Whatever plastic you can recycle should always be clean and dry before you throw it in the bin. Some recycling centers won’t accept the recycling if it comes in a bag, so make sure to research what their rules are and when in doubt, put it in a bin with no bag. If you’re unsure if your plastic is accepted or if it’s too dirty to clean, throw it away. You don’t want to risk them throwing away perfectly good plastic to recycle because of one bottle you hope they might clean or accept. The final thing to keep in mind with recycling is you should do your research to avoid wishcycling. If your local recycling center doesn’t accept any plastic, you can search for alternative methods of recycling, such as independent projects, buy-nothing groups, or repurposing it into something else.

So pretty depressing stuff right? Those in power blamed us for the global warming problems and all the plastic pollution and now we all suffer. I know it sounds hopeless, but it’s not. We have climate solutions. We have the solutions to reduce plastic consumption and pollution. I’ll go into a few here, but if you want more ideas, check out the resources section below and/or continue researching this. The biggest thing you can do is refuse plastic. In my Digest on Sustainable Action, I mention some ways you can reduce your plastic consumption, like a reusable water bottle and utensils. Additionally, seeking out plastic-free options is important. Instead of using those tiny plastic bags for fruits and vegetables, bring your own or put them straight into the cart, most people wash their vegetables before eating anyway, and some fruits don’t have edible skin! Another option to reduce plastic is to switch your products to glass or circular options. Shampoo, for example, can come in compostable bottles, or you can get some in a glass bottle at your local refillary. Refillary stores are great places where you can get pantry and bathroom staples in plastic-free containers, or bring your own to refill! The next option for you is to reuse the plastic you already have. If you have plastic bottles for your shampoo, don’t throw them out! Keep using them for other things, like refilling with shampoo, flower vases, coin collection, etc. There are thousands of eco-crafts out there that can take the plastic you already have and turn it into something new. Get creative and look for ways to reuse what you already have. Finally, if you can’t refuse or reuse what you have, find ways to recycle it. Not all plastic is recyclable as we’ve learned, but if it is, make sure it is clean and accepted by your local waste company before putting it into the bin. If it’s not recyclable, seek out others who might be able to use it instead. If all else fails, put it in the trash can. It’s better sitting in a landfill than it is in our oceans and forests. It’s not the best solution, but it’s better than nothing.

For those of you who aren’t satisfied with the domestic options I have provided, I direct your attention to your local offices. Your politicians are elected because their job is to serve you, the people. If you tell them that you don’t want plastic, they will have to listen. The book How to Give Up Plastic by Will McCallum is a great place to start. It takes you through the options of refusing plastic in your own life, and then eventually taking it to the people in charge. Nothing is going to change if we don’t demand it to do so. Use your vote to go green.

Resources:

• TED-Ed - What really happens to the plastic you throw away

• Insider Science - The Dangerous Chemicals in Your Plastic Packages Video

• Oceana - Why We Need to Stop Plastic Pollution in Our Oceans FOR GOOD Video

• UN Environment Programme - How Microplastics Affect Your Health Video - This video is over 5 years old and new research has emerged surrounding the effects of plastic and chemicals in the body. But still a good jumping off point.

• Environmentaldefence - Plastics Affect People: Plastic and Health Video

• Interesting Engineering - How Plastic is Destroying our Environment and What to Do About It video 

• Our Changing Climate - Here’s How Plastic Bags Impact the Environment Video

• EPA - Sustainable Management of Plastics

• EPA - Impacts of Plastic Pollution

• EPA - About Plastic Pollution

• EPA - Challenges of addressing plastic pollution

• EPA - Best Practices to Address Plastic Pollution

• EPA - What You Can Do to Reduce Plastics

• EPA - Reducing & Reusing Basics

• EPA - What You Can Do About Trash Pollution

• EPA - Learn about Aquatic Pollution

• EPA - Microplastics Research

• NOAA Marine Debris Program - Microplastics

• EPA - On microplastics in coral reefs

• Pinterest - Plastic Upcycling Craft Ideas