The Plastic Problem
If you are reading this you
probably already recycle, but it is easy to become partially blinded to all the
sources of plastic waste and forget that the majority of our plastic cannot
actually be recycled into the same products. Recycling might lessen the impact
of the waste that we create but it does not, by any means, obliterate it. To
make a plastic bottle or a plastic bag, new plastic must be synthesized. In
addition, recycling is inefficient and depends on the demand for lower quality
plastics. That this demand is not always met, is just another reason to be
conscientious of the amount of plastics we consume in the first place. Although
there is much to say about plastic in general, this post is going to be about
one of the most common yet problematic and confusing types of plastic – soft plastics.
Soft plastics are also known as low-density
polyethylene (LDPE) classified by the Society of the Plastics Industry code #4. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Low-density_polyethylene
They are the plastics that can be easily scrunched into a ball or crumpled when
crushed by hand and include plastic retail bags, packaging, shrink wrap, and
squeezable plastic bottles.
Global plastic production
has increased from 5 million tons in the 1950s to over 250 million tons in
2006. Just in the form of trash bags alone, it was estimated that there were
980,000 tons of plastic generated in 2010. The amount of plastic bags (not
categorized as trash bags) was estimated to be a wopping 4 million tons!
(U.S. EPA, MSW report, 2010)
Now, unfortunately, a lot of
this plastic has found its way to the wrong places and is having severe and
detrimental effects on the environment and wildlife. In the Southern Ocean,
plastic debris increased 100 times during the early 1990s (Copello &
Quintara, Mar Poll Bull, 2003). Off
Japan’s coast, floating particles of plastic debris increased 10-fold in 10
years from the 1970s through 1980s, and then 10-fold again every 2-3 years in
the 1990s (Ogi & Fukimot, Fisheries
Bulletin, 2000). It is estimated that approximately 80% of marine plastic waste comes from land-based sources
(litter, industrial discharges, and garbage management) and approximately 20% comes from ocean-based
sources (commercial fishing vessels, cargo ships, and pleasure cruise
ships). Individuals of at least 267 species (invertebrates, fish, turtles,
seabirds, mammals) have been found dead due to entanglement by marine plastics
and the carcasses of 187 species have been found whose death was attributed to ingestion
of these plastics (JGB Derraik, Marine
Poll Bull, 2002).
The images of fur seals
brought to their death struggling to get out of a mass of plastic, and bird
carcasses filled completely with assorted plastics, are probably burned into
your minds as well. Plastic litter is a problem for many reasons, and if you
are reading this, you probably do not need to be convinced of this fact. I
recently moved from Bloomington, IN (which recycles soft plastics) to
Minneapolis, MN (which does not) and every time I have to throw away a piece of
plastic into the garbage, these images flash into my mind. Not that by throwing
my plastic bag into a recycling bin versus a trash bin makes it so much less
likely to end up in the stomach of a whale, but this is how I feel. I want to
modify my behavior to limit my consumption of soft plastics and to find the
best ways to dispose of the ones I cannot escape (not truly inescapable, but
linked to products I am at this point unwilling to give up)
Recycling (and reducing) soft plastics
If you are like me, there is
still comfort in tossing something into a recycling bin, but for plastic bags
this can cause problems at the recycling center as they often get caught in the
sorting machinery, causing delays, breaking equipment, and ultimately
increasing the cost of recycling. The process of recycling soft plastic will
vary depending on your city's recycling program, so it is important to check!
Recycling soft plastics is inefficient, which is why the majority of cities
don’t do it at all. If you are in one of these cities, the best you can do is:
1. Limit your contribution
to the soft plastic waste
2. Save your soft plastics
and bring them to your local grocery store, Target, Walmart, or other.
In these containers you can
recycle all #4 plastics, including these items:
- Furniture and Electronic
wrap
- Retail and Plastic bags
labeled #2 and #4
- Zip Close Food Storage
bags (clean and dry)
- Plastic cereal box liners (if
it tears like paper do not include)
- Plastic shipping
envelopes, including Tyvek ®, bubble wrap and air pillows (Remove labels and/or
deflate)
- Case wrap (e.g., snacks,
water bottles)
In terms of reducing your
consumption of plastics, there are a multitude of ways that you can do this -
part of it is just paying more attention. It is easy to get into habits while
forgetting that there are new ways to minimize your negative impact. For
example, there is a clear movement to reduce the use of plastic grocery bags.
However, in the supermarkets I’m always surprised to see all the people with
their canvas bags, filling their carts full of produce with each item wrapped
in its own plastic bag.
Some Tips
1. For produce or items in
bulk, consider using washable cloth bags or dog poop bags made of cornstarch which are easily composted (Arm &
Hammer makes some).
2. Avoid extra packaging by
buying non-perishable products in large sizes whenever possible (a one-pound
box uses less packaging, and therefore results in less waste, than two
half-pound boxes).
3. Buy larger sized
household products for things you use regularly like laundry soap, shampoo, dry
pet food and kitty litter.
4. Stay away from products
packaged in single serving food items such as microwave dinners, soups, and
beverages.
5. Buy concentrates when
possible because that is a lot of weight and space that is not being packaged
and shipped by the manufacturer. *Juice bought in concentrate form uses up to
36% less packaging and costs 41% less than juice in plastic jugs.
6. Pick the product with the
least packaging.
7. Buy the bread in the
paper bag, not the plastic one
8. Buy cereal in bulk when
you can bring your own container and avoid the plastic insert
But I am just one person….
A few months ago I found
myself at the post office with a cardboard box full of milk cartons that I had
been saving for one year and was shipping to a TetraPak recycling facility in
Nebraska. After paying the $28 for shipping and walked out, I noticed the
parking lot dumpster filled with cardboard boxes. At that moment I felt, what
is the point? Yesterday I picked up a plastic bag in the park, filled with
empty miniature liquor bottles and soda cans. I took it to the recycling can
and carefully sorted everything into the appropriate bins. When I finally
lifted the lid of the garbage can to dispose of the few non-recyclables, I saw
that it was filled with mostly bottles and cans. These moments are challenging,
but it is important to remember that this is how the majority of change occurs,
through the cumulative actions of many individuals.
And every little bit helps. The plastic that you save could even mean a few more happy elderly seals.
