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Essay on alternatives for plastics
Essay on alternatives for plastics
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Landfills are being overrun with more than 15 million tons of discarded plastic a year. What if I told you there was a better way? Currently, many of our plastics such as bottles, packaging, and furniture are petroleum-based plastics. And while we do our best to recycle, this plastic is not completely biodegradable. I think there is a better choice, and that choice being polyhydroxybutyrate also known as PHB. “PHB is a product of bacteria storing carbon and energy in molecules of glycogen, which is polymer of glucose molecules or lipid.” (p.72) With little chemical alteration, PHB can be the “green” plastic that replaces petroleum-based plastics.
All things considered, I think PHB would be good for the Earth. It would cut waste, but also reduce
Plastic is a synthetic (human-made) material and takes much longer to decompose than natural materials. Plastic items take many lifetimes to decompose in landfills.
Ironically, plastic, which is a material designed to last forever, is generally used for things we tend to throw away. Every year, about one hundred to two hundred billion pounds of plastic are manufactured. Only 31% of that plastic is actually recycled. Biomass packaging estimates 10% of that plastic ends up in the ocean annually. About 20% of it coming from ships and other platforms, and the other 80% coming from land derived sources, such as international garbage dumping, winds or tides, either way it finds its way to the ocean.
Imagine how much plastic exists in the everyday environment. Every year there is an av-erage of 50 billion water bottles consumed (Geracimos, 2007). Plastic also helps with wrapping different materials, preserving certain foods, and is virtually is every material that we use, but is plastics the new enemy to our lives? From drinking cups all the way to washable plastic bowls. Plastic may be causing harm to our bodies. However, more research is needed before plastic can be determined if it should be significantly reduced plastic use.
It generates hazardous waste that is ultimately deposited in the oceans’ shores. As most of the plastics deposited are non-biodegradable. The plastic pollution is damaging the marine life as well as the well being of human. In the article “Plastic Pollution” by Kiener, it is stated that the plastic comprises of 10 percent of all ocean debris. It has been estimated that about 100 million tons of plastics are used worldwide everyday, and only 5 percent of the plastic is recycled because most types of plastic cannot be recycled economically. Kiener also notes in his article that approximately 2.4 million pounds an hour of plastic enters in the world’s oceans everyday. Therefore, the most important thing that we can do is, to stop plastic waste from entering the oceans in the first
In today’s world, there is enough plastic thrown away each year to circle the world around four times. This is a major global problem that all countries have. Plastic is something we use for a few minutes and throw away. What most people don’t know is these simple plastics actually take centuries to degrade. Take for example a simple plastic bottle, this innocent looking plastic bottle that everyone uses take about 450 years to degrade. As said by Jeb Berrier in the movie BagIT, "Think about it. Why would you make something that you're going to use for a few minutes out of a material that's basically going to last forever, and you're just going to throw it away. What's up with that?".
Tillman, Gerngoss U., and Slater C. Steven. "Making Packaging Greener – Biodegradable Plastics." Biodegradable Plastic News. 2 Aug. 2007 <"Background Press Information." Background Press Information. 28 July 2007 .>.
Plastic bottles are inconsiderately littered everywhere, and they accumulate in our oceans. “There are five garbage patches, and the Pacific garbage patch is the biggest” (Great Pacific Garbage Patch, 1:23-1:29) Dreadfully large, these patches affect biodiversity after marine life gobble toxic miniscule plastic specks that appear to be nourishment. This plastic is toxic. According to our textbook, “Bisphenol A or BPA as it is more commonly known, is a synthetic chemical. Since the
Plastics are a product that was intended to stay on land; although they have been entering oceans at a startling rate, affecting the environment dramatically. Pol...
Well did you know you not only get paid to recycle, but the environment as a whole benefits from this as well. Today recycling is a huge deal because the Environmental Protection Agency knows that if we don't mitigate or prevent trash from entering The Great Garbage Patches, they will only increase in size and become worse. All countries recycling percentages are anywhere between “0 percent to 63 percent being the highest.” Though these percentages are better than previous years there is much more room for improvement. With the recycling percentages remaining relatively low worldwide, many scientist and engineers have worked together to create biodegradable plastic. The two different types of biodegradable plastics are bioplastics themselves and plastics that use biodegradable additives. The questions is, how does creating bioplastics help prevent pollution in the ocean? Besides the fact that bioplastics can be decomposed, it’s also made up of natural materials such as corn oil and plants, instead of petroleum based raw materials. “2.65 kg of corn is needed in order to make 1 kg of polylactic acid”, which polylactic acid is the only known acid to make compostable plastic. These bioplastics also carry less toxins and do not consist of any Bisphenol A (BPA) or any of those harsh chemical pollutants found from the micro plastics that are currently in the ocean. Unfortunately, some bioplastics cannot be broken down as
Plastics today play an important part in cutting-edge technologies such as the space program, bullet-proof vests and prosthetic limbs, as well as in everyday products such as beverage containers, medical devices and automobiles. Recycled plastics are used to make polymeric timbers for use in picnic tables, fences, and outdoor toys, thus saving natural lumber. Plastic from 2-liter bottles is even being spun into fiber for the production of carpet. They are such a valuable resource, that, as a society, we have become dependent on plastics. It is essential that we develop programs to assure this resource will always be available in the future.
Plastic bags can take centuries to degrade, and they discharge harmful gasses to the environment as they do. The bags can also block sunlight, which can hinder the natural restoration process as small plants die. Biodegradable plastic bags developed recently made from non-petroleum sources have improved conditions somewhat, but there are still millions of traditional plastic bags sitting virtually unchanged under the ground.
A huge problem with plastic bags is the fact that they are non-biodegradable. They will eventually break down into small toxic pieces, but will not decay completely. Th...
Now, one of the most beneficial factors of bio-plastics is the time it take to decompose in a land fill and does not harm to the soil. This plastic takes only weeks to harmlessly decompose in landfills compared to 100-500 years it takes conventional plastics (Bioplastics and biodegradable plastics 2010). Although these plastics decompose way faster than conventional plastic they add more to the green house effect. When, these plastics decompose they release methane, which is 23 times more powerful compared to carbon dioxide which worsens the accelerated greenhouse effect and Global Warming crisis (Vidal 2008). On the other hand, according to manufacturers of bio-plastics, the bioplastics make carbon savings of 30-80% compared with conventional oil-based plastics (Bioplastics and biodegradable plastics 2010). Considering the statistics, although the carbon savings and time taken to degrade are very i...
Although there have been several initiatives from government towards eradicating these completely, but it is of no use as it has its roots deeper into the society. Irrespective of ban on plastic bags they are being sold and used continuously by the population because it has become an integral and irreplaceable part of our life. Everyday animals are dying due to consumption of polythenes which remain scattered and non-decomposed on grounds. Science has come up with a solution to completely eliminate it by giving birth to “Bioplastic”. Bioplastic has properties which are comparable to the commercial plastic in every aspect but with certain advantages over it. Bioplastic is decomposable and are produced form microorganisms rather than by using chemicals, thus making it completely environmental friendly. Bioplastic will not only make mother earth a better and greener place to live in but will also reduce the death of innocent animals. These bioplastics can be easily used in food industries for packaging to keep food items fresh for a longer duration and in medical industry for packaging tablets and other medically important stuff. Bioplastic has a promising future ahead but we have to work towards developing and including it in the mainstream of our lives. Science has also come up with innovative ideas for treating several deadly diseases like cancer, HIV etc which causes death of billions of people worldwide. Today with several
Therefore, plastic bags should be banned all over the world and their alternatives should be biodegradable and should be introduced to resolve these toxic and horrible problems. Plastic bags are extensively dumped in millions of landfills all over the world which emit dangerous methane and carbon dioxide gases during the decomposing stages. It effectively blocks sewerage pipe lines, litters agricultural lands, canals, rivers and oceans. They take incredibly long time to break down and when they do, they break down into powdery plastic dusts which contaminate all life forms including the soil and the