Some microplastics are even small by design, like the microbeads used in facial scrubs or the microfibers in polyester clothing. JIM LEAPE: Our oceans are currently swimming with plastics. However, if a plastic straw ban is properly implemented with education about single-use plastics, then the ban could encourage the public to reduce their usage of other single-use plastics as well. It has been projected that, if current trends continue, by 2050 the plastic in the ocean will outweigh the fish. Over time, sun and heat slowly turn plastics into smaller and smaller pieces until they eventually become what are known as microplastics. The process of drilling for plastics source materials, oil and gas, leads to methane leaking and flaring and is often combined with clearing forests and wetlands that otherwise would have sequestered carbon. 13.07.2022 Harry Brown THE TOP 10 REASONS TO DO NOT USE THE STRAW O This requires the usage of 500 million straws Straws and other items made of plastic are harmful Every day in the United States. Read more about us. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Buy a metal or bamboo reusable straw. LEAPE:Microplastics pervade the oceans. Interestingly, these granules contain the seeds of their own destruction: enzymes that break the polymer down when it is needed for food. Litter can be the first stage in a waste stream that enters waterways as plastics tossed on the street are washed away by rain or travel via storm drains into rivers and streams. What can I do for you? But a whopping 91 percent of all plastic isnt recycled at all. Here are 3 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned, explained in a simple and easy-to-understand manner: 1. For those governments that are opposed to full bans on plastic bags, another option is to institute a plastic bag tax, where consumers or retailers would pay a small fee for each plastic bag. LEAPE:Plastic straws are only a tiny fraction of the problem less than 1 percent. As part of the Break Free From Plastic movement, Greenpeace volunteers conducted an audit of plastic pollution along coastlines, sifting through tens of thousands of individual pieces across 42 countries to identify the pollutions sources. We can also decrease costs through improved bioprocessing methods, through metabolic engineering and by exploring and harnessing the incredible diversity of bioplastic-making systems that evolution has already created. What does occur in most instances is that when out in the environment, the plastic breaks up into tiny microscopic pieces that get deposited in soils (where we grow food) or contaminate waterways. Single use plastics wreak havoc on wildlife and the earth. The ban also kept them from littering neighborhoods and the environment. Microplastics were found in soft drinks like Coca Cola, in tap water, in seafood It has contaminated our food chain, so it should not surprise us that it can be tracked in our body. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned? Should Plastic Straws Be Banned? | Persuasive Writing | Scholastic Microplastics are plastic debris that measures less than five millimetres, or 0.2 inches, in diameter. However, we are all too familiar with situations when a cashier automatically puts your items in a plastic bag before you can oppose it. Our goal is to inspire people to change their attitudes and behaviors toward a more sustainable life. There is only one requirement these plastic bags need to be dry and clean, otherwise they contaminate the entire batch and your effort will do more harm than good. Some companies are taking initiative on their own. More and more states are looking to pass a new kind of recycling law that asks manufacturers to foot the bill for the waste created by their products. That is why the United Nations Environmental Programme Secretariat has recommended a ban on all plastic bags globally. China doesnt want our plastic waste anymore. China 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned Manufacturers, Supply 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned with High Quality, Wholesale 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned with Low Price, High Quality. Paper straws cannot be recycled in any way. Plastic bag litter has even caused great problems in some areas. In the United States alone, statistics reach up to 12 million barrels of oil that are used each year to produce even more plastic bags 100 billion more, to give you the precise number [5]. Additionally, someone has to pay the cost of dealing with plastic bags in the waste stream. So that free plastic bag isnt so free after all. CRIDDLE:Cost is a huge issue. 8 good reasons to give up plastic straws - CareElite "To us, it was the 'gateway plastic' to the larger, more . Car Recycling: Everything You Need to Know (With Statistics), Sustainable Diving & Snorkeling: How to Prevent Damage to Marine Ecosystems, What Are Microplastics and Why Are They a Concern? A calf had to be put down because of indigestion caused by 8 plastic bags in its stomach. Come with external costs 9. Talk to the owners of the restaurants you frequent. Many people with disabilities rely on flexible straws to drink safely and independently. Greentumble is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. According to the United States National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, microplastics are so small that they move straight through water filtration, Read More What Are Microplastics and Why Are They a Concern? Ask if they have nonplastic alternatives to plastic straws, stirrers, or bags. Why Plastic Straws Are Being Banned - Square Straws have been found stuck in a sea turtle's nose and wedged in the stomachs of dead birds and dolphins. Here are a few more tips for ridding your life (and your community) of single-use plastics for good. According to a 2017 study, more than half of non-fiber plastic, which excludes synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon, comes from plastic packaging alone, much of which is for single-use items. She can remember all of her vehicles the Pontiac 6000, her familys car that was passed on to her when she went to college; the Volkswagen Rabbit, and later Fox, that took her through young adulthood; the Honda Civics,, Read More Car Recycling: Everything You Need to Know (With Statistics)Continue, Whether youre a scuba diver, snorkeler, or amateur swimmer, the ocean is a playground where you come to explore the beauty of nature and the difference from your regular lifes environment. Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned? 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned - manufacturer, factory Why is plastic bad for the environment? Logically, the key to starting a change in your community is education. There are numerous reasons why PLA straws are not the right substitute for plastic straws . Among the U.S. cities to outlaw plastic straws are Malibu, Berkeley, Seattle, and Miami Beach. How Plastic Bottles Become Death Traps for Hermit Crabs. Why we shouldn't ban plastic straws Antithesis Journal Plastic bags are everywhere. Start from yourself and slowly expand to your family and friends. We are a couple of environmentalists who seek inspiration for life in simple values based on our love for nature. For example, millions of discarded plastic bags clog water drainage channels and sewers in urban areas of Bangladesh. Scientists have recorded some species of zooplankton eating tiny plastic particles. Here's a quick list of the ways plastic straws may be harming your health: 1. These examples could go on for a long time. 2. The majority of plastic bags are made of polyethylene, a substance that is derived from crude oil refining and natural gas processing. You probably already saw the video, but if you didnt, you can watch it below (WARNING: Graphic Content): Supporters of plastic straw bans claim that the ban will help reduce our use of single-use plastics. Summary: Reduce your use of single-use plastics. You could either discuss with a store manager a possibility of bringing your own containers for these products. If this happens, there are a few scenarios you can follow: The best thing you can do with those old plastic bags that have been stashed in that overflowing drawer in your kitchen is to recycle them. Participate in beach or river cleanups. A 2018 study of coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific has confirmed that plastic waste deposited on coral reefs promotes outbreaks of diseases that gradually destroy whole reef colonies [12]. New and sustainable business models are needed to address the current plastic deluge and also to enable a new generation of sustainable materials and technologies. For example, a reusable jute bag should last at least 4 years, during which it can prevent the use of 600 single-use plastic bags. Tiny plastic particles have been found in human feces. The inaccuracy of this number calls into doubt the veracity of the overall case against using plastic straws as a drinking implement. The Last Straw: 5 Reasons You Should Ditch Plastic Straws The crucial challenge is to ensure that these bans are just a first step. Facebook; Contact Now . All Rights Reserved. As communities act to ban single-use plastics and individual consumers raise concerns, bigger actors pay attention. They are also capable of being ingested by fish, seabirds, and marine mammals, which in turn causes the animals injury and, in the case of fish, allows them to enter the human food chain. The phthalate DEHP, as just one example from dozens, is often added to plastic goods like shower curtains and garden hoses to make them more flexiblebut was also found to be a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. [PDF] Skip The Straw - 10 Reasons Fact Sheet - Kids. If we ban single-use plastic straws we will have to turn to the dangerous alternatives.In source Heres everything you need to know about the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of plastic waste: the kind made to be tossed in mere minutes. Exposure to microplastics, as well as the chemicals that are added to plastics during processing, harm our health. Plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds will no longer be sold in Britain as part of a plan to eradicate "avoidable plastic waste" by 2042, and Prime Minister Theresa May actively called on other leaders in the Commonwealth to implement similar policies. Thus, plastic straws cant be recycled. Nearly 20 years ago, a dead pelican was found with its stomach filled with 17 plastic bags [10]. Most drop-off collection points accept plastic bags made from high-density polyethylene (plastic number 2) and low-density polyethylene (plastic number 4). A plastic straw ban could be a good step in the right direction, but we must use less single-use products overall to actually help the environment. All rights reserved. Polypropylene is a form of plastic that is frequently used in the production of straws. India, for example, generates 25,940 tons of plastic waste every day but collects only 60 percent of it. 1. Using these non-renewable resources to make plastic bags is very short-sighted, considering that the typical useful life of each plastic bag is about 12 minutes and that the worlds oil reserves contain enough oil to cover our needs through 2050, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. NRDC scientist Jennifer Sass says yes and debunks the skeptics claim that in trying to wean ourselves off plastic bags, were only creating more troubles. 'Banning plastic straws will not be enough': The fight to clean the oceans It topped 60 million tons (54.4 million metric tons) in 2010 based on a September 2018 report titled "Plastic Pollution."But China announced it plans to outlaw the production and sale of . The first country to ban single-use plastic bags was Bangladesh in 2002 when plastic bag litter clogged drainage channels and contributed to destructive floods. Some Disabled People Require Plastic Straws to Drink For some people with disabilities, straws are the only way they can drink. Quick Navigation for Reasons Why Plastic Shopping Bags Should Be Banned, [1] https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25496/singleUsePlastic_sustainability.pdf, [2] https://www.eco-business.com/opinion/getting-rid-of-plastic-bags-a-windfall-for-supermarkets-but-it-wont-do-much-for-the-environment/, [3] https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/2018/04/09/plastic-chokes-dhakas-drainage/, [4] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bags-petroleum/, [5] https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2935417&page=1, [6] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/, [7] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/124006/pdf, [8] https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/rare-sea-turtles-eating-plastic-at-record-rate, [9] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.12126, [10] http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/index.en.php?id=934, [11] http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2008/12/plastic-bags-and-animals-making-the-wild-safe-for-wildlife/, [12] http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6374/460, [13] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/22/microplastics-found-in-human-stools-for-the-first-time, [14] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bag-clean-costs/, [15] http://www.bagmonster.com/2010/04/the-true-cost-of-single-use-bags.html, [16] http://www.cep.unep.org/cep-documents/unep-press-release-on-the-effects-of-plastic-waste-on-marine-ecosystems.pdf, [17] https://greentumble.com/can-plastic-bags-be-recycled/, [18] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bag-clean-costs/, [19] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-countries-are-in-the-world.html, [20] https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25496/singleUsePlastic_sustainability.pdf. You are free to have your own personal opinion on whether or not we should ban plastic straws. The most heartbreaking part of this is that the affected animals are not aware they eat something that will make them feel miserable and will slowly kill them. Some experts estimate that more than 1 million sea animals are killed each year by straws and other types of plastic trash. The country instituted the ban in 2013 to minimize livestock deaths. Lizzie Carr is shining a light on what is floating through the worlds waterways, and breaking athletic records along the way. Put simply, single-use plastics are goods that are made primarily from fossil fuelbased chemicals (petrochemicals) and are meant to be disposed of right after useoften, in mere minutes. A laboratory photograph of microplastics found in the Corsica River in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Maryland, An albatross found dead with a belly full of plastic on Midway Atoll. The first is to invest in better waste collection in the handful of countries that account for most of the plastic flowing into the ocean. Yeah I end up going through like 5 paper straws because they keep disintegrating and I can't drink my drink anymore. Straws make up roughly 4 percent of the plastic waste in terms of the number of pieces, but a far smaller percentage in terms of the weight.Due to the fact that the typical weight of a straw is just around one sixty-seventh of an ounce, or 42 grams, the total weight of all those billions of straws combined only accounts for roughly 2,000 tons of the almost 9 million tons of plastic debris that enters the sea each year. The truth is that we do not know yet the full scale of negative impacts plastic waste can have on marine and terrestrial environments because it hasnt been around long enough to allow us to assess possible scenarios of its influence on natural cycles. 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned - maktabyar.org Here are 3 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned, explained in a simple and easy-to-understand manner: For some people with disabilities, straws are the only way they can drink. All you need to do is paste your ZIP code and then see the list of stores with bag drop-off in your nearest location. Help us break the cycle of causing unnecessary harm and damage in the name of "convenience". Why are Plastic Straws Bad and What are the Alernatives? Plastic straws only account for roughly one percent of the total amount of waste plastic found in the ocean. About half the cost of making biodegradable polymers is the cost of feedstock. The crisis is so serious that many people are saying that plastic straws should be outlawed. It started with cardboard straws, but once plastic production in America increased, people realized it was quicker and cheaper to produce plastic straws. Prior the ban, 70 percent of livestock losses were attributed to plastic bag ingestion. Driven by public pressure, governments and corporations are considering eliminating or phasing out single-use plastics such as straws. And will a plastic straw ban actually be effective when it comes to saving our oceans and environment? 2. Coca-Cola has said that it alone produces three million tons of plastic packaging each year, equivalent to a terrifying 200,000 plastic bottles per minute. It is predicted that each year 8 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean, with 1.152.41 tons of that plastic being carried there by major rivers all over the world. This leaves few other alternatives other than plastic straws. Overall, the main reason for a plastic straw ban is to help the environment by preventing plastic straws pollution. Large producers of single-use plastics can make a big environmental impact. It is possible to enhance ones risk of developing cavities by using a straw while consuming liquids that are either sweet or acidic. This blog covers a variety of topics including plastic pollution, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and much more. About; Disability Vote Blog; Organizer's Forum; Issues; News; NDLA Webinars For many in the disabled community, the availability of plastic straws is essential for their well-being and survival. Our reliance on these plastics means we are accumulating waste at a staggering rate. The consumed plastic congests the digestive tracts of these animals, and can lead to health issues such as infections, painful intestinal blockage, starvation or death by suffocation. Polyethylene terephthalate, one of the most commonly recycled plastics and the material that makes up most water and soda bottles, can be turned into everything from polyester fabric to automotive parts. In the spirit of eliminating waste, plastic straws appeared to be a way to further the cause: straws aren't essential to the dining experience, and by banning them, oceans, streets, and general society would theoretically benefit. We should just stick to plastic. Increased awareness about the negative effects of single-use plastics would help the environment a lot more than just a simple plastic straw ban. Once the wheel starts spinning, it leads to even more positive changes. When the monsoon rains start, streets get waterlogged just after the first few minutes because the water cannot pass through clogged sewerage pipes. 23 Reasons Why we should ban Plastic Bags | Environment Buddy Do you also have that overflowing kitchen drawer full of plastic bags you bring from your shopping trips? 82 percent of the responding food service establishments were aware of the prohibition, and 69 percent of those establishments viewed the ban favorably. As plastic bags tend to get caught in recycling machinery, most recycling facilities do not have the capacity to recycle plastic bags and therefore do not accept them. These costs include the true environmental costs of resource extraction and depletion, the loss of quality of life, economic loss from littering, and wildlife loss. Similar fate has met dolphins, seals, cats, dogs, deer and many other animals which got severely cut on their bodies due to plastic bag entanglement. Speak out in support of local plastic bans, whether by calling your local government representative, submitting an op-ed to your citys newspaper, or simply starting conversations with neighbors.
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