Today’s unprecedented technological advancement has accelerated the pace at which everyone is living. Time becomes a limited resource that every person tries to make the most use of. Therefore, convenience is the major quality highly valued in today’s world. Plastics strongly demonstrate such quality; plastics are light-weighted and disposable. Consequently, the use of plastics is prevalent, from simple objects, such as bags and bottles, to more complex components, such as computer boards. The benefits of plastics are countless; for instance, plastics are disposable and waterproof. However, many critics have raised questions regarding the threats posed by phenomenal plastics. What are the downsides of plastics? How should we cope with the plastic pollution around the globe? Susan Beraza has the answers to …show more content…
Bag It depicts the problems created from plastics through the narration of Jeb Barrier and his wife, Anne. The documentary explores how plastics contain deadly chemicals affecting human bodies. As Beraza’s documentary Bag It suggests, plastics pose a threat on humans, for plastics usually contain the lethal chemical bisphenol A, also known as BPA, which can hinder fetal development. Because weaker fetuses entail the greater health risk for future generations, it is crucial that the use of plastics be limited. As mentioned in the documentary, BPA is commonly found in plastics, increasing its exposure in everyday lives. BPA is the substance used to harden plastics (Bag It). The chemical is commonly used in plastics manufacturing since its invention in the late eighteenth century (Sutton 27). Therefore, the chemical can be found in even the most ordinary plastics, such as microwavable wares and plastic bags. The documentary Bag It emphasizes the high level of exposure to BPA in everyday lives by comparing Jeb’s test results. His initial test result showed a low, almost undetectable level of BPA in his blood
According to Laura Parker, a Senior Staff Writer for National Geographic, 40% of plastic is manufactured for single use, and 91% of all plastic manufactured never gets recycled.3 One of the most detrimental types of single-use plastics are microbeads, tiny plastic bits used in various cosmetic products that get washed into sewer systems and ultimately end up in our oceans. Other plastic products also become as small as some microbeads over time through the process of degradation, which turns otherwise-large plastic products into dangerous microplastics. The problem of microplastics was first realized in 2004, and the first assessment of its prominence was carried out as recently as 2015.3 As for the dilemma of the Garbage Patch itself, it was brought to the world’s attention by Charles Moore who discovered the patch in
First, our community should continue to extend the use of plastic bags because they produce less pollution in the environment. The opponents of plastic bags agreed that limiting the production of plastic is beneficial to the environment because they claimed that “...plastic bags don’t biodegrade…”, therefore, the bags “...often (clog) drainage systems (which) contributed to flooding,” (Doc B). Since plastic bags are easily moveable, they regularly get caught in trees, poles, and even drainage systems; however, the EPA noted that “...paper doesn’t degrade all that much faster than plastics,” (Doc F). Despite being criticized for causing damage to the environment, the rate at which plastic bags degrade is similar to that of paper bags; therefore, this shows that if plastic
Plastic has an extreme impact on the environment. Trash, consisting of paper or organic waste, decomposes after a while, unlike plastic in which one plastic bottle takes from 450 up to 1000 years to decompose. Considering that the United States produces over 300 million tons of plastic a year, most of which is only used once and then thrown away, it is clear that pollution will become worse each year. It becomes even more shocking when this number is put in other terms; 300 million tons of plastic is comparable to the weight of all the adults living on the planet. By not
Since the 1960s when plastic bottles were widely distributed, there have been several negative externalities resulting from their consumption and disposal. Flooding landfills and leaking into water supplies, debris fortified with chemicals that are often ingested by marine life, harmful emissions caused by its incineration, and the difficulty of recycling are just a few of the negative externalities that costs millions in. About 4 percent of the world’s oil production is used as raw materials to fuel the machines that make plastics, and people all over the world are exposed to chemicals from plastic several times each day through the air, dust, water, food and use of consumer
Bisphenol-A (BPA) is all around us: in food containers, toys, baby bottles, dental products, CD/DVD discs, water bottles, register receipts, fax reports, newspapers, toilet paper and cereal boxes. BPA can cause cancer, behavioral problems, diabetes, ADHD and many other hormonal issues. 1 There is an increased risk of developing behavior problems when one is exposed to BPA at an early stage of life. As a parent, I am concerned about my children’s exposure to BPA. We tend to use plastic frequently as glass can break easily which is not safe for the children. Disposable containers and packaged food are convenient and readily available. 1 I searched on PubMed and Google scholar for peer reviewed articles related to BPA and its effects on children. The focus of this article will be to discuss some of the sources of BPA which children encounter and some examples of health risks children face due to BPA in the environment.
Using plastic bags are second nature to people in this day and age. Warner acknowledges, “Much to the dismay of the environmentally conscious citizens worldwide, the ubiquity of the free plastic carryout bag has bred nonchalant consumers who take this modern convenience for granted” (646). Although some people are conscious about the environment, people strive more for convenience and do not think about the impacts using bags have not only on the environment, but on themselves as well. If something is bad for the environment, it will alternatively be bad for humans as well. When plastic bags are exposed to the sun from being littered all around, the ultraviolet rays cause the substances of plastic bags to weaken. After the substances weaken, the substances become invisible to the naked eye. The substances that are no longer able to be seen are toxic to humans (Warner 649). As a result of plastic bags being littered around, animals consume plastic bags. This is negatively affects humans because animals are often consumed. When humans consume animals like, fish, there can be plastic in the fish’s belly, which then transfers to the humans and this poses a concern for human’s health. Humans are negatively affected by plastic bags because of the toxic chemicals in plastic bags, as well as, consuming animals with plastic in their
The comparison between how people and companies turn plastic wastes into treasure implies the infinite possibilities of reusing plastic and protect the environment. Then, through the interviews with the recycle companies and scientists in Japan and America, the documentary further supports its argument by proving that only two types of plastic can be truly recycled, most of the others will stay for hundreds of years in the dumping fields and the plasticizer goes through chemical reactions in the ocean which make the plastic particles poisonous and possibly cause diseases to all living organisms. The documentary criticizes the disposable lifestyle and introduces the possibility of future progress by substituting plasticizer with other bio-additive so that they can be fully recycled or reproduced in many different ways. The documentary effectively conveys the message that plastic can be extremely harmful, and appeals audiences to pay more attention on reducing daily usage of plastics, such as plastic water bottle, and producing and recycling with the new
Plastic bags waste valuable natural resources. Consider that plastic bags are made from petroleum, a nonrenewable and problematic resource. Petroleum is oil, which damages the environment when it is extracted from the ground and gives off dangerous greenhouse gases when burned. According to the National Resources Defense Council, it takes 12 million barrels of oil to make the 70 - 100 billion plastic bags that Americans use each year.
These fragments absorb all the toxins that pollute waterways, contaminate soil, and sicken animals (which are then consumed). Plastic trash also absorbs organic pollutants such as BPA. They take centuries to decompose while sitting in landfills, amounting to billions of environmentally poisonous time bombs. Bisphenol A (BPA) is a chemical compound used to create polycarbonate plastic and epoxy resins. Polycarbonate plastics are found in a wide range of products, but food and drink containers are the most concerning.
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
Have you ever wondered where plastic waste ends up? Have you ever thought about the consequences of plastic waste? What are the purposes of plastic? Although plastic is good for convenient uses, long term uses, and economic purposes, the damages plastic can cause are by far way more harmful than imaginable. Plastic is wasted just as much, if not more, than used, plastic is an imminent threat to the water life ecosystem, and plastic is also not biodegradable. Most people, like myself, have never really thought about where plastic ends up or how harmful products made from plastic can be if not disposed properly. Almost everything used in today’s society is made of or contains some sort of plastic. Limiting distributed plastic would not only benefit
When the studies are compiled and reviewed together the consensus between these advocacy groups is that the compound does show damage is done to humans. As a result, six major companies that make baby bottles and cups for infants have stopped using BPA in the goods they sell in the U.S. Furthermore, manufacturers of infant formula have stopped using BPA in their infant formula cans, as well. Accordingly, some consumers hold this outcome in other companies should be concerning enough for United States manufacturers to take notice and put a ban on the use of BPA in the United States (Shaw)
The article writes a almost horifing truth that the earth surface, including the land and oceans, will be covered with plastic waste by the mid century at the rate of our
Thy Thy Le Eng 99 Draft Producing and Using Plastic Bags Negatively Impact Every Aspect of Life Plastic bags The convenience of plastic bags has increased the production and use of plastic bags. Because of the high demand for plastic, it creates abundant worldwide negative issues, such as destroying the environment, hurting the economy, affecting humans’ health.. Unfortunately, human beings disregard the consequences of these influential issues, which impact directly on reality.
Millions of tons of plastics are disposed of into oceans and other water sources (i.e. rivers, ponds, etc.). The incorrectly discarded plastics are swept up by large ocean currents, and over time degrade into microscopic particles. These microparticles may be the cause of various adverse human and wildlife health effects, such as infertility and the inhibition of growth. This distressing issue must be brought further to the public’s opinion, and heavily regulated to reduce the effects.