Plastic is used everywhere around us, but as humans, we are skeptical OF its negative effects on the environment and our lives (Plastic not so fantastic, 2009). Plastic is a widespread commodity in our contemporary world. Although humans are civilized in different aspects, they are skeptical of certain things that do not affect their lives directly. Yet, they cannot disregard the consequences of using plastic on the environment. Moore (2014) stated in his article that “Plastics are now one of the most common pollutants of ocean waters worldwide.” Yet, many are blind to the bitter fact that plastic leads to the death of marine animals and destroys the future behind the excessive usage of it. The following essay will focus on plastic usage and …show more content…
Firstly, the excessive usage of plastic may lead to altering of hormones as Hinterthuer (2008) explained that a huge number of scientists agreed that hormonal defects are linked to BPA a chemical used in the production of plastic. He also postulated that this chemical is the result of early puberty in females, obesity and behavior problems which are diseases of the present era. Secondly, it is well known that chemicals inside plastic cause cancer. So, according to the article “Plastic bottles and food containers” (2016) the high temperature that plastic is exposed to releases the same chemical that alters the hormones BPA, it is an estrogen found in plastic products and is one of the main reasons of cancer. Thirdly, development plasticity is another effect of plastic on the human health, it is defined as the results of changes in neural connections in the brain during the development of a fetus. As Hochberg (n.d.) demonstrated that the environmental conditions often play a major role in the phenotypes they express from one genotype. A mother who is pregnant and is often exposed to plastic is at a great risk of having a stressful environment and give birth to a child of low weight or abnormal growth. This results in having an unhealthy generation with severe health
Which means their obviously bad for the aquatic marine life environment & are cause many different forms of damage for them & us as one. On p.g. 23 of The New York Times upfront magazine “Birds,fish, sea turtles, & others are getting tangled in plastic bags or mistake them for food & choke”. Someone else might argue that they could the plastic bags in landfills instead of oceans. But that counter- argument is flawed because you’re just polluting by burning plastic which is bad on our part we’re not doing our part to support & taking care of the earth. Plastic in the ocean isn't just bad for plants & animals but for humans too because of the food chain some of us eat animals as a meat source such as aqua marine life like fish. If the fishermen catch fish that have been eating plastic then it's in our food supply if we eat that fish it's gonna be bad for us so many will end up getting sick from the plastic inside of the fish then what will we do our aqua marine food supply will go down the drain we couldn’t eat the fish since it's basically contaminated with plastic that we’re dumping there instead of trying to fix it & getting rid of plastic bags for good for the good of the earth. We’re causing damage towards the earth by dumping all that plastic into the ocean which damages our water supply it’ll poison us although we clean the water it depends on how big the plastic particles are, it’ll make us sick & sense it’s been lying in the oceans could bring in new pathogens &
Most of the necessities humans need are provided in supermarkets, in fact supermarkets have become a necessity for our everyday life. They are now the main source of water, food, clothes and everyday tools. Therefore, the plastic bags demanded and supplied in this industry increase every day. In the past decade, we produced as much plastic as we did in the whole twentieth century (Freinkel, 2011). This exponential increase of a non-biodegradable material has negatively impacted our environment immensely. Plastic production requires our dwindling fossil fuel resources, robs away animal lives, litters our beautiful landscapes and even affects our very own well-being. Hence, if plastic production doesn’t diminish immediately, we will suffer great
There is also debate on how much better biodegradable plastics are in the first place. This is because as biodegradable plastics break down, they break up into smaller and smaller pieces, but never quite disappear. This leaves the potential that the plastic would continue entering the food chain. But although biodegradable plastics aren’t perfect, they are still much safer than standard plastic and present a much lower risk. In addition, by making the shift to ban single use plastics, research towards better plastic alternatives will speed up and better solutions will become available. Over time, these new alternatives to plastics may spread to other items that aren’t single use, making an even greater impact on the health of humans and the
Every time we throw away a plastic bottle, drive our cars, and even burn those millions of fossil fuels to operate all those huge factories, there is a chance it will pollute the ocean and eventually affect the way we live. There should be stricter laws regulating human pollution, in order to protect our ocean ecosystem. The ocean is an abundant source of life. It is home to thousands of different creatures, provides a great source of food, and provides the earth with about one half of the oxygen needed to sustain life. National Geographic: Pollution, especially plastic, is a catastrophic problem.
In this article, the author discuss negative impact on the ocean because of the plastic by the human. Firstly, the author point out the negative impacts on the ocean, such as increase in 100-fold plastic floating in
Plastic pollution impacts the organisms living in the ocean every day, and we keep using it. Plastics are polluting our oceans and, consequently, multiple coral reefs are dying along with many turtles and marine animals. If we were to produce less plastics, and control how much is is being used, then these organisms in the oceans would not be getting diseases and
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
Plastic pollution negatively affects America’s future. The origin of this environmental pollution is caused by the excessive lack of ethics that human beings have. Many times, people throw garbage on the streets, seas, etc. Not knowing that this will be severely altered the environment, and planet earth conditions. Environmental pollution is found in many places such as plastic products, cleaning products, food, animals, personal care products, and the most dangerous in the environment where the oxygen we breathe and share with other living beings (Eriksen 2013).
Most individuals are exposed through diet via BPA leaching from food containers, food packaging or plastic bottles, while there is still risk from air, dust, and water (National Institute of Environmental Health Sciences, 2013). There are many reason why there needs to be stricter guidance and regulations on the release of BPA in household items such as baby bottles, plastic food containers, and canned goods to name a few. Some reasons why these countries are banning BPA are due to its ill effect on people. BPA is considered to be an endocrine-disruptive chemical, which have been linked through laboratory testing to developmental issues, diabetes, cancer and other ailments (Bardelline, 2011). Canada, most of the European Union, China, South Africa and Malaysia have all collectively banned BPA usage in different forms.
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
Although plastic bags appear to be fragile and light, their negative environmental effect is devastating. Plastic bags may cause large amounts of pollution in every step of their limited life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials, production, transportation, and recycling or disposal. Plastic bags can be defined as the most damaging form of environmental pollution. They can have a damaging effect on marine animals and wildlife in addition to the aesthetic effects on beaches, parks, and trees. Plastic bags are potentially one of the main causes of death to marine animals (Harbor keepers,2008). Up to one hundred thousand marine animals or more die each year from eating plastic bags which are mistaken for food. This can result in blocking the animal’s intestines and possibly lead to the animal’s death. Another possible situation is that wildlife, such as birds, can get tangled in plastic bags causing choking and immobility, which may eventually lead to death. (Senior, 2008) and (Citizen Campaign, 2010). In other situations, after plastic bags photo degrade they remain toxic and could be eaten by fish, shellfish or any other marine life and survive this allows the toxins to enter our food chain through bioaccumulation (Puget Soundkeeper Alliance, 2011).
Plastics are part of marine debris, which are defined “as any persistent manufactured or processed solid material discarded, disposed of or abandoned in the marine and coastal environment” (Gall, 2015). Glass, metal, paper and plastic are the waste materials that are found the most inn the marine environment (Gall, 2015). They are starting to be recognised as a global problem (Gall, 2015), due to the fact more and more plastics are being produced, and consequently, more are ending up in the ocean, and is more abundant in some areas – like the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. It is mainly an increasing problem due to single use plastics, such as straws, and water bottles. In 2010, 275 million metric tons
It is sad to say but humans have played their part in deteriorating the earth. We have polluted and killed the very thing that takes care of us. If you ride by any lake or river you find trash and debris around it. In the “The Call of the Wild” the author says that we have committed war against the earth by the dumping of poisons and explosives upon it (337). Unfortunately, plastics are the things that are doing the most harm to our environment. Plastics are convenient and we use them everyday and these are the things that we find in the oceans, rivers and lakes. They are harmful to the earth as well as human health by directly intoxicating us with lead, cadmium and mercury. Plastic debris laced with harmful chemicals are often found inside of our marine life and can poison them. Plastic can survive for thousands of years and many invasive species are found in them which can disrupt our habitats. We need to limit our consumption of plastics and make sure that they are disposed of in their proper places.
Being convenient enough for everyday use and even tasting better to some, plastic bottles are a popular way of consuming beverages. They are convenient and to some people, can even taste better. However, the process of manufacturing and transporting the millions of bottles produced is detrimental to the environment. Continued use of plastic bottles could exponentially hurt the planet. Given all the negative effects that come from plastic, why are people still participating in this poisonous cycle?
Research from the University of California San Diego Scripps Institution of Oceanography said that species in the ocean consume a projected 12,000 to 24,000 tons of plastic every year in the Pacific Ocean (Nall, 2014). Pollution of recyclable materials in the oceans is one of the leading causes of why some marine species are nearing extinction. Many authors of articles and books analyzing this topic tend to agree that pollution of our oceans is a problem. The future of this problem is where their ideas tend to differ. The following four literature reviews attempt to demonstrate and support my belief that pollution is getting worse in the ocean and more marine life ecosystems are being affected, but there are things that we as humans can do to change this. Imagine a world where we didn’t have to constantly worry about the vicious cycle of humans affecting animals and then animals in turn affecting us through consumption.