The Problem with Plastic

 

The problem with plastic is that in many ways it's amazing stuff. Plastic is a very versatile and useful material that can be made into so many forms. This means that we've started using it for all sorts of things and it's everywhere. Unfortunately it's also toxic and long lasting. Also, plastic is made from fossil fuels, so its production is a serious source of GHG emissions.

Plastic is Extremely Harmful

Whilst acknowledging that plastics have conveyed great benefits to humanity and made possible some of the most significant advances of modern civilisation a report in the Annals of Global Health earlier this year went on to say is now clear that plastics are also responsible for significant harms to human health, the economy, and the earth’s environment.

The report continues:

These harms occur at every stage of the plastic life cycle, from extraction of the coal, oil, and gas that are its main feedstocks through to ultimate disposal into the environment. The extent of these harms not been systematically assessed, their magnitude not fully quantified, and their economic costs not comprehensively counted.

On top of this plastic manufacture has grown at an alarming rate and only a small proportion of plastic is recycled after use. Further on the report states: 

Plastics and plastic-associated chemicals are responsible for widespread pollution. They contaminate aquatic (marine and freshwater), terrestrial, and atmospheric environments globally. The ocean is the ultimate destination for much plastic, and plastics are found throughout the ocean, including coastal regions, the sea surface, the deep sea, and polar sea ice. Many plastics appear to resist breakdown in the ocean and could persist in the global environment for decades. 

Marine plastic pollution endangers the ocean ecosystems upon which all humanity depends for food, oxygen, livelihood, and well-being. 

Human Health Findings: Coal miners, oil workers and gas field workers who extract fossil carbon feedstocks for plastic production suffer increased mortality . . . 

During use and also in disposal, plastics release toxic chemicals including additives and residual monomers into the environment and into people . . .   . . . Infants in the womb and young children are two populations at particularly high risk of plastic-related health effects. 

Conclusions: It is now clear that current patterns of plastic production, use, and disposal are not sustainable and are responsible for significant harms to human health, the environment, and the economy as well as for deep societal injustices. The main driver of these worsening harms is an almost exponential and still accelerating increase in global plastic production. Plastics’ harms are further magnified by low rates of recovery and recycling and by the long persistence of plastic waste in the environment.

The Commission "supports urgent adoption by the world’s nations of a strong and comprehensive Global Plastics Treaty . . .

International measures such as a Global Plastics Treaty are needed to curb plastic production and pollution, because the harms to human health and the environment caused by plastics, plastic-associated chemicals and plastic waste transcend national boundaries, are planetary in their scale, and have disproportionate impacts on the health and well-being of people in the world’s poorest nations.

The above are brief extracts from the report. If you would like to know more I recommend reading it. It's easy to understand, but I don't want to make this post longer than necessary.

Steps to Freedom from Plastic

So you might be wondering what you can do while we wait for a global plastics treaty to be adopted.

 First of all, please don't feel you need to purge your life of all plastic. If you own useful plastic items throwing them away is probably the worst thing you could do for the environment. Swamping charity shops with unwanted plastic is probably not a great idea either. 

Cut Back Where Possible

The most important thing to do is to cut down on as much unnecessary, single use plastic as possible. Disposable single use plastic is the biggest problem. While it would be good to find sustainable alternatives to blister packs for tablets and medical syringes, they are currently necessary for health and hygiene purposes. What ordinary individuals need to work if on, if possible, is cutting down on water and other drinks in disposable plastic bottles, likewise single use bottles for toiletries and cleaning products. 

First steps to cutting single use plastic from our lives could include:

Refusing single use plastic bags and take your own reusable bag instead.

Choosing drinks in glass bottles or metal cans and buying at least some milk in glass bottles from your milkman. Milk and More now sell plant milks in glass bottles too, if that's your preference. If you have a local, independent dairy near you they might do so as well.

Finding a local refill shop where you can refill our existing plastic bottles with toiletries and cleaning fluids. If you don't have one near to you consider buying 5 litre containers of products from companies such as Suma, Faith in Nature and Bio D, which are also environmentally friendly. I used to visit a refill store regularly when I lived in Godalming, but I haven't found one near me in the Hamble Valley yet, so I buy in bulk from Ethical Superstore. Although my house is fairly small there is room for the large containers in my garage. It would be harder to do without suitable storage space. If I take the 5 litre containers back to the refill store in Godalming they will give them back to be reused. They're also useful for storing excess water from my water but when it's raining.

If you like to take a bottle of water out and about then more than once in a blue moon it's better to take it in a reusable water bottle. BPA free plastic is safer than some plastics and is more lightweight than a stainless steel bottle. That sort of bottle is fine for occasional use, but if you use one on a regular basis then there could be health benefits to choosing one made from stainless steel. Reusable, portable coffee cups are also available.

I'll go into more detail about some of these suggestions in later posts.