More than ever, today, consumers like you and me depend so much on plastic. Count the number of possessions you have that are made from plastic materials and I bet you never even realized plastic surrounded you so much. Your phone or the chair you may be sitting on or even your clothes might be made from plastic. Why is there so much plastic and should we even worry about it? Simple, we are changing the Earth into our plastic one because we are dependent on plastic. As humans, we are creating a plastic Earth that not only has consequences for its inhabitants, but also the environment.
First of all, I am no expert at knowing how much plastic there is or how much is used and its history from the beginning, but what I do know is that we are changing the Earth with plastic usage. From this, it is our dependency and consumption that puts the environment and organisms living within it at risk. Several things have brought to light my attention to the plastic Earth we are creating, one being the documentary Plastic Paradise: The Great Pacific Garbage Patch. This documentary gives viewers a glimpse into the plastic trash stream that we all created and how much it actually impacts the environment and most of all the birds and fishes. If you are in doubt, I recommend this as an eye-opener. Another being that I can just observe how much plastic is being disposed of in my household and in public spaces, which is a ridiculous amount.
Being conscious, I think, is the very first step to realizing how much plastic is actually being used and disposed of unconsciously. The catch is that the plastics industry have created commodity plastics with the hidden intent that consumers like you and me do not think twice about what happens to the plastic once it is in the trash can. Those that do enter the trash stream will end up in the landfill taking thousands of years to disintegrate and biodegrade. Other plastics, well they end up being littered and strewn in all kinds of different places and can only go so far in recycling due to its nature and the different types that can be recycled.
As a petroleum or oil based product, plastic is not natural and therefore cannot biodegrade because decomposers and bacteria cannot ingest and break it down.
I know we have seen our fair share of what plastic can do to animals and the environment, but still turn a blind eye to this problem in our creation of the plastic Earth. The classic stories of aquatic animal diet's consisting of plastic or bird's nest made from plastic litter or the plastics that remain from the summer before after the snow melts. All of these are not just stories, but the reality that comes as an expense from the choices of humans that other inhabitants of the Earth have to pay for.
What we truly forget is that the Earth does not belong to humans and that whatever else that is in it is not apart from us, but we are a part of it.
What then can we do in all of this because we do have the choice to change the plastic Earth being created? Stop using plastic unnecessarily and be conscious of the plastics that are being thrown away and if possible recycle plastic. Do not buy commodity plastics because they are a commodity. If you live in a place like I do where you do not have to pay for plastic bags, just do not take advantage of the fact that it is "free." In this world, nothing is truly free and our use of plastic comes with a price. Think thrice before buying something made from plastic (is it really necessary) or throwing away something plastic.
