Plastic Pollution

What Is Plastic?

Plastic is a material composed of cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt, and crude oil. Many commonly used items are made of plastic, including containers, bags, water bottles, and even clothing. However, plastic is extremely harmful to the environment. Since the 1950s, when plastic first started being produced, humans have created 8.3 billion tons of plastic. Over 60% of this plastic has been put into landfills or thrown out into the natural environment.

Effects On Marine Life

A whopping 300 million tons of plastic are produced every year with 8 million going into the ocean. This is why there are 5.5 trillion micro and macro plastics floating in the ocean weighing 269,000 tons. This plastic, makes up up to 90% of the debris in the oceans, causing many animals to be injured or die. In fact, 100,000 marine species and 1 million seabirds are killed annually due to this plastic debris. It is estimated by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish in the oceans.

We get 2/3 of our sea pollution from land (landfills, trash flowing down rivers, etc.) but 1/3 of it is from containers, and fishing gear that gets lost. A lot of this plastic goes to the Great Pacific Garbage Patch and the patch is so big that the scientists estimate it would take 67 ships a year to clean up just 1 percent of it.

This image was taken at the Edith G Wildlife Conservacy next to the Long Island Sound. We see that there is a lot of plastic trash even though it is a sensitive bird habitat next to the ocean.

We found more plastic near beaches.

Landfills

Plastic in landfills takes a horrendously long time to decompose, over 500 years. Inside the landfill, the chemicals may seep into the ground, going into the groundwater that we drink! When it does actually decompose it releases many harmful chemicals, damaging the ozone layer, which is what protects us from the suns UV rays. Unless these are carefully monitored, landfills will effect the nearby enviroment.

What About Incineration?

Incinerators give off lead, murcery, particulate matter 10 and 2.5, sulfur dioxide, nitrous oxide, and carbon dioxide. These gasses are greenhouse gasses that traps heat and stays for an average of 114 years.

In fact, near Rye, there is an incineration plant, called the Dutchess County Resource Recovery Agency. This acts as the county owned incineration plant and is one of the top pollutors in the USA.

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