A recent NPR story chronicled the journey of recycled plastics from the U.S. to Malaysia, where noxious fumes led the reporter to an illegal factory burning plastics, mainly from the U.S.
I was sickened to realize that Americans’ obsession with disposal plastics was harming innocent people a world away. Later, as I wheeled my overflowing blue bin to the curb, I vowed to change my relationship to plastic.
We are a throw-away society, giving little thought to what happens to the bottles, plastic cutlery, straws, coffee lids, cups, containers and bags that people toss in the garbage without a thought. According to National Geographic and a multitude of other sources, only 9 percent of plastic gets recycled. Of the 8.3 billion tons of plastic that has been produced since plastic production started six decades ago, 6.3 billion has become waste.
Non-recycled plastic ends up in landfills, where it can leak contaminating liquids into the ground and contaminate water systems, as well as create methane, a key ingredient in climate change. Disposal of plastic through burning poisons our air. By 2050, according to a report by the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, plastic in the water will outweigh fish. Plastic will also outlive those fish, as it can take up to 1,000 years to decompose.
The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, an area twice the size of Texas, located in the Pacific Ocean, between California and Hawaii, is composed of more than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic weighing the equivalent of 500 jumbo jets! Turtles, sea gulls, fish, albatross and other marine life die mistaking plastic for food, or get entangled within webs of plastic. (theoceancleanup.com)
Billions of lentil-sized pellets called “nurdles,” used to make plastic, end up in our waters and beaches. Mistaken for prey, they provide animals with a sense of fullness, minus any nutrition. Traces of plastic continue to live inside the bodies of the fish we eat. Think about that the next time you grill tuna!
Until last summer, many cities and towns in the U.S. sold their recycled plastics to China, which successfully turned plastics into marketable goods. Concerns about increasing pollution have led China to discontinue being the world’s main purchaser of recyclables. Illegal companies, in countries such as Malaysia, which don’t have the infrastructure to effectively process the world’s trash, resort to burying and burning the garbage of the Western world, creating sickness and resentment toward countries like the U.S.
While the U.S. processes about one-third of recycled materials, recycling is expensive and a drain on resources. Without being able to depend on China, communities are increasingly re-evaluating how and whether they can afford to continue their recycling programs.
In spite of the increasing dangers associated with plastic, plastic production in the United States is growing at an alarming rate, propelled by fracking and the demand for plastic packaging. While companies like Exxon boast that the creation of massive plastic production plants in places like the Gulf Coast will boost employment, growing the fossil-fuel economy creates enormous health and environmental risks to our planet.
The plastics plague sweeping the world leaves no excuse for inaction. Below are some steps I’ve started to take to reduce plastic consumption:
To patronize eating establishments that use single-use plastic.
To buy take-out that comes in Styrofoam or plastic packaging.
To buy water and other drinks in plastic bottles.
To buy hard plastic anything. Imagine it floating in the ocean for a thousand years!
To use straws.
To put your produce in plastic bags.
To listen to naysayers who say individual actions don’t make a difference.
Ask the Gazette to deliver your paper minus the plastic bag.
Purchases of food in plastic containers or wrapping. Choose glass or compostable containers instead.
The amount of garbage headed for landfills by composting food and other organic waste, as well as compostable plates, cutlery and containers. I dump my compost bucket for free in the dumpster at Valley Recycling in Easthampton.
Your use of plastic garbage bags. Use biodegradable trash bags or turn your potato chip, cat litter, dog food, etc. bags into garbage bags.
Only throw in the garbage what can’t be composted or recycled.
The plastic containers you already have. They last for generations!
Wash and reuse empty food containers.
Use your containers to purchase food, laundry, soap and other items in bulk.
Paper bags. Paper is expensive to make, as well as recycle, and robs the planet of trees.
Take the plastic bags you have to the bag-recycling bin at your local supermarket. Plastic bags clog recycling machines.
Only what can be recycled. About 25 percent of what goes into recycling bins can’t be recycled. The Springfield Materials Recycling Facility accepts recycling for sorting and processing free of charge from over 70 western Massachusetts communities. Their website is a gold mine of recycling information, including a reduce, reuse, and recycle guide to the disposal of just about anything. (springfieldmrf.org)
Recycling saves about one-third of the energy used to make items from virgin plastic or glass. Remember, that while recycling is helpful, plastic has become a monster that recycling alone cannot tame.
Talk with food businesses you frequent about moving away from plastic.
Advocate for a statewide ban on plastic bags, by asking your representatives to pass House Bill 771.
Amherst is one of 39 Massachusetts towns that bans food establishments from using Styrofoam containers. The plastics work group of locally-based Climate Action Now is working on passing a Styrofoam ban in Northampton, as well as other projects to lower plastic consumption. To learn more, contact Renna Pye at rennapye@gmail.com
Sara Weinberger of Easthampton is a professor emerita of social work and writes a monthly column. She can be reached at opinion@gazettenet.com.