Plastic is... Everywhere! (Guest Post)
- climate crisis
- Jul 12, 2020
- 3 min read
By: Brittany - Consciously Eco
Hi everyone! My name is Brittany and I am the owner behind the blog Consciously Eco and Instagram page @_ConsciouslyEco, where I discuss how to live a sustainable and eco-conscious lifestyle. Thank you so much to Climate Crisis for giving me the opportunity to be a guest on their amazing and informative blog. Now, let’s get to chatting about plastics!
In honor of #PlasticFreeJuly, I think it’s important to first address how much plastic is in the world today. From the early 1950s to now, researchers estimate over 8.3 billion tonnes of plastic have been produced with over 60% of that plastic ending up in a landfill or simply dumped in nature. Today, we produce over 300 million tonnes of plastic waste every year which is equal to the weight of the entire human population. It’s easy to talk about the plastics we can see, but what about the plastics we can’t easily spot?
Microplastics are not a specific kind of plastic, but rather any type of plastic fragment that is less than 5 mm in length. These microplastics are often found throughout the ocean and in lakes, rivers and streams but researchers are finding smaller fibres in the most remote areas of the world like Canyonlands National Park, Joshua Tree National Park and in the French Alps. These fibres are being carried through the air and can easily be breathed in by anyone in its path. Even more recently, discoveries have been made that these microplastics are being found in fruits and vegetables, like lettuce, broccoli, potatoes and pears. Researchers have known about plastics being found in crustaceans and fish but it’s for the first time being found in fruits and veggies. As both of these discoveries are so recent, scientists aren’t sure how this will affect humans or wildlife in the future - but it can’t be good.
Unfortunately, plastic waste is filling up our entire world and without big corporations or companies taking responsibility for the items they are producing, it can feel incredibly overwhelming, but you can make small choices in your life to help cut down on the amount of plastic waste being produced. Here are just a few tips on what you personally can do!
Skip the single-use plastic items and bring your own. Whether you’re making a trip to get a cup of joe or going grocery shopping, bring your own reusable cup, bags, utensils and more and say no to the unneeded plastic options.
Bulk buy your items. If you have the chance to buy much-need items in bulk, do it! It not only will last you so much longer but will also cut down on any plastic bottles or bags this item might come in.
Challenge yourself to no plastic. Plastic Free July is one great way to challenge yourself to not use plastic but you can always do this challenge anytime, anywhere and for any amount of time. You can also challenge yourself to use less plastic rather than going straight plastic free. Your challenge is YOURS alone. Do what makes you comfortable.
If you’re looking for more tips on how to reduce plastic in your everyday life, visit https://www.plasticfreejuly.org/. If you’re wanting to hear more about living a sustainable and eco-conscious lifestyle, visit my blog and feel free to give me a follow! Thanks so much again to Climate Crisis. Hope you all learned a little more about how plastics can be found… everywhere!
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