Plastic, the most pesky synthetic material of them all. We are constantly surrounded by messaging telling us to reduce, reuse and recycle. Why? Because plastic is one of the leading causes of pollution world wide. This week, NJ S2776 was trending, prohibiting the use of plastic carryout bags, expanded polystyrene, and single-use plastic straws. “Plastic Free July” has taken social media by storm with everyone from your aunt Sally to famous celebrities making the commitment to #ChooseToRefuse. So, this week we’ll be taking a closer look at why different countries and cities have gone plastic free.
Some Information about Plastic
Plastic is a material made to last forever; it takes over 400 years to degrade, slowly breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces. This does not make it inherently bad, in fact, there are many “redeeming ecological features” when talking about plastic. Plastic has a few different elements that help society in some pretty impressive ways:
- Durability and low maintenance reduce frequency of material replacement (thus reducing overall waste)
- The light weight of plastic reduces the energy required for shipping and transporting items
- Using plastics as glue has led to engineered lumber and sheet products from recycled wood
- They provide superior insulation and sealant which improves the energy performance of our structures
There are even more positives, of course, but we’re here to talk about the negatives and why cities, states, and countries are going #PlasticFree. I know I always try to recycle when I can, but why is this such a big deal? According to National Geographic, a whopping 91% of plastic is not recycled, even if it is put in the recycling bin. According to their article, there are now 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic with most of it being disposable products (known as “single-use”). All of this plastic pollution affects both human health and wildlife survival.
Over the last few years, tons of research has come out about the harmful side effects of plastic on humans. Toxic chemicals in plastic seep into whatever the plastic container it is holding (water, food, clothing), thus exposing us (and our blood and tissue) to toxins on a near-daily basis. Exposure to these chemicals has been linked to cancers, birth defects, impaired immunity, endocrine disruption and other ailments. One well-known example is BPA, a common industrial chemical found in polycarbonate plastics which are often used in food containers.
If plastic is not disposed of properly, whether by the end user or further along in the waste management chain, it can find its way out into the environment where it doesn’t belong. Animals can potentially die from suffocation, or if they ingest it, a whole host of other complications. As the plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller particles, smaller and smaller creatures can ingest it too. As plastic becomes accessible for consumption to many different levels of the food chain, bioaccumulation becomes a danger, creating greater and greater concentrations up the food chain, with us at the top — resulting in concentrated toxins from plastics making their way onto our dinner plates.
Even when plastic is disposed of properly its long life is presenting real problems. It is estimated that if we do not change our consumption and handling of plastic that by 2050, there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic in landfills. Such an enormous volume is difficult to fathom but try this: 8 million metric tonnes is the equivalent of 16 shopping bags full of plastic for every meter of coastline (excluding Antarctica).
What People Abroad are Doing.
Countries and cities all over the world have been implementing bans over the last decade, many going far beyond current US policies.
Kenya has the world’s harshest plastic ban. Anyone in Kenya who is found using, producing or selling a plastic bag faces up to four years in jail or a $38,000 fine. Rwanda was one of the first counties to address plastic bags banning them completely when most countries were just only thinking about it. In 2016, France became the first country to announce a total ban on plastic cups, plates, and cutlery. In July 2017, Zimbabwe implemented a total ban on expanded polystyrene, a styrofoam-like material used for food containers that is thought to take up to a million years to decompose.
In April of this year, Prime Minister Theresa May announced a ban on all sales of single-use plastics, including plastic straws and cotton swabs. The UK has a 25 Year Environmental Plan and this ban will begin the clean up of England’s rivers, beaches, and oceans. After the UK’s tax on single-use plastic bags, the use of single-use plastic bags dropped by 90 percent. The bad was initially met with much resistance by the public as people adjusted to a new way of doing things, but within weeks it was no big deal. The ban on all single-use plastics could take effect as early as next year.
Chile passed a national law, but the ban only applies to coastal cities (around 230 cities and some of the largest metropolitan areas and vacation spots). Chile also put in place fines up to $300 on businesses that continue to distribute plastic bags. With the massive amounts of pollution in China, the government responded by banning distribution of single-use plastic bags in shops and grocery stores around the country, implementing strict fines of 10,000 yuan for illegal plastic bag distribution.
What the US is Doing.
Corporate American has started taking steps, for example in July, 2018, Starbucks and Hyatt Hotels both announced their bans on plastic straws, but official United States policy all over the place on the issue of plastic pollution.
NJ S2776 is the bill that prompted this blog post and makes it seem like NY is taking steps to catch up to the rest of the world on coping with plastic. This bill would prohibit stores and food service businesses from providing plastic carryout bags to their customers. The bill also prohibits any person from selling polystyrene to food service places as well as selling or providing any food in a Styrofoam container. Further, the bill would prohibit any food service business from selling or providing single-use plastic straws to customers. A person who violates any provision of the bill would be subject to a penalty of up to $5,000 for each offense, and each day during which the violation continues would constitute a separate offense.
There were several bills this year like the 5 cent bag tax in Washington DC (DC was one of the first cities to implement a tax on plastic bags). The revenue collected from the tax goes to the Anacostia River Clean Up and Protection Fund and distributes reusable bags to low-income and elderly communities in DC. Apparently, this has lead to a 85% reduction in plastic bag consumption in DC. Washington state introduced SB5432 which would prohibit retail stores from providing a carryout bag to a consumer unless the carryout bag is a compostable plastic carryout bag, a recyclable paper carryout bag or a reusable carryout bag. IL HR0039 designates April of 2017 as Bring Your Own Bag Month in the State of Illinois and calls upon all residents to bring reusable shopping bags instead of plastic shopping bags.
Then there are bills like AZ SB1241, MO HB722 and MI SB853 that are bans on plastic bag bans, fees and other restrictions on trash. These bills would prevent cities within from imposing their own restrictions on certain types of plastics
Here is a map of all of the current legislation having to do with “plastic bags”.
Scared? Here are some Simple Ways to Cut Back on Plastic!
- Carry a reusable bag so you don’t need to use plastic bags when grocery shopping (also they support more weight so you don’t need to worry about bags ripping when you load up so you only have to take one trip from the car to your house!)
- Carry around a little backpacking set of utensils to use for your food throughout the day or when you go to restaurants that use disposable utensils (I carry around a lightweight set of bamboo utensils and a reusable metal backpacking straw in my purse and backpack)
- Tell restaurants when you’re ordering out that you don’t need plastic utensils
- Make coffee at home or take a reusable coffee cup, coffee lid or cup sleeve to cafés
- Ask for no straw when ordering drinks at a bar
- Avoid buying pre-packaged foods if you can chop or prepare your own
- Carry a reusable bottle to avoid buying drinks (like water) in plastic bottles
- Order your ice cream in a cone rather than a cup (perfect for the summer!)
- Buy some cloth napkins, you can cut down on paper and plastic waste from disposable ones and you’ll impress people
- Pack your own shampoo and conditioner when travelling so you don’t need to use hotel toiletries (plus, who wants to use hotel conditioner when you have your own!)
- For women, there are many eco-friendly ways to cut down on period waste like reusable pads, a menstrual cups or period-proof underwear
- When you need to order online, place one big order to save on packaging (you can also check to see if frustration-free packaging is available)
Hope you all have a wonderful #PlasticFreeJuly and think about little ways to reduce your single-use and general use of plastic.
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