10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned

Plastic straws are everywhere we look. As an Amazon Associate I earn from qualifying purchases. For wildlife, microplastics can be particularly dangerous; when eaten they can easily accumulate inside an animals body and cause health issues, like punctured organs or fatal intestinal blockages. So, plastic bag recycling facilities are few and far between and transportation to one could be expensive. All rights reserved. Spare Yourself the Guilt Trip This Earth DayIts Companies That Need to Clean Up Their Acts, These Fanciful Sea Creatures Were Carried in on the Tide. (Photo credit: Shutterstock). Straws make up roughly 4 percent of the plastic waste in terms of the number of pieces, but a far smaller percentage in terms of the weight.Due to the fact that the typical weight of a straw is just around one sixty-seventh of an ounce, or 42 grams, the total weight of all those billions of straws combined only accounts for roughly 2,000 tons of the almost 9 million tons of plastic debris that enters the sea each year. Overall, the goal of a plastic straw ban should be to increase public awareness for single-use plastics and their nasty effects on the environment. How can you help to ban plastic bags in your area? Read more about us. Alarmingly, scientists estimate that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight in 2050. Here are 3 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned, explained in a simple and easy-to-understand manner: 1. Plastic is not the largest contributor of pollution and the . As a result, the actual recycling rate for plastic bags globally is between 5 to 15 percent, while in the United States it makes only 1 percent a year [17]. A straw with our iced coffee, a plastic bag to carry our takeout, a wrapper on a candy bar: taken individually, each seems harmless. 10 Reasons You Should Give Up Plastic Straws - sustainablemotown LEAPE:Microplastics pervade the oceans. Talk to the owners of the restaurants you frequent. About; Disability Vote Blog; Organizer's Forum; Issues; News; NDLA Webinars India, for example, generates 25,940 tons of plastic waste every day but collects only 60 percent of it. Making just one simple swap, like purchasing a reusable water bottle, can spare the environment hundreds of plastic bottles each year. In many instances, it may seem too awkward for you to refuse the bag, so you accept it this one time, but you should know that it is fine to say no politely even at this stage if you dont want that bag. The first country to ban single-use plastic bags was Bangladesh in 2002 when plastic bag litter clogged drainage channels and contributed to destructive floods. Other states such as Hawaii, cities such as Seattle and New York, and corporations such as Amazon and Starbucks are also considering or have initiated plastic phase-out plans. Most of it is either dumped in landfills or ends up in the ocean. Here are a few more tips for ridding your life (and your community) of single-use plastics for good. How Plastic Bottles Become Death Traps for Hermit Crabs. Heres everything you need to know about the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of plastic waste: the kind made to be tossed in mere minutes. Learn how your comment data is processed. Greentumble was founded in the summer of 2015 by us, Sara and Ovi. Yes, it should. Paper straws cannot be recycled in any way. Thoughtful laws are needed to control the problem and at the same time encourage innovation. Plastic pollutionwhether in our oceans, piling up on our coastlines, or contributing to our climate crisisimpacts vulnerable communities first. They're bad for the environment, kill marine life and damage human health. In countries with a lack of awareness about negative impacts of plastic bags, a polite refusal might not be met with much understanding. Starbucks recently announced that it would phase out use of plastic straws by the year 2020. However, we are all too familiar with situations when a cashier automatically puts your items in a plastic bag before you can oppose it. Shuddering and unable to breathe, he vomited up five plastic bags. As it turns out, many microorganisms make moldable bioplastic polymers that are fully degradable. Left alone, plastics dont really break down; they just break up. Buying a product through my link comes at no extra cost to you, and I only recommend products that I believe in. that do collect plastic bags and other plastic films and send them for proper recycling. Since their birth, baby turtles have only one goal to get to the sea and swim into deep waters where they will feed and if successful grow into adult turtles. Busca trabajos relacionados con Reasons why smoking should be banned articles o contrata en el mercado de freelancing ms grande del mundo con ms de 22m de trabajos. They are also not biodegradable and cannot be broken down naturally by bacteria and other decomposers into non-toxic materials. Summary: Reduce your use of single-use plastics. In early January 2020, China joined the growing movement of more than 120 countries pledging to ban single-use plastics.The country of 1.4 billion citizens is the No. A complete ban on plastic straws would harm disabled people, which definitely isnt the goal of such a ban. This is the case particularly in Southeast Asia, which has begun to import much of the plastic that used to go to China for recycling. Oene Moedt-Foto Natura/Minden via National Geographic Images, Major Corporations and Single-Use Plastics, secluded Pyrenees mountain range and down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench, and research has suggested that human exposure, 4.8 million and 12.7 million metric tons of plastic, one of the most greenhouse gasintensive industries in the manufacturing sector, could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030, an audit of plastic pollution along coastlines. Tiny plastic particles have been found in human feces. 12 Reasons for Banning Plastic Bags: Plastic Bags Are Made With Non-Renewable Energy Plastic Bags Use Up Lots Of Energy Plastic Bags End Up In The Ocean Beach Plastic Litter Is On The Rise Plastic Bags Kill Millions Of Animals Every Year Plastic Takes A Long Time To Disintegrate Plastic Is Harming The Ocean's Coral Plastic Bags Contain Toxins New research shows their prolific dam building benefits river water quality so much, it outweighs the damaging influence of climate-driven droughts. Tweet, call, or send letters to these companies to ask them to switch to more durable, recyclable, compostable, renewable, and/or recycled-content packaging with less fossil fuelderived plastic. Even if plastic doesnt end up in the ocean, recycled plastic is often exported from high-income countries to developing countries to process. An outright ban on plastic straws would create an accessibility problem for disabled people while dining in public. Plastic straws, being so lightweight and non-biodegradable, are readily carried into the water, where they eventually break down into smaller and smaller pieces of microplastic. Your email address will not be published. Why? This includes grocery plastic bags, Ziplock-type bags, dry cleaning bags and bread bags. Overall, the main reason for a plastic straw ban is to help the environment by preventing plastic straws pollution. According to a study carried out in 2013, up to 35 percent of turtle deaths were caused by plastic ingestion and the probability that sea turtles will consume even more plastic increases every year [9]. Why Plastic Straws Are Being Banned - Square Not only does the waste destroy the land itself, but when plastic is incinerated (as is the case for unrecyclable plastic at some illegal facilities) its toxic fumes quickly become a health hazard for residents, leading to everything from skin rashes to cancer. A last example of a true horror caused by plastic has been discovered just recently. Manufacturers began replacing traditionally paper or glass staples with lighter or more durable and affordable plastic alternatives; plastic jugs replaced milk jars, for instance. (Its also important to remember that waste management is just one part of the global materials cycle. Look for another place that does accept or use alternative packaging, such as small local stores that use paper wraps or compostable bags. Low rated: 2. In 2015 a mere 24 of these ethane cracker facilities in the United States had the combined carbon output of 3.8 million passenger vehicles. However, I do believe that we should limit our use of plastic straws by asking businesses to only give out straws on request. Microplastics were found in soft drinks like Coca Cola, in tap water, in seafood It has contaminated our food chain, so it should not surprise us that it can be tracked in our body. Leape has long been a leader in ocean conservation efforts. And, if you dont like wearing the same shirt or pants, Read More Dont wash it if it doesnt look dirtyContinue, At age 50, Kay is a little over halfway through her life as a driver. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned - manufacturer, factory 10 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned Plastic bags being the major component of the trash thrown away, most of it ends up on the streets. Ill talk about this more in the next section: By itself, a plastic straw ban is unlikely to have a large impact on the environment. It topped 60 million tons (54.4 million metric tons) in 2010 based on a September 2018 report titled "Plastic Pollution."But China announced it plans to outlaw the production and sale of . The trend has already started. Why Plastic Bags And Straws Should Not Be Banned These tiny plastic particles have been found in our oceans, soil, and even in the air. Reasons why smoking should be banned articlestrabajos Hi, Im Hugh, and my mission with Get Green Now is to raise awareness of environmental issues and teach people how to live sustainably. One of the most significant negative effects that plastic bags have on the natural world is that it takes a very long time for them to degrade.In addition, the breakdown of plastic bags in the sun results in the release of hazardous compounds into the surrounding soil, and the combustion of plastic bags results in the release of a poisonous material into the surrounding air, contributing to the problem of ambient air pollution. (Source: Water in the West), Analysis reveals how restoring relatively narrow forest buffers could substantially improve regional water quality and carbon storage in Costa Rica and elsewhere. Companies are forced to innovate, rethinking their designs and sourcing sustainable materials. Among the U.S. cities to outlaw plastic straws are Malibu, Berkeley, Seattle, and Miami Beach. The crucial challenge is to ensure that these bans are just a first step, offering a natural place to start with low-hanging fruit so long as its part of a much more fundamental shift away from single-use plastics across the value chains of these companies and our economy. Quick Navigation for Reasons Why Plastic Shopping Bags Should Be Banned, [1] https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25496/singleUsePlastic_sustainability.pdf, [2] https://www.eco-business.com/opinion/getting-rid-of-plastic-bags-a-windfall-for-supermarkets-but-it-wont-do-much-for-the-environment/, [3] https://www.thethirdpole.net/en/2018/04/09/plastic-chokes-dhakas-drainage/, [4] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bags-petroleum/, [5] https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/story?id=2935417&page=1, [6] https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/, [7] https://iopscience.iop.org/article/10.1088/1748-9326/10/12/124006/pdf, [8] https://www.mnn.com/earth-matters/animals/blogs/rare-sea-turtles-eating-plastic-at-record-rate, [9] https://onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/full/10.1111/cobi.12126, [10] http://www.prijatelji-zivotinja.hr/index.en.php?id=934, [11] http://advocacy.britannica.com/blog/advocacy/2008/12/plastic-bags-and-animals-making-the-wild-safe-for-wildlife/, [12] http://science.sciencemag.org/content/359/6374/460, [13] https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2018/oct/22/microplastics-found-in-human-stools-for-the-first-time, [14] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bag-clean-costs/, [15] http://www.bagmonster.com/2010/04/the-true-cost-of-single-use-bags.html, [16] http://www.cep.unep.org/cep-documents/unep-press-release-on-the-effects-of-plastic-waste-on-marine-ecosystems.pdf, [17] https://greentumble.com/can-plastic-bags-be-recycled/, [18] https://1bagatatime.com/learn/plastic-bag-clean-costs/, [19] https://www.worldatlas.com/articles/how-many-countries-are-in-the-world.html, [20] https://wedocs.unep.org/bitstream/handle/20.500.11822/25496/singleUsePlastic_sustainability.pdf. 8 good reasons to give up plastic straws - CareElite It is good for our environment, health and global climate. According to a 2017 study, more than half of non-fiber plastic, which excludes synthetic fabrics like polyester and nylon, comes from plastic packaging alone, much of which is for single-use items. By simply using less plastic, you can help keep marine life from eating and getting entangled in garbage. We use them to drink beverages at home and we get them at almost every restaurant. A Ban Could Harm Local Businesses If Dont re-wash something if you can wear it again. Rating: 5 (913 reviews) Highest rating: 5. Criddle isdirector of StanfordsCodiga Resource Recovery Center,a member ofStanford Bio-Xand an affiliate of thePrecourt Institute for Energy. On average, plastic bags cost retailers about 3-5 cents each. Our plastic addiction is having a devastating impact on our oceans, our wildlife, and our health. The majority of this pollutiondominated by single-use plastic wastecomes from countries lacking infrastructure to properly manage waste, particularly in Asia. update email soon. We all are just trying to do our job well. Simply, refuse them when offered and bring your own reusable bag when shopping. These steps are pretty straight forward and depend on your own initiative. "To us, it was the 'gateway plastic' to the larger, more . For the oceans sake, wed better hope so. In Germany alone, we use 40 billion plastic straws every year. Five Reasons Banning Plastics May Harm the Environment and Consumers On average, taxpayers end up paying about $88 per year just on plastic bag waste [15]. We've all become too hooked on the availability and comfort of the stuff. Plastic straws shouldn't be banned - The Rubicon Single-Use Plastics 101 | NRDC Help us break the cycle of causing unnecessary harm and damage in the name of "convenience". Reasons why smoking should be banned articles jobs Only then would a plastic straw ban be able to actually help preserve the environment. What to do with plastic bags you already have at home? We can also decrease costs through improved bioprocessing methods, through metabolic engineering and by exploring and harnessing the incredible diversity of bioplastic-making systems that evolution has already created. If you are a kid reading this, and you want to get green and help the Earth, you are at the right place. Natural Resources Defense Council 2023 Privacy Policy And the recent fracking boom, resulting in a surplus of oil, is fueling a subsequent rise in cracker plants, too. Will others? Plastic bags are often mistaken for food by animals, birds, and marine life. A brief history of how plastic straws took over the world - Environment 2. Greentumble is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to Amazon.com. The consumed plastic congests the digestive tracts of these animals, and can lead to health issues such as infections, painful intestinal blockage, starvation or death by suffocation. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned? In fact, the global backlash against plastic straws likely started after researchers off the coast of Costa Rica shared a viral video of a sea turtle with a plastic straw stuck up its nose. CRIDDLE:We need to think about what incentives will promote a culture of recycling and innovation with respect to waste streams. Theyre in about a quarter of the seafood in our markets, and even in table salt. No! Ultimately, we can further decrease costs and achieve economies of scale through decentralized production systems and perhaps also at large biorefineries. Its possible that using a plastic straw would make it easier for you to drink without spilling, but the long-term expenses are not worth it. In fact, I just listed many reasons and points in this article that support both sides of the argument. PDF Skip the Straw - Florida Department of Environmental Protection There is only one requirement these plastic bags need to be dry and clean, otherwise they contaminate the entire batch and your effort will do more harm than good. While an extra two cents may not seem like a lot, it could make a difference for some businesses that depend on plastic straws. Oil and natural gas are non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources and through their extraction and production, they emit greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change. Thats nearly equivalent to the weight of the entire human population. She can remember all of her vehicles the Pontiac 6000, her familys car that was passed on to her when she went to college; the Volkswagen Rabbit, and later Fox, that took her through young adulthood; the Honda Civics,, Read More Car Recycling: Everything You Need to Know (With Statistics)Continue, Whether youre a scuba diver, snorkeler, or amateur swimmer, the ocean is a playground where you come to explore the beauty of nature and the difference from your regular lifes environment. Let us know if you liked this article. 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned. Then, the straw got stuck in the turtles nose after she/he tried to cough the straw back out. A 2017 Environmental Sciences and Technology study reported that up to 95 percent of plastic waste enters oceans from one of 10 riverseight in Asia and two in Africa. Do you also have that overflowing kitchen drawer full of plastic bags you bring from your shopping trips? Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and serviceware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags. Sugar and oils are too expensive. | | Each year on two far-flung Australian islands, more than half a million hermit crabs die after becoming trapped inside our plastic waste. edinburgh airport address. Have a look yourself to imagine the suffering of these animals. In addition, despite the fact that the FDA has deemed this to be safe for consumption, chemicals from the plastic may seep into liquids, releasing substances that have the potential to influence estrogen levels. They contribute to the contamination of our landfills and seas when they are discarded after use. Plastic bags. Which brings us to the second part. One recent survey found plastics in 94 percent of tap water samples in the U.S. and in nearly every brand of bottled water. 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned - david-el.co.il Using a straw directs a concentrated stream of liquid onto a localized area of the teeth, which can cause the enamel to wear away and lead to dental disease. Will Shifting to Reusable Straws Really Make a Difference? If this happens, there are a few scenarios you can follow: The best thing you can do with those old plastic bags that have been stashed in that overflowing drawer in your kitchen is to recycle them. In my opinion, plastic straws should not be banned outright, because many disabled people require plastic straws to drink.