Plastic Forever – Where Does All The Plastic Go?

Plastic pollution is affecting us greatly and endangering our future on Earth. Plastic surrounds us everywhere and has become part of the routine of many people. They use plastic negligently because the product is cheap and available, but unfortunately it is also destructive. Plastic takes about a thousand years to break down, so any plastic that was ever produced is still on Earth. In fact, even when the plastic is gone, it leaves behind micro-plastic that will probably stay here forever. The production process of plastic causes environmental damage from the very beginning. This process releases greenhouse gases that in turn increase the rate of global warming.

There are a few ways to deal with this eternal waste.

Most countries put plastic together with other garbage and bury it in the soil. The problem is that the landfills are small and the amount of garbage that we produce is growing, but the real problem begins when rain falls over the landfill. Water, while trickling down through the soil, absorbs toxic molecules found in plastic and carries them down to the groundwater, polluting our water sources and harming the environment.

You may think that the simple solution is to burn the plastic, but no developed country will ever do such a thing, because when it is burned, it creates air pollution and toxic gases are released into the air.

The ideal solution is to recycle, but only 9 percent of plastic waste is actually recycled. The recycling process is costly and the plastic can’t be sorted automatically so the sorting process falls mainly to the consumers and pre-education. But even when consumers do their part and separate their garbage, there aren’t always the facilities to recycle certain types of plastic. For example, in Israel, disposable tools can’t be recycled.

Unfortunately, there is a lot of garbage that doesn’t find its way to the trash and even when it does, it is sometimes thrown directly into the sea, because there’s nowhere else to take it. This happens to 10 percent of our worldwide plastic. Moreover every piece of plastic that isn’t in the trash will end up in the sea. The oceans cover 70 percent of Earth. If plastic takes a thousand years to degrade, the wind will inevitably carry it to the sea.
 
While the plastic is in the seawater, it disintegrates into micro-plastic that small fish eat. The smaller fish are eaten by larger fish such as tuna and finally reach our stomach. Beyond that, many other creatures tend to think that plastic is food, because of its color. These creatures feel full even though they are not, because it blocks their stomach and as a result they die of starvation. Some creatures die of suffocation, others get stuck in a plastic product and still others die as a result of a plastic product blocking their mouths.

You can say that this is far away and doesn’t really concern you even though some of it will end up on your plate, but the sea protects life on land. Without a proper ecological balance at sea, life on land can’t exist. I have written more about it here.

We no longer have room for more trash, especially for non-perishables.

Beyond harming our groundwater sources, areas for landfills are limited and our daily use of plastic is crazy. The average waste production per person is 2.5kg per day. We need to start considering zero waste awareness and adopt new habits in our lifestyles.

Use products more than once. Pass things on instead of dumping them, consume less and use what already exists in your home. You can buy products with less packaging and use multi-time bags and jars. As well as throwing your organic garbage on to garden or neighborhood compost heaps. There are many other things that can help you reduce your garbage and I will post about them soon. In the meantime, you can look at how you can help our plastic problem here.

When our garbage production decreases, our problems are reduced too. Make an effort to recycle everything recyclable, reduce your consumption, and give things that you don’t use anymore away. Our Earth is drowning in garbage and it is time to do something about it, for our future, our children’s future, the future of Earth and all living beings.