No. 7: Climate action > ignoring the problem
Let's ditch the plastic!
Prepare for a doozy!
The horrifying entanglement of plastic within the U.S.
It’s no surprise that the U.S. is a high emissions producing, plastic obsessed country, and the vast majority of the population *isn’t* doing anything about it.
Plastic isn’t hard to find; everywhere in our homes, landfills, and oceans, causing more harm than most care to realize. Yet why are these plastics still continually consumed when it’s clear it’s time to move on?
Let’s start from the beginning: what composes plastic, and our constant need of it? One tricky thing about plastics are the many different types. The truth is, it’s hard to say just how many exist in today’s circulation. But as Plastics Make it Possible points out, there are at least four main groups: thermoplastics (polyethylene, polypropylene, polyvinyl chloride, polystyrene, nylon, polycarbonate), thermosets (vulcanized synthetic rubber, acrylics, polyurethanes, melamine, silicone, epoxies), engineering plastics (includes thermoplastics), and plastic fibers (polyester, nylon, rayon, acrylic, and spandex). Likewise, The Atlantic explains, “For example, polyethylene terephthalate (PET#1) bottles cannot be recycled with PET#1 clamshells, which are a different PET#1 material, and green PET#1 bottles cannot be recycled with clear PET#1 bottles (which is why South Korea has outlawed colored PET#1 bottles.) High-density polyethylene (HDPE#2), polyvinyl chloride (PVC#3), low-density polyethylene (LDPE#4), polypropylene (PP#5), and polystyrene (PS#6) all must be separated for recycling.” This highlights just how tangled and confusing plastic products and recycling are in the U.S.
Plastic has become such a staple - highlighted by variety and types - that it doesn’t seem plausible to live without it. As it is “...Inexpensive, durable, and lightweight.” (The Naked Scientists) Yet it isn’t much our fault as we were led to believe.
Think of the Keep America Beautiful campaign (wow, check out No. 5 to learn more about this awful company) which aired in 1971, featuring an actor cast as “Iron Eyes Cody,” an Indigenous American tearing up at the world’s pollution. This was orchestrated by companies like Coca-Cola, and Dixie Cup Co., leading viewers to believe it’s in the individual's control. (If you’ve been a subscriber for a while now, you’d know we need individual action, but nothing can happen without systemic change.) Yet this false ideal still had a lasting effect, as it started to “[Make] individual viewers feel guilty and responsible for the polluted environment, deflect[ing] the question of responsibility away from corporations and plac[ing] it entirely in the realm of individual action, concealing the role of industry in polluting the landscape.” (Chicago Tribune) And still today, corporations blame consumers more than they will ever blame themselves.
As the campaign above highlighted, companies will always blame the consumer, something the plastics industry has not shied away from. Specifically with the above complications of plastic recycling. Although most try to recycle the items, claimed as recyclable, in 2021 the United States recycling rate was a devastating 5%, down from 9.5% in 2014. The American Progressive Bag Alliance is a lobbying group part of the Plastics Industry Association, a trade group associated with other heavily polluting oil companies like Shell Polymers, LyondellBasell, Exxon Mobil, Chevron Phillips, DowDuPont, and Novolex. Big plastic, as the APBA and PIA functions as, make it their mission to greenwash consumers and prevent legislation protecting the environment. (Think, West Virginia v. EPA) Thanks to them, bills like this banned local governments from regulating plastic.
And while billion dollar industries harm the environment and our wallets, the U.S. tries to solve their messes, improperly disposing of plastics, like incinerating them. As The Intercept describes, “The U.S. is now burning six times the amount of plastic it’s recycling — even though the incineration process releases cancer-causing pollutants into the air and creates toxic ash, which also needs to be disposed of somewhere. And poor people are stuck with the worst consequences of the plastics crisis. Eight out of 10 incinerators in the U.S. are in communities that are either poorer or have fewer white people than the rest of the country, and residents living near them are exposed to the toxic air pollution their combustion produces.”
But that’s nothing compared to the overwhelming plastic pollution in our oceans, where 46,000 pieces of plastic exist in one square mile. (Happiness Without) This leads to microplastics, granules with a width of 5 millimeters or less: easy to swallow and easier to pollute, as the image below depicts. (Columbia Magazine) While the effects of human consumption of microplastics is still unclear, there is evidence that they exacerbate asthma, inflame immune systems, and damage internal organs. (Children’s Health Defense)
Credit: Chris Jordan
Bottom line? Limit your plastic/unsustainable material consumption when you can, try to participate in Plastic Free July, significantly reduce your sealife/meat consumption, and share G&S! (Just one click!)
Posts to check out!
And articles/websites:
The Joy Issue - a collection of articles advocating for joy within the sustainability movement.
Happy Climate - a workshop to turn climate actions into joyful ones!
How the climate crisis is forever changing our national parks - Think flash flooding, wildfires, and more
Best Environmental Books, according to Goodreads readers - There was an article that seemed better, but it wasn’t free, so here’s a more accessible version!
Wrap-up
This may be short, but it’s definitely worth sharing! Just think, every new subscription saves an innocent animal from the horrors of plastic!