What will happen if we don't stop using plastic? When it does, the plastic may end up in a landfill. The plastic may end up buried underneath tons of trash. Over time, the harmful toxic chemicals are leached into the ground and find their way into the groundwater and potentially contaminating drinking water supplies, rivers, streams, and eventually the ocean.
Why should you stop using plastic?
Scientists Explain 22 Reasons Why You Should Stop Using Plastic. 1 1. Hormones. BPA can negatively affect the body’s hormones, causing imbalances that lead to a variety of issues. Typically, this leads to endocrine ... 2 2. Weight Gain. 3 3. Thyroid Issues. 4 4. Diabetes. 5 5. Heart Disease. More items
What happens to plastic when it is discontinued?
When plastic is discarded, its microparticles wash into our sewage system and are then dispersed into the sea. However, a sizable percentage of particles end up getting caught in the sewage system that is then reused to fertilize our farms and fields.
Is plastic bad for our health?
With growing environmental concerns surrounding the use and disposal of plastic, experts around the world have been urging people to curb their plastic consumption. Medical researchers have also suggested that plastic could be bad for our health. Countless nations’ governments are even implementing laws that will see some forms of plastic banned.
Is it possible to cut out plastic completely from the environment?
Almost a third of all plastic packaging leaks out of collecting and sorting systems and ends up in soil and the ocean. Additionally, plastic degrades into fine nano-sized particles that are harmful to animals and stay in food chains. However, cutting out plastic completely is not as easy as people would like to think.
What will happen if we use a lot of plastic?
Some of the effects of all this plastic waste are easy to see. Beaches are becoming covered in plastic garbage. Birds and other marine animals get tangled up in plastic garbage, become strangled by it and drown. Whales confuse plastic floating in the water for food.
Why should we not stop using plastic?
According the Ellen MacArthur Foundation, only 14% of all plastic produced gets recycled, while the remaining 83% is incinerated, landfilled, or ends up in our ecosystems. This results in an estimated USD 80-120 billion worth of plastic material value that is lost to the economy each year.
How will plastic affect the future?
By 2020, the exponential growth in plastic production increased that figure to about 400 MT. At this rate, plastic production is expected to double by 2040 and increase by 2.5 times by 2050. Unless we change how we make and manage plastics, the problem of plastic pollution will keep on growing.
What would happen if everyone stopped using plastic bottles?
If everyone in America recycled just one plastic bottle, those materials could make more than 54 million T-shirts or about 6.5 million fleece jackets, according to Repreve data. If everyone recycled one aluminum can, 295 million new aluminum cans could be made, according to Aluminum Association data.
Can we live without plastic?
Here at LifeWithoutPlastic.com we see life completely without plastic as the goal, but we understand that it is not necessarily the possible reality for today for most people. Nonetheless, there are numerous things that anyone anywhere – including you!
Why should we stop using plastic essay?
Reasons to Ban Plastic Bags Plastic bags have become a threat to the life of animals living on earth as well as in water. Chemicals released by waste plastic bags enter the soil and make it infertile. Plastic bags are having a negative impact on human health. Plastic bags lead to the drainage problem.
Will plastic end the world?
Enormous amount of plastic will fill oceans, land by 2040 even with immediate global action, report says. More than 1.3 billion tons of plastic waste will flow into the world's oceans and land over the next two decades without widespread intervention, according to a new report.
What happens when plastic pollution gets worse?
Physical impact on marine life: entanglement, ingestion, starvation. Chemical impact: the buildup of persistent organic pollutants like PCBs and DDT. Transport of invasive species and pollutants from polluted rivers to remote areas in the ocean. Economic impact: damage to fisheries, shipping, and tourism.
How does plastic affect climate change?
As it does, sunlight and heat cause the plastic to release powerful greenhouse gases, leading to an alarming feedback loop. As our climate changes, the planet gets hotter, the plastic breaks down into more methane and ethylene, increasing the rate of climate change, and so perpetuating the cycle.
How is plastic destroying the world?
Once in the environment, plastic breaks down into smaller and smaller particles that attract toxic chemicals, are ingested by wildlife on land and in the ocean, and contaminate our food chain.
How did live without plastic?
When we had no plastic, we had habits that were by default eco-friendly – be it: Carrying our own bags for shopping. Reusing things instead of dumping them after every use. Keeping things safe from moisture instead of needing material to protect them from moisture.
What will happen if we keep polluting the ocean with plastic?
Plastic on the ocean's surface can trap sunlight, making the surface warmer and reducing the amount of light and heat traveling to the depths of the ocean. If plastic litter were to cover the ocean's surface, it can have ripple effects on marine ecosystems and affect the planet's climate system, the scientists warn.