10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned

Affiliate Disclaimer: Some links on this site may be referral or affiliate links. Plastic bags floating in the ocean resemble jellyfish, one of the main sources of food for some species of sea turtles, especially the critically-endangered Leatherback turtles. Most of it is either dumped in landfills or ends up in the ocean. Accompanied by high social accountability and musical garbage trucks, that strategy has proved wildly effective: the island now reports recycling rates above 50 percent. Do you wonder why? 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. We dont know how it will in the long term affect plankton-feeding species and their predators. Due to its chemistry, nothing in nature can make plastic biodegrade. (Everything You Need To Know). On average, taxpayers end up paying about $88 per year just on plastic bag waste [15]. A plastic straw ban could be a good step in the right direction, but we must use less single-use products overall to actually help the environment. 1. plastic straws litter our environment Every day, about 3-6 billion plastic straws are produced. This way, disabled people can continue to be served, while also reducing the number of plastic straws that we use. Ultimately, we can further decrease costs and achieve economies of scale through decentralized production systems and perhaps also at large biorefineries. They discovered that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestl products were found most often. 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. Divers, for example, descend 130 feet under the water, seek unique-looking creatures, and observe the marine world in all its glory. Skip the Straw - Florida Department of Environmental Protection Marine animals bear the burden of this influx of garbage into their habitats. But single-use plastics come with a steep environmental priceone that well be paying off for millennia. female pomeranian temperament; splinterlands terms and conditions; carbon emissions data by company; ( ) + . Left alone, plastics dont really break down; they just break up. The answer isnt as simple as you may think: While its true that paper straws arent as harmful as plastic straws, this doesnt mean that, Read More Paper vs. Prior the ban, 70 percent of livestock losses were attributed to plastic bag ingestion. They suspect that it may add stress on the liver by introducing more pathogens into the body. Without proper education, few people would know the purpose of the ban, and they would continue using other single-use plastics which could be even worse for the environment. Such materials already exist in nature. Starbucks recently announced that it would phase out use of plastic straws by the year 2020. The phthalate DEHP, as just one example from dozens, is often added to plastic goods like shower curtains and garden hoses to make them more flexiblebut was also found to be a probable human carcinogen by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. 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. Es gratis registrarse y presentar tus propuestas laborales. You should examine what alternatives are available and whether local retailers, who often operate with a limited monthly budget, have the ability to make the switch. In this article, Ill go over both the pros and cons of a plastic straw ban. New research shows their prolific dam building benefits river water quality so much, it outweighs the damaging influence of climate-driven droughts. What do the bans accomplish? Such changes could have outsized benefits for vulnerable populations that rely on rivers for their water supply. We all know what the debate is between plastic and paper straws but paper straws are horrible they will immediately break apart in your mouth and feel horrible. Plastic straws are everywhere we look. Getting rid of a single plastic straw may not have a very large effect on the environment. Litter can be the first stage in a waste stream that enters waterways as plastics tossed on the street are washed away by rain or travel via storm drains into rivers and streams. According to the findings of a study that was carried out in 2019 by students at the University of Washington, 78 percent of respondents used straws made of biodegradable materials that are in compliance with the prohibition, and 68 percent used utensils that are in compliance with the ban. Plastic straws, drink stirrers and cotton buds will no longer be sold in Britain as part of a plan to eradicate "avoidable plastic waste" by 2042, and Prime Minister Theresa May actively called on other leaders in the Commonwealth to implement similar policies. A straw with our iced coffee, a plastic bag to carry our takeout, a wrapper on a candy bar: taken individually, each seems harmless. They store these polymers inside their cells as tiny granules. Criddle isdirector of StanfordsCodiga Resource Recovery Center,a member ofStanford Bio-Xand an affiliate of thePrecourt Institute for Energy. Not only does banning single-use plastic reduce pollution, but it also reduces demand for plastic production thats contributing to global climate change. It is estimated that there are now 150 million metric tons of plastic in the ocean. Our reliance on these plastics means we are accumulating waste at a staggering rate. 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. 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. Because they are so lightweight, plastic bags get easily picked up by wind and travel long distances by wind and water to pollute the nature. This means that you need to first educate yourself about the problem. Let us know if you liked this article. When you sign up you'll become a member of NRDC's Activist Network. Though plastica chain of synthetic polymers, essentiallywas invented in. 300 to 700 plastic bags pass through the hands of an average American in just one year [8] and a survey of the Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs concluded that the average household in the United Kingdom stores around 40 plastic shopping bags at home [2]. America Needs a Plastics Intervention. What never leaves, Read More Sustainable Diving & Snorkeling: How to Prevent Damage to Marine EcosystemsContinue, Top 3 Ways Kids can Help the Earth! Car Recycling: Everything You Need to Know (With Statistics), Sustainable Diving & Snorkeling: How to Prevent Damage to Marine Ecosystems, What Are Microplastics and Why Are They a Concern? If there is one piece of advice that everyone should remember, it would be that nothing is for free in this world. 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. Logically, the key to starting a change in your community is education. It's free to sign up and bid on jobs. Consumer outrage about the plastics crisis is already commanding attention from big companies and from many governments. 2. As a result, they are thrown away and frequently wind up in the ocean, where they pollute the water and eventually kill marine birds, animals, and fish. Buy a metal or bamboo reusable straw. Speak out in support of local plastic bans, whether by calling your local government representative, submitting an op-ed to your citys newspaper, or simply starting conversations with neighbors. According to market research firms, Americans use about 350 million plastic straws every single day. Beached whales have been found with stomachs full of plastic trash. Paper vs. NRDC scientist Jennifer Sass says yes and debunks the skeptics claim that in trying to wean ourselves off plastic bags, were only creating more troubles. There are some great initiatives that strive to provide jobs for women in rural communities with limited possibilities of securing monthly income. For example, in Botswana, the consumption of plastic bags dropped by 50 percent after the introduction of the tax in 2007. Required fields are marked *. This NRDC.org story is available for online republication by news media outlets or nonprofits under these conditions: The writer(s) must be credited with a byline; you must note prominently that the story was originally published by NRDC.org and link to the original; the story cannot be edited (beyond simple things such as time and place elements, style, and grammar); you cant resell the story in any form or grant republishing rights to other outlets; you cant republish our material wholesale or automaticallyyou need to select stories individually; you can't republish the photos or graphics on our site without specific permission; you should drop us a note to let us know when youve used one of our stories. Additionally, plastics in our digestive tract may affect absorption of some important trace elements (like iron) which we need for maintaining proper health [13]. Criddle and Leape are also senior fellows at theStanford Woods Institute for the Environment. Author: floridadep.gov. Plastic bag litter has even caused great problems in some areas. Here are 3 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned, explained in a simple and easy-to-understand manner: 1. Plastic is more sanitary and safer to use than other alternatives. 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. If the answer is yes, you should know that this inadvertent overconsumption of single-use plastic carries with it a very high cost to the environment, which in turn also negatively affects our health. Similar fate has met dolphins, seals, cats, dogs, deer and many other animals which got severely cut on their bodies due to plastic bag entanglement. China doesnt want our plastic waste anymore. About half the cost of making biodegradable polymers is the cost of feedstock. According to a study that was published by Bloomberg News, it is predicted that the percentage of contaminated ocean water that is caused by plastic straws and stirrers is a shockingly modest 0.03 percent. But a whopping 91 percent of all plastic isnt recycled at all. JIM LEAPE: Our oceans are currently swimming with plastics. We hear everywhere around us that we need to save energy. We do not know the full impact of microplastics exceeding the mass of plankton in the ocean.