WHICH IS THE BEST SOLUTION ? 

PHOTODEGRADABLE - BIODEGRADABLE - 

OR  RECYCLING 

All plastics share the same chemical structure which makes most of them impervious to disintegration. In recent years there has been a lot of research done on the photodegradables, and biodegradables plastics and a popular misconception about them is that they are the answer to our plastic waste. Scientist however, believe that the degradable's are not the final answer to the problem.
While it is true that photodegradable's do break down in sunlight it is also true that they only break down into smaller pieces. In addition they do not degrade indoors or in a landfill, if covered up, however, they are do have some "value in Reducing Litter". Biodegradable's while having a use in medical procedures -sutures in the body for example- are mostly "still in the experimental and development stages". 
What concerns most scientist is just how "effective all the techniques are, but also about how much reside remains after degradation takes place". The General Accounting Office "reported last fall that no standards for such products exists"...."Of particular concern,the agency reported, was uncertainty about "the rate of degradation and the safety of the end products."
In contrast recycling is seen by many scientist as being "a more effective strategy" to combating plastic waste even if it is still in its infancy stages but it is worth noting "that not all can be successfully melted down and recast" for "coloring dyes, once in the plastic, cannot be removed".
References: Stevens, W.K., Degradable Plastics Show Promise in Fight Against Trash   
http://www.nytimes.com/1989/04/11/science/degradable-plastics-show-promise-in-fight-against-trash.html? 

MAIN SOURCE

OF

PLASTIC POLLUTION

YouTube Videos: Plastic Bottles & Ocean Pollution and How plastic bags hurt marine life. 

The main source of plastic waste is single use plastics and disposable plastics. In this post I want to discuss two main types of single use disposable plastics which are polluting our oceans and killing marine life every day. Plastic bags and plastic water bottles.

Plastic Bags

It is estimated that discarded plastic bags kill many of the 100,000 marine animals that die each year from plastic waste. Either by becoming entangled in them or by ingestion, where they clog "their intestines" leading to a slow death by starvation.  

In her article on Plastic Bag Pollution 
Sharon Jacobsen relates that each 
year "around 500 billion plastic bags
are used worldwide" and of that
total "100 billion are consumed
in the United States alone", and
that plastic bags "are among the
top 12 items of debris most often
found along coastlines". To put
these figures into some perspective
that would mean that a family of four would use "332" plastic bags each year.
The following video will illustrate these points and and make suggestions
on what can be done to cut down on plastic bag use:

How plastic bags hurt Marine life

    

To find out more information on how plastic bags are polluting our marine systems visit the following site:
http://www.endangeredspeciesinternational.org/plastickills.html
Reference: Jacobsen, Sharon. Plastic Bag Pollution at: 

www.googobits.com/articles/1604-plastic-bag-pollution.html

Plastic Water Bottles

Image provided by village coach fitness 

It is estimated that  

American's purchase

"34.6 billion single-

serving plastic water

bottles each year".

Hundreds of million

of these, almost eight

out of ten, end up 

either as litter or in
our oceans, streams,
and waterways. "That's
877 bottles wasted
every second", which
can have a devastating affect on our oceans and marine life as the following video demonstrates.

Plastic Bottles & Ocean Pollution 

It is worth noting however, when choosing a reusable plastic water bottle it is imperative that you educated yourself on which type of plastic water bottle you should be purchasing. For plastics water bottles are not only dangerous to the oceans but to human health as well.  A topic that I will address in a later post.

Reference: http://www.container-recycling.org/facts/plastic/bottledwater.htm
     

DISTRIBUTION OF PLASTIC WASTE IN OUR OCEANS

AND

THE GREAT PACIFIC GARBAGE PATCH

Videos:

 What is a Gyre? and The Great Pacific Garbage Patch 

80% of the plastic litter found in the oceans today comes from the land of countries throughout the world. As this waste enters the ocean it is transported by major ocean systems from one country to another by what is known as a gyre.

  

Today there are five
major gyres in the 
oceans. Of these the
these the North Pacific
Gyre has the distinction
of being the largest
ecosystem on Earth
with the largest collection of man-
made marine debris
Often described as being twice the size of the state of Texas this debris is often referred to as the:
      Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

        California's plastic
        waste ends up on 
        on Japan's shore
        line and Japan's
        plastic waste ends
        up on California's
        shore line. 
       

        

PLASTIC WASTE AND

 THE MARINE FOOD CHAIN

Video: Marine Food Life Web from uTube 

Drawing courtesy of yankeefleet.com

Discarded plastic human

rubbish that makes it's

way to the ocean is 

poisoning the marine

food chain. In marine

environments plastics

disintegrate into

smaller pieces even

down to the molecular level. As these plastic particles photograde down to the zooplankton size they are consumed by jellyfish who are in turn consumed by smaller fish. larger fish, and right on up the food chain to humans where it can cause disruption of the endocrine system, suppress the immune system, and decrease reproductive rates. 

Toxic additives used in manufacturing the plastic material when exposed to water leak into their surroundings making plastic ocean waste more deadly than it would be on land.   Floating plastic debris can also absorb pollutants such as PCBs, DDT and PAHs. 

Marine Life Food Web

The problem is that the plastic waste that enters the ocean in one country is distributed to other countries in the world where it is ingested into other marine food chains which ultimately affects all humans worldwide.  

PLASTICS ARE FOREVER

The problem that stems from plastics is that almost all of the plastics that are in use today the Earth cannot digest.

     Plastics create toxic pollution at
    every stage from "manufacturing,
    use, and disposal.
    
     : http://plasticpollutioncoalition.org/

Plastics are poisoning  the ecosystem, 

the marine food chain, which in turn affects human health.

Mass Prouduction

Mass production of plastics begin in the 1940's and since then they have become an essential part of society's around the world. This inexpensive lightweight material has unlimited uses and next year it is estimated that over 300 million tons will be produced worldwide. 

As new uses for plastics are found and production increases so does the threat to marine life and our oceans. Almost 90% of all the trash on the oceans surface are plastics but unlike the other trash they are not biodegradable. As the plastic breaks down into larger pieces they are often mistaken for food by birds and have even been found in the stomachs of dead sea lions, dolphins,sea turtles, and whales.

Over a longer period of time plastics will break down into smaller pieces reverting back to their original form of plastic pellets commonly known as nurdles that look like fish eggs. Attracting toxic chemicals like DDT and PCBs these nurdles in essence become a poison pill to marine life and have even been found inside plankton the keystone of marine food throughout the oceans.

Oceans of the World