Sponsored Post – from Texas Disposal Systems

Plastic has been making lives easier since it was first introduced in the early 1900s. From food and beverage containers to product packaging, toys, and electronics, plastic seems ever-present in our daily lives. Despite the convenience it offers, the major downside is the impact plastic has on the environment after we’re done with it. Most trash providers do not have the ability to recycle plastic, meaning much of it ends up in the landfill, or worse, polluting the world’s oceans and coastlines.

According to the UK Government Office for Science, roughly 150 million tons of plastic are currently floating in our oceans – with an additional 8 million tons entering the water each year. By 2050, it’s estimated there will be more plastic than fish by weight if the dumping rate continues. Plastic’s detrimental effects are evidenced by their role in choking and suffocating marine wildlife, as well as releasing toxic chemicals into the water. Marine pollution is also having an increasingly harmful effect on humans as disregarded waste makes its way through marine eco systems and ultimately onto our plates.

One particularly concerning example of waste in the ocean is The Great Pacific Garbage Patch (GPGP) – a growing mass of about 79,000 metric tons of plastic, which is now twice the size of Texas according to Scientific Reports. The pool of waste has collected in the ocean waters between California and Hawaii with 94 percent of the waste made up of plastic. Unfortunately, pollution in deep water layers and the seafloor beneath the GPGP are not yet known.

In the midst of this “planetary crisis,” as dubbed by the United Nations, here are a few ways to modify behavior in your daily activities to reduce the use of plastic products:

• Use cloth bags during shopping trips, which can greatly lessen the number of plastic bags in circulation
• Replace plastic food and drinkware with compostable products
• Use liquid wood, which looks and feels like plastic but is biodegradable and is a viable alternative to packaging
• Buy bar soap versus liquid soap, which comes in a plastic container
• Eat fresh, whole foods devoid of packaging

To learn more about how to lessen your environmental impact, visit www.texasdisposal.com.

References:

• http://www.waste360.com/plastics/un-commits-combating-ocean-plastic-waste-crisis
• https://www.gov.uk/government/collections/future-of-the-sea
• https://www.nature.com/articles/s41598-018-22939-w
• http://www.trendingpackaging.com/the-most-common-eco-friendly-alternatives-for-plastic-packaging/