Plastic waste and consumption have been a major cause for concern in the protection of the environment. We use plastic every day, everywhere. We use hundreds of plastic utensils, coffee and drink cups, bags, and even plastic in our laundry detergent. Plastic is highly versatile and has been harnessed in millions of capacities, creating convenient solutions for everyday problems and activities that can even be thrown away right after use.
However, the unfortunate consequence of plastic’s versatile single-use solutions is the massive amount of waste that comes with it. Single-use plastics litter landfills, public spaces, and even the ocean. As of 2024, there are about 75 to 199 million tons of plastic floating in our oceans. Additionally, there is a flow of 33 million pounds of plastic into the ocean each year. These numbers are massive and particularly horrifying when thinking of their effects on sea life. From soda can connectors to plastic bags to zip ties, the effects of these plastics on sea life can be lethal. Many sea animals accidentally eat small plastics or can be caught and immobilized by larger ties and pieces of plastic. Many people can recognize how dangerous and harmful to the environment that single use plastics are, but the convenience of single use plastics keeps the actual use of them extremely high. It is very difficult to avoid using a plastic in your day to day life, and you must go out of your way to not use them. This includes bringing your multi-use cup to coffee shops, bringing a reusable straw, or your bags to the grocery store.
There have been attempts to force people to decrease their consumption of single use plastics, most notably bans on plastic bags. Dozens of countries have begun to institute bans on the production and sale of plastic bags in stores such as grocery stores, including countries such as New Zealand. While the United States has not invoked an official nationwide ban, many states have begun to roll back the use of plastic bags. I have felt the effects of this myself, as the grocery stores near my hometown no longer carry plastic bags. They offer paper bags at a cost of 5 cents per bag, or reusable canvas bags at a higher price. My family has collected many reusable bags and even reuses the paper bags we recieve, so we were able to handle this very easily, and I even enjoy being given the opportunity to avoid plastic.
However, there is great debate over whether plastic bag bans are truly effective. While these bans do take millions of plastic bags out of circulation from stores, some experts argue it is not enough to simply ban plastic bags and these policies merely divert from better solutions. Others believe these bans are a step in the best direction possible to slow down the consumption and waste of a major source of plastic. As more scientists and experts look for solutions to remove plastics from the ocean, more plastic bans may be enacted across the world.
This is a really well-researched blog! I have definitely been guilty of using excessive amounts of plastic without worrying about how much I was wasting in the past, but I realized it takes very little effort to reduce how much I was throwing out. For example, just saving utensils and plastic bags instead of throwing them away after one use has made a big difference in how much I waste. Of course, the issue is so much bigger, and it’s really scary to think about how much plastic is out there and how much is being produced every day. It’s so important to be cognizant of our wastage, but there’s so much we can’t control. Great job!
In recent years I have noticed that more establishments have cut down on the use of plastic bags and even in our markets on campus they have been promoting the use of reusable bags. I do feel that though this is can be seen as a small step, we are headed in the right direction. I think that with how man people do use plastic bags, putting a ban on them would have an impact, but I am also curious what other possible solutions we have. With plastic causing so much harm to our planet it is important that we crack down in any way we can and this is a great start.
I agree with you! Plastic is very dangerous to the economy and our animals. As you said, it can’t really avoid plastic entirely, but small steps such as reusable straws and cups can really help. Even if people avoid trying to liter and leading toward involving themselves more in recycling, we may even see a difference. Your post was very well written, and I can tell you put a lot of information behind it!
Large scale plastic use can be extremely harmful to the environment. We use plastic for almost all fast food containers. However, I think the main issue with plastic comes from misplaced fishing gear found in the ocean. I think lessening our everyday plastic use can make a dent in plastic waste but I think we should focus on the large issue then move towards the smaller ones. I am really interested in the topic of plastic waste especially the use of plastic bags. However, I think the irritation of grocery stores taking away plastic bags is more irritating than it’s worth when its not the major contributing factor. I do really like how you structured and shared your personal experience with plastic use.