The Seven Sins of Plastic
By Amy Bavosa, environmental management student at Stony Brook University
I stand in the college dining hall, ready to rid myself of my dinner trash. The harsh lighting and homework I have to get to is making me antsy. Hmm…I have a compostable plate; I know that goes in the compost bin. This scrap of chicken? I don’t know…I’ll toss that. What about my plastic ice cream wrapper? Does that get recycled? In the same bin as my soda can? I’m in front of three bins: black, blue, and green and I can’t configure where this garbage goes.
In the U.S. it’s common to see recyclables separated into cans, plastics, and paper. But for it to be done correctly we should look at Helsinki, where nine different bins are used, or to Tokyo where upwards of twelve are employed! Despite these efforts, less than nine percent of all plastic is recycled. Part of the problem is, there’s just so much of it. So much it’s…sinful.
Trash and recycling receptacles in Japan. Photo: Gnsin / Wikimedia Commons
Lust, overwhelming desire, has reached new heights in our consumer culture. The idea of humans as primarily consumers took hold in the 1920s and is on the rise; products are idealized and nearly worshipped. Something most of these products have in common? Plastic.
Many products come in plastic packaging or are constructed of plastic. And something smaller is lurking: microplastics. These particles are less than five millimeters in size— smaller than a poppy seed—and can be found in a surprising amount of products. If you don’t think plastic is an issue, consider that eight million tons of plastic end up in the ocean each year, that’s 40,000 blue whales. We have a plastic problem.
Pride links with self-esteem. Social media platforms and the beauty industry equate this to how we look. And what’s our culture’s antidote to aging and ugliness? Products. In the US alone, personal care products are a $90 billion industry; one that relies on unrecyclable plastic packaging. So what’s inside?
Personal care products are rife with microplastics, specifically microbeads—tiny plastic particle used to get into hard to reach places. Microbeads are used for their exfoliating properties and because they prolong shelf life. Face creams and shampoo; mascaras and eye shadows contain microbeads. The fate of most of these products is septic; nineteen tons of microbeads are washed down New York’s drains each year! Once inside water treatment plants these tiny plastics go undetected, and are flushed into the ocean.
The good news is microbeads were banned from all “rinse-off” products (products that are washed off with water, instead of left on the skin or hair) in fifteen nations. However they still subsist on beauty-aisle shelves. Before purchasing, run products past the Beat the Microbead app to determine if your go-to’s are ocean friendly.
Envy, longing for what others have, is so easily evoked by the styles and fabrics we adorn ourselves in. And so quickly forgotten: Americans throw away an average of eighty pounds of clothes per person each year. Fast fashion— the high demand for inexpensive, hip clothes— has turned our trends synthetic. Due to affordability and “durability”, more than sixty percent of fabrics are made of synthetic materials, like nylon and polyester. These materials’ fibers detach easily while worn and currently float through our airways.
What about when they’re washed? Every time we do a load of laundry an average of 9 million microfibers are released into wastewater treatment plants. Particles washed off of synthetic textiles account for thirty-five percent of the microplastics directly released into the ocean.
To avoid this, buy sustainable fabrics like hemp, linen, and recycled cotton. Use washing liquid instead of powder, add fabric softener, and wash and dry at low temperatures.
Gluttony is perhaps the sin Americans are most associated with. Though we’re not always overindulging, 89.5% of Americans have access to food each day. With access to food comes access to, you guessed it, plastics. Each of us might ingest up to a credit card’s worth of plastic weekly.
Yes, microplastics are in our food. It makes sense given the fourteen million tons of microplastics on the ocean floor. Plankton eat microplastics, which travel up the food chain and have been found in one hundred aquatic species sold for human consumption. It doesn’t stop there: vegetables and even salt contains microplastics.
Buy options that don’t use plastic packaging (six million pounds of plastic food ware are discarded every year in New York), and make a reusable utensil set to carry. This ultimately means less plastic created, and less consumed.
Sloth-like slumbers are bookended by plastic-fueled rituals of cleaning our pearly-whites. Over ninety-nine percent of the toothbrushes used globally are plastic.
Back in the B.C.s humans cleaned their teeth by chewing on sticks, and by the 18th century evolved to bones and boar hairs. WWII brought plastic toothbrushes on the scene and hygiene hasn’t been the same since. In the U.S. alone, one billion toothbrushes are thrown away every year.
Beat those bedtime blues. Consider biodegradable bamboo brushes and dental floss sold in refillable glass containers.
Greed brings to mind billionaires— specifically the CEO of Amazon, Jeff Bezos. Amazon monopolizes ecommerce, which is responsible for a heap of plastic. A 2019 Oceana report found that Amazon generated nearly 500 million pounds of plastic packaging. Most of this was not recyclable and twenty-two million pounds of Amazon trash ended up in rivers and oceans that year. These plastics enter the water as large pieces of waste—macroplastics—and over time, with help from the sun’s radiation and ocean waves, will insidiously transform into microplastics.
To avoid contributing to Bezos’s billions, shop locally —especially now that businesses are getting back to normal after pandemic-induced shutdowns. But let’s face it; Amazon does have some items that just can’t be found elsewhere. Buy second hand or refurbished items on the site, and choose the “frustration free” packaging to forgo Amazon’s wrapping accoutrements.
Wrath entails vengeful punishment for a crime; our plastic crime is Mother Nature’s crisis. Plastic doesn’t simply go away: bags made of plastic take 20 years to breakdown while toothbrushes can take 500 years to decompose. Our plastic pollution kills hundreds of thousands of marine animals each year. But these deaths are mainly caused by larger, visible plastics, so what’s happening with the more infinitesimal microplastics? These materials become rafts for bacteria, transporting pathogens from sewage systems to bathing beaches. The durability of plastic protects bacteria from UV light, allowing it to survive much longer than normal. Plastic pollution poses a threat to animal and human health. It’s no longer just a concern, it’s…deadly.
Photo: From Midway, 2009-2010. © Chris Jordan
We can mitigate our plastic use, but this can’t all rest on our shoulders. We must hold corporations accountable. We can only do that by voting for individuals who focus their campaigns on Earth’s emergency. Let your representatives know they should support the Break Free From Plastic Pollution Act of 2021. This act builds on successful state laws and outlines plastic reduction strategies to create a more sustainable future.
And remember, the less plastic you buy, the less time you’ll spend in front of recycling bins wondering where your trash belongs.