Plastic Pollution Inquiry

Presentation for Plastic pollution Inquiry

Plastic Pollution Inquiry Report

By Max William Auld

Introduction

This plastic pollution report will explain what plastic is, why it is a problem, and what effect it has on the environment and us as humans. Then it will show ways we can mitigate the deleterious effects of plastic pollution. In the end, It will have a thesis statement, which will be what I think and what I have worked out will be the best or one of the best solutions to reduce or stop plastic pollution.

What is plastic pollution?

Plastic pollution is plastic that has been thrown out, is not wanted anymore, or can’t be used again.

Plastic pollution is incredibly harmful to us and to wildlife.

It is estimated that 50% of Plastic pollution is just single-use plastic. Out of all the plastic in the water, 45% is single-use. Single-use plastic is plastics that only need to be used once and then are thrown away. A lot of plastic pollution is industrial plastic. Plastic that is used for industrial use is either packaging or manufacturing materials. Soft plastic and industrial, as well as fishing equipment and other littler plastics, usually can't be recycled and end up going to landfill or floating into rivers and then out to sea. In fact there

I took this image on the way home from school one day. It is an example of industrial plastic.

is a massive patch of rubbish in the middle of the ocean known as the Great Pacific garbage patch. It is in the pacific ocean between Hawaii and California. Its Surface is estimated to cover 1.6 million square kilometers! The whole of New Zealand is 268,000 square kilometres so it is massive!

Why is plastic pollution a problem?

Plastic pollution is a global crisis. It destroys everything it pollutes our oceans and earth, people's livelihoods are destroyed and humans, animals, and the environment suffer. Plastic is made of natural gases such as crude oil it is mined from the ocean floor or the land it is then brought to a special factory where it goes through a process called polycondensation where the raw materials are heated and other chemicals are added to form different types of plastic such as polypropylene for clothes and fabrics, polystyrene for medical products or insulation, acrylic is one of the most common types of plastic it is used for plastic containers and utensils or “single-use plastic”

Why do we need to stop plastic pollution?

We need to cease or minimize plastic pollution. Plastic is destroying us, the environment, and the planet. Plastic kills marine and land animals If we don’t do something about plastic pollution or climate change soon there might be no future for us or other beings. It's a massive worry that is very concerning……..” our actions might be the end of us”

This numerical data chart shows the increase in plastic pollution from 1950 to now. The left side shows the millions of tonnes that get thrown out or are not wanted anymore, the bottom is the year. The amount of plastic that is discarded is crazy. You can see that when plastic first became big, would have been around 1950 just after the second world war. Then from there, it became massive throughout the world. Plastic just rose and rose in millions of tonnes, until eventually, somebody realized it was a problem in 1960 from there nobody did much until now around the 2000s when it started affecting us a lot more

How does plastic pollution affect the environment?

Plastic pollution has an incredibly big impact on the environment, the impact on the environment is the main reason we need to stop plastic pollution. It pollutes the ocean, rivers, and waterways. It harms most physical habitats and puts bad chemicals into the soil and water. Land and sea animals eat and try to digest the rubbish and that kills them. Animals can also get entangled in fishing nets and other pieces of plastic junk.

The production of plastic produces greenhouse gases which are contributing to climate change. If we don't do something about plastic pollution then lots of animals die and the natural Ecosystem fails.

What effects does plastic pollution have on humans?

Plastic produces bad emissions into the earth's atmosphere which we breathe in and get diseases such as asthma, cancer, childhood cancer, birth defects, low birth weight, early delivery, and infectious diseases. Why would we do this to us, the animals, and the planet? ‘Insane’ we eat, drink and breathe in microscopic plastics every day. We eat the plastic and then bad bacteria grow inside us, causing serious health issues.

If we don't start doing something soon, plastic will get out of control, and the effects of plastic Extinction

What actions should we take to mitigate the deleterious effects of plastic pollution?

There are lots of things we can do to mitigate the deleterious effects of plastic pollution.

Some options take a lot of time, effort, and people. Then some options take very little time, effort, and people, but might not be as efficient. Some of the options include

Each individual recycles when possible
Avoid single-use plastics
Find reusable options or options that don't need plastic
Grow your food when possible, then you don't need the plastic that lots of herbs, fruit, and vegetables come in. If you can't grow your food buy from local farmers or markets or low-waste shops.
Choose clothes made from environmentally friendly fabrics.
Shop in bulk so you don't have to use as much plastic and do not have to buy goods that come in plastic.
Don’t buy chips that come in plastic bags.
Don't buy water.

Even changing just the littlest thing can make a big difference; it might even save the life of a turtle or other animal.

PMI Anylisis.

Here is a link to my PMI anylisis.

https://docs.google.com/spreadsheets/d/1OJBkoz77SIVUBHxWDyulnkKG2Tpocv1KsG-qY8Ixloo/edit#gid=0

If we find an alternative environmentally friendly material or materials for plastic as well as if each person can cut down or reduce their own usage of plastic then I imagine that we will have a very good chance of saving ourselves and the planet from extinction because I am sure that will happen if we don't do anything about plastic pollution.

What we can do is move to a circular ↙ economy, not a linear economy ↘ which is what we are mostly using now.

A circular economy is where an Item is made, then bought, then used, and then remade or turned into something else.

A linear economy is where something is made, then bought, then used, then thrown away and put in a landfill or thrown in the ocean.

How long does plastic take to break down?

Different plastics take different times to break down.

Here are some times on how long plastic takes to break down.

Fishing line - 600 years
Plastic water bottle - 450 years
Nappy - 450 years
Cigarette butt - 10 years
Plastic bags-20 - 30 years

The average time for plastic to break down is 500 years; some plastic takes over 1000 years to decompose. It's crazy to think how long it takes for everyday plastics to break down, even then plastic does not fully break down, it just gets smaller and smaller.

Interesting Facts

On average, 100,000,000 million marine animals die every year because of plastic pollution. Broken down this is 274725 every day, 191 every minute, that’s 3 animals die every second and that's only what we find!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
Only 9% of all plastic is recycled!
2 million plastic bags are used every minute worldwide!
73% of worldwide beach litter is plastic
Every minute a rubbish truckload of plastic is tossed into the ocean worldwide
If we do not do something about plastic pollution, by 2050 there could be more plastic in the ocean than fish
Over the last 50 years, plastic pollution has doubled.
1 million plastic bottles are bought every minute.

Thesis Statement

We must find an alternative natural material such as plants, rocks, beeswax, or pottery, urgently to replace plastic or we are heading for extinction!!!

Conclusion

In this inquiry report, I have talked about plastic pollution, what it is, how it affects us, and the environment, why we need to stop it and why is it a problem, and last of all what should we do to eliminate or reduce plastic pollution, then I did a PMI analysis on some ways to stop or reduce plastic pollution and came up with a way that would work to mitigate the deleterious effects of plastic pollution and that solution was, find a new natural material such as plants, rocks, beeswax or pottery that can be used as an alternative to plastic.

Bibliography

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/plastic-pollution

hot topics: plastic pollution by Geof knight. Book

https://www.britannica.com/science/plastic-pollution

https://www.recycle-more.co.uk/recycling-resources-for-kids/what-is-rubbish-

https://www.msq.qld.gov.au/Marine-pollution/Garbage-pollution#:~:text=Garbage%20includes%20all%20kinds%20of,normal%20operation%20of%20the%20ship.

https://www.unep.org/plastic-pollution#:~:text=Plastic%20pollution%20can%20alter%20habitats,capabilities%20and%20social%20well%2Dbeing.

https://19january2021snapshot.epa.gov/trash-free-waters/impacts-mismanaged-trash_.html#:~:text=Trash%20can%20travel%20throughout%20the,river%2C%20marine%20and%20coastal%20environments

https://www.earthday.org/how-our-trash-impacts-the-environment/#:~:text=The%20more%20emissions%20that%20we,birth%20weight%2C%20and%20preterm%20delivery.

https://www.ecubelabs.com/overflowing-garbage-bins-5-impacts-on-health-and-environment-and-how-to-prevent/

https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-pollution

https://encyclopedia.ushmm.org/content/en/article/world-war-ii-key-dates#:~:text=World%20War%20II%20lasted%20for%20six%20years%2C%20from%201939%20to%201945.