PLASTICS
What are plastics?
How does plastic harm THE ENVIRONMENT?
Plastic pollution causes harm to humans, animals and plants through toxic pollutants. It can take hundreds or even thousands of years for plastic to break down so the environmental damage is long-lasting.
The First Plastic
Alexander Parkes was a metallurgist and inventor from Birmingham, England. He created Parkesine, the first man-made plastic and publicly demonstrated it at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London.
Plastic pollution
Plastic pollution, accumulation in the environment of synthetic plastic products to the point where they create problems for wildlife and their habitats as well as for human populations. By the end of the 20th century, plastics were found to be persistent polluters of many environmental niches, from Mount Everest to the bottom of the sea.
Affect to animals
Plastic waste is littering our oceans and threatening the lives of millions of marine animals. Seals, whales, dolphins, seabirds, fish, crabs and many other animals are dying and becoming sick because of this deadly environmental concern.
Ocean plastics pollution
Plastic in our oceans and on our beaches has become a global crisis. Billions of pounds of plastic can be found in swirling convergences the make up about 40 percent of the world's ocean surfaces. At current rates plastic is expected to outweigh all fish in the sea by 2050.
By Ieva Pasiskeviciute and Liana Uleckaite IIa
How can we help?
Use reusable bags
When you go to the supermarket, and you take the fruit, you use plastic bags. When you go to a clothing store, to take the clothes, you usually use a plastic bag. There are many exemples like these, but we can avoid it.
A person uses 200 plastic bags in a year. It's a lot of plastic, but hopefully we can replace it with other materials that are more environmentally friendly.
There are two types of reusable bags:
MESH bags
They weigh almost nothing and are almost transparent so you can easily see through the bag knowing what's inside.
cloth bags
They're very comfortable and practical. They're usually made of cotton linen. You can use them to carry whatever you want.
USE SOLID COSMETICS
The gels, shampoos, deodorants..., are usually in plastic bottles. This is something we ignore, but it greatly increases the manufacture of plastic.
552 million shampoo bottles are produced each year, of which only 7% are recycled.
There are many alternatives to replace these packages:
-Solid shampoo: Is a traditional shampoo concentrate from which all the water is extracted to form a compact and longlasting tablet. Is cheaper than liquid shampoo and you waste less product with each use. It takes up little space and is very easy to use.
-Solid deorodant: Is composed of a mixture of mineral and vegetable actives. They're usually vegan and ecological.
-Solid conditioner: Is more natural than the usual ones because it contains vegetable ingredients without silicones, without preservatives or synthetic additives. They're more economical because they last much longer and are better stored. You can take them with you everywhere, including airplanes.
DON'T USE DISPOSABLES PLASTICS
-At home: A lot of people use plates, glasses and clutery made of plastic when they make a party or just a birthday. They're use only once, so they're very bad for the environment.
-At fast food restaurants: In this kind of places, they use a lot of plastic for the package of the food. And the glasses and clutery are also made of plastic. In recent years they have changed a lot of things in this repect, but they still have to reduce the consumption of plastic, and we have to avoid going to those places.
By Alba Niño