From the Earth Day Network (https://www.earthday.org/):
Plastic objects that we use once and discard, or single-use plastics, have become a problem of global proportion:
- As of 2010, 3.5 million tons of solid waste were generated per day and will rise to 6 million tons by 2025. 10% of that waste is plastics. Less than 10% of plastic is recycled.
- There’s mounting evidence that chemicals leached from some plastics used in food and beverage storage are harmful to human health and have been linked to problems such as chromosomal and reproductive system abnormalities, cancer, adult-onset diabetes, and obesity.
- Single-use-plastics linger for years polluting, collecting other pollutants on their surface and shedding microscopic particles, which are now found in many water systems and the food chain. Therefore, when we consume fish or other animal products, we could also be consuming these pollutants and the plastic itself.
- Plastics are also injuring animals and marine life. Pieces of plastic of all sizes have been found in even the most remote marine and land environments. Animals are being harmed by eating plastics, birds killed by eating plastics, and large marine mammals drowned when caught in discarded ropes and netting.
- Single-use-plastics are particularly problematic because they are often small, light enough to float and be transported by wind and water, and are produced in unbelievable amounts. Soon, there will be more plastic than fish in our oceans measured by weight!
Earth Day Network is responding by launching its 2018 global campaign to build a post-single-use-plastics world, including:
- Consumers of all ages understanding the environmental, climate and health consequences of single-use plastics and choose not only to “reduce, reuse and recycle,” but also to eliminate single-use petroleum-based plastic from their daily lives proactively.
- Governments enacting and implementing policies aimed at increasing awareness and promoting alternatives to single-use plastics;
- Scientists developing new methods and technologies to produce plastics that are biodegradable or compostable;
- Businesses producing environmentally friendly alternatives to single-use plastics.
We asked. You answered.
Earlier this year, in response to an online poll, eliminating single-use plastics was voted by you, our supporters, as the 2018 theme by a wide margin! Please join Earth Day Network as we get ready to launch our 2018 campaign. We can start by addressing the problems created by plastic straws, bottles and bags, and work together to build a cleaner, safer world for humans and animals.
We want to make solving this problem a global priority! To receive more information about this campaign please sign up at https://earthdaynetwork.salsalabs.org/plasticscampaign/index.html!
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