Practically all of us, every day, often many times a day, use plastic. It is something we rarely think about, and only a few realize that it is in fact an issue we should be thinking about. We drink from plastic bottles and cups, we buy stuff in plastic bags and plastic containers, our products are packed and wrapped in plastic. Around Egypt, plastic bags and bottles can be seen around the streets, on the beaches, and in fact, practically every where you turn. Take a look at plastic bags, for example. Introduced just over 30 years ago, our plastic bag obsession has led to a worldwide consumption rate now estimated at over 500 billion plastic bags annually (almost 1 million per minute). At the same time, an estimated 2.7 million tons of plastic are used to bottle water each year. Add to that the tons of plastic used for other products and purposes, and we consume and heck of a lot of plastic. Being surrounded by plastic, you’d think it was harmless. Well, think again. The ugly truth is that the production and disposal of plastics are both harmful to us and our planet. Production * 1.5 million barrels of oil is used annually to produce plastic water bottles for America alone – enough to fuel some 100,000 U.S. cars for a year. — Earth Policy Institute * Imagine a water bottle filled a quarter of the way up with oil. That's about how much oil was needed to produce the bottle. — National Geographic * According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags. Disposal * Along with plastic bags, plastic bottles are one of the most prevalent sources of pollution found on our beaches. Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food. Since water keeps the plastic cool and algae blocks ultraviolet rays, “every little piece of plastic manufactured in the past 50 years that made it into the ocean is still out there somewhere.” (Research Triangle Institute). Plastic bags wrap around living corals, quickly “suffocating” and killing them. (U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration) * Approximately 500 nautical miles off the California coast sits a growing “plastic island,” a gargantuan patch of floating plastic trash held together by currents stretching across the northern Pacific almost as far as Japan. This “plastic island” is made up of about 7 billion pounds of plastic garbage, and measures about twice the size of Texas. * Like all plastic, these bottles will be with us forever since plastic does not biodegrade; rather, it breaks down into smaller and smaller toxic bits that contaminate our soil and waterways. * Americans will buy an estimated 25 billion single-serving, plastic water bottles this year. Eight out of 10 (22 billion) will end up in a landfill. * As part of Clean Up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected. Unfortunately, each year in Australia an estimated 50,000,000 plastic bags end up as litter. * Today, Americans generate 10.5 million tons of plastic waste a year but recycle only 1 or 2 % of it. * An estimated 14 billion pounds of trash, much of it plastic is dumped in the world's oceans every year. * The worldwide fishing industry dumps an estimated 150,000 tons of plastic into the ocean each year, including packaging, plastic nets, lines, and buoys. * Americans use 2.5 million plastic bottles every HOUR. * Plastic bags and other plastic garbage thrown into the ocean kill as many as 1 million sea creatures every year. * A plastic milk jug takes 1 million years to decompose. * A plastic cup can take 50 – 80 years to decompose. Solution? Policy change * In a dramatic move to stem a tide of 60,000 metric tons of plastic bag and plastic utensil waste per year, Taiwan banned both in 2008. In some countries and states, a ‘plastic bag tax’ is added for each plastic bag a customer requests, to encourage customers to bring their own reusable bags. Some cities and states have also mandated that large chain stores have a bin available for customers to recycle their bags, which are then sent to plastic bag recycling centers. Corporate change If local governments do not impose on stores to reduce or eliminate plastic, stores can take matters into their own hands and create their own policy. Some large chain stores in the United States have decided to stop providing plastic bags altogether, saving hundreds of thousands of plastic bags a year. Some stores have also individually added incentives for customers who bring their own bags, such as entering into a raffle or a discount. Store owners and managers in Egypt can help lower their own costs of buying plastic bags and reducing the impact of plastic on the environment by finding ways to encourage customers to bring their own bags. Young entrepreneurs can benefit from the green movement, buy producing these very simple and low cost reusable bags, bringing the trend to Egypt. * Recycled plastic can be used to make things like trash cans, park benches, playground equipment, decks, and kayaks. * Special fleece-like fabrics used in clothes and blankets can be made out of recycled plastic bottles. * Recycling plastic saves twice as much energy as burning it in an incinerator. Individual change * Each high quality reusable bag you use has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime. Think twice before you take a plastic bag. Can whatever you are buying fit into your purse, your pocket, or can it be carried it in your hands? Do your really need a plastic bag for a can of Pepsi and bag of chips that you will consume right away? Use filtered water instead of buying bottled water. Bring along a reusable water bottle and refill it from filtered water fountains. If you must use bottled water, it is better to buy larger bottles to refill your reusable water bottle than to buy many small bottles with more plastic. Organize coastal cleanups where you can go along the Nile, the northern coast, or wherever your location, to pick up plastics and trash. BM
