19. Use Less Plastic
 
The plastic that finds its way into the ocean never stops polluting.

Plastic food wrappers, bags, balloons, bottles, cigarette filters and packaging, monofilament fishing nets and line, Styrofoam pellets, and other objects make up about 60 percent of the trash found on beaches and about 90 percent of the debris found floating in the world’s oceans. Bits of plastic are absorbed or eaten by jellyfish, finned fish, turtles, birds, marine mammals, and other creatures, who mistake the pieces for food. Stranded seals and turtles have been found with their stomachs so full of plastic that they are unable to feed and are starving. Seabirds that mistake plastic pellets for food feed them to their chicks. After a major retail chain store opened on St. Thomas in the U.S. Virgin Islands, I noticed that the ferry channel between St. Thomas and nearby St. John was littered with floating bags from that store. Plastic fish nets and cargo strapping entangle sea lions and other creatures, slowly strangling them as they grow larger. Plastic “ghost nets” discarded or lost at sea from fishing boats continue to ensnare and kill marine wildlife, sinking with the weight of their kill until gases formed by the decaying animals float the nets back up to kill again. Unlike cotton  fishing nets, these nets never dissolve.

While oil spills are a terrible environmental threat, oil is not nearly as destructive as the accumulation of everyday plastic items; oil eventually biodegrades, but plastic lasts forever.
Through a process called photo degradation, sunlight slowly breaks down plastic polymers into pellets and fine dust. A study by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation found that plastic dust in parts of the North Pacific Ocean weighs six times more than zooplankton, the tiny animals that form the base of the marine food web. Marine plastic also acts as a toxic sponge, absorbing pollutants in the water such as PCBs and DDT. It concentrates these poisons tens of thousands of times more than seawater can. When consumed by fish, this poisonous plastic dust becomes part of the food web, increasing the toxic load in
the flesh of tuna, billfish, sharks, and other top predators that humans then consume. Studies are now underway to see how these toxic loads may affect the development and reproduction of marine animals. Researchers who’ve been tracking marine debris believe plastic in the ocean may be one of the most alarming and least known environmental stories of our time.

An international dumping treaty prohibits all overboard disposal of plastics from ships and boats, but the greatest “pulse” of plastic debris into the ocean comes from land-based human activities, particularly our habit of discarding plastic packaging material, plastic water bottles, and plastic toys. Even plastic bags thrown in the trash and taken to the landfill may be carried by the breeze back out to sea. At the end of World War Two, plastic was a new creation that, like rayon, was seen as a way to reduce our dependence on foreign sources of rubber and silk. Today every American tosses out about 65 pounds of plastic a year. By reducing demand for plastic and limiting its use to essential purposes we can help save the greater part of our blue planet. Here’s how you can do your part:

1.  Secure any plastic you bring onboard a boat or to the beach. Make sure the plastic you bring, whether a waterproof bag, rain slicker, or beach bucket goes home with you.

2. Dispose properly of cigarette packaging and butts with plastic filters. Throwing them on the beach or at the curb will likely take them out to sea by way of the tides, winds, and
storm drains.

3. Recycle plastic when you can. Studies show less than 5 percent of plastic ever gets recycled. Some plastics can’t be recycled because of their chemical makeup. While the plastic industry uses a numbering system to group plastics into seven categories, only #1 PET and #2 HDPE narrow-necked bottles are commonly recycled into new material. Some communities collect all seven kinds of plastic and then throw out everything but #1 and #2.

4. Bring cloth bags from home for your groceries or other purchases. The plastic bags used at the checkout stand are not recyclable and could end up killing marine wildlife.

5. When you move to a new home, use materials such as real popcorn or newspapers for packing rather than Styrofoam peanuts. If you receive Styrofoam peanuts and bubble wrap
in packaging sent to you, take them to a packaging store that accepts them for reuse.

6. Buy products that are recycled and reusable. Avoid throwaway items such as plastic forks, cups, and water bottles. 7. Buy products with less packaging. Buying from bulk bins can reduce waste and save money. Avoid bulk products that have individually wrapped items within them.

8. At retail outlets where you shop, look and ask for new biodegradable “green plastics” made of agricultural materials such as cornstarch.

9. As you reduce your dependence on plastic, encourage friends and family to do the same, and tell them the reasons behind your actions.

(c) David Helvarg