Kudisch, B. (2019, August 26). The biggest shopping town in New Jersey just banned plastic bags. 

Retrieved from https://www.nj.com/bergen/2019/08/the-biggest-shopping-town-in-new-

Jersey-just-banned-plastic-bags.html

 

One of the largest shopping towns in New Jersey is banning the distribution of single-use plastic bags in retail stores. Less than 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled each year. This town has four major malls and annual sales hit an average of $6 billion. Currently around 22 New Jersey municipalities have plastic bag regulations set. The ordinance will go into effect starting January 2020. The town also has more retail sales than any other zip code in the country. 

 

This article explores another U.S. town making the switch from single-use plastic bags to reusable or paper bags. I love what this town is doing as it significantly reduces plastic waste in the environment. The light and flimsy plastic bags that stores used to use would be easily blown by the wind and they would end up in the ocean where UV rays can easily degrade them quickly into microplastics that we cannot remove from the water. The fact that this is such a big zip code in terms of retail is significant to the problem and sets a precedent for other municipalities to follow. It was shocking to learn that less than 1 percent of plastic bags are recycled and gave even more reason for the switch to occur. Living in a town that banned plastic bags years ago makes me happy and makes me feel that I am making somewhat of a difference by not using plastic bags.

 

Abbing, M. R. (2019, April 6). How microplastic particles are turning the oceans into plastic soup. 

Retrieved from https://www.greenbiz.com/article/how-microplastic-particles-are-

turning-oceans-plastic-soup

 

A lot of plastics end up in the ocean, but they don’t easily degrade. They just break down into smaller and smaller pieces. Recently when scientists tried measuring the amount of plastic in certain areas, they found that millions of tons had gone missing. They attributed this to the breakdown of plastic into the ocean and the sun’s UV rays weakening the chemical bonds within plastic. A majority of the plastic they collected were smaller pieces measuring millimeters in size. They found that zooplankton, fish, crab, and shellfish eat the microplastics which allows it to enter the food chain. 

 

This article did a great job at explaining the science behind microplastics and how plastic starts out as a complete piece but then breaks down over time into smaller bits through UV rays. It was really interesting to read how the microplastics get eaten by smaller organisms and then end up in the food we eat. This was also very sad, because it mentions how animals die from eating all these plastics. It is also disheartening to learn that it is really hard to remove these microplastics as they are really small. This brings up the question of how to get rid of the plastic waste before it lands in the ocean and kills our ecosystem.

Pokharel, S., & Hollingsworth, J. (2019, August 22). Nepal is banning single-use plastic in the Everest region. Retrieved from https://www.cnn.com/2019/08/22/asia/nepal-mount-

everest-plastics-intl-hnk-trnds/index.html

 

Nepalese authorities passed a law banning single-use plastic on and around Mount Everest. The rules come into effect in January of next year and ban hikers from bringing single-use plastics in and stops shops from selling them. The mountain has around 150,000 visitors per year and with that a number of trash is left behind. In May of this year, a volunteer group recovered over three metric tons of trash from the mountain which included a lot of single-use plastic. The ban does not apply to water bottles, but they are looking into different solutions for that issue. 

 

This article is another great example of a region banning single-use plastic in order to protect the environment from more and more trash and plastic building up. I agree that this is a start to the problem, but plastic water bottles are probably the worst problem as they are the most abundant out of all the plastics. I think that the government needs to ban them as well in order to really send a message. I think that this sets a precedent for other countries to follow and overall it is very important. With the increasing number of people going to everest, it continues to get more and more trashed and we need to protect this natural treasure. The government still needs to come up with a punishment or repercussions for violating the ban and it will be interesting to see how harsh they make it and how they enforce it as it is really difficult to enforce laws in such a treacherous place. If they don’t enforce it, there is no point to the ban as people will just continue to bring plastic on the mountain.

Smith, K. (2019, August 24). San Francisco Airport Just Banned Plastic Water Bottles. 

Retrieved from https://www.livekindly.com/san-francisco-airport-just-banned-

plastic-water-bottles/

 

The San Francisco International Airport is attempting to be more environmentally friendly by banning restaurants and shops from selling single-use items such as bottled water to customers. Although the plastics are recyclable, only 9% of plastics in the U.S. are actually recycled. The airport also announced that they would expand to add another 100 water bottle filling stations throughout their terminals. They also announced that restaurants may only give customers single-use items such as condiment packets only by request. This is a part of their effort to become a zero “waste-to-landfill” airport by 2021. 

 

This article is a great example of how businesses are trying to become eco friendly and trying to be beneficial to the environment. I think that this is a great idea and more businesses and airports should follow in the footsteps of SFO, because single-use plastic has become so detrimental to the planet. This makes sense for an airport to do this, because you cannot bring any liquids past security and most people just end up buying water after security for the convenience of not having to bring their own reusable bottles for water. The airport now encourages people to bring metal water bottles by implementing their water refill stations which is becoming a norm in most new buildings. Too much plastic is ending up in the ocean and this is a great way to mitigate that.

Jacobo, J. (2019, June 8). World Ocean Day 2019: Ocean plastics problem isn’t going away, but here’s what you can do to help. 

Retrieved August 21, 2019, from https://abcnews.go.com/Technology/world-ocean-day-

2019-oceans-plastics-problem/story?id=63324490

There is now more plastic than ever in the ocean and it is getting increasingly more and more difficult to get rid of it. Plastic is being found in the deepest accessible trenches and in animal’s stomachs. Microplastics are a large issue, because there is currently no way to filter them out of the water. A majority of the plastics flow through rivers and into the oceans and that is where groups are focusing efforts. A lot of the plastic isn’t being intentionally dumped. Because of its lightness, the elements are picking it up and blowing it down storm drains. 

 

This article brought more awareness to the issue of plastics filling up our ocean. This is a really important issue and if left untreated will kill our marine ecosystem. This is an environmental science issue, because it deals with contaminating and destroying our environment. The worst part of this issue is the sheer amount we have let it grow to. Every year  million metric tons of plastics are dumped into the ocean. Organizations are trying to solve this issue, but most of it consists of picking up plastic by hand which is impractical. The government should invest in projects and technology allowing the efficient removal of plastics and microplastics from the ocean. This isn’t just an issue for the United States. It is a global issue that affects all of us. If this isn’t treated soon, more and more animals will continue to die and our ecosystem destroyed.