Plastic pollution is one of the most prevalent environmental issues of today. Every year, millions of tons of plastic waste make their way into the Earth’s marine waters, rivers, and ecosystems. This plastic is detrimental to our environment, to wildlife, and even to humans. The irony is that the human-made problem of synthetic plastic is a testament to the material’s durability. The very qualities that make plastic so appealing to manufacturers result in very slow natural decomposition. This means that a piece of plastic that gets tossed into the ocean could be there for hundreds of years.
On top of its environmental footprint, plastic also tends to break down into microplastic particles less than 5 mm in size which are ingested by marine life. These microplastic particles can also make it into the food chain after being ingested by fish.
Single-use plastic is a significant contributing factor to this plastic pollution. Items like plastic bags, bottles, and packaging are used for a brief period—too short a time to justify the material. At the same time, their environmental cost continues to grow as they sustain on Earth for hundreds of years after they are created.
Some countries have implemented single-use plastic bans, and some citizens have adopted recycling. But the ideal long term solution is to wean ourselves off our dependence on plastic as much as possible, to develop alternative biodegradable materials, and to remember just how toxic plastic is to the environment. Overall, reducing and eventually stopping the flow of plastic must be our top priority to keep the Earth healthy.
Plastic pollution poses an enormous threat to our planet’s ecosystems. Whether we like it or not, the stuff that our society has made will outlive plastic. The only question is, in what form?