(Not So) Fun Facts About Plastics
How much plastic do we produce?
- We produce 1.2 million plastic products per minute, or 1.73 billion products per day. 50% of these products are designed to be used once and discarded.
- We use 5 trillion plastic bags per year
- 300 million tons of plastic waste is produced each year, equal to the weight of the entire human population
- 56% of all plastic ever produced was created since 2000
What do we do with it when we’ve used it?
- 9% of plastic is recycled while 67% goes into the environment
- 8 million tons of plastic go into our oceans each year, much of it flowing down rivers from inland areas
What happens to it then?
- Since it is designed to be durable it doesn’t degrade; it can persist in the environment for centuries
- You’ve heard about the Texas-sized islands of plastic swirling around in the oceans; did you know only 0.5% of plastic in the ocean is floating? The rest just drifts deeper.
- At the current rate the weight of plastics in the ocean will exceed the weight of all fish by 2050, just 28 years from now
- The waste just gets smaller and smaller until it gets into the food chain
What happens to us if plastics are in the food chain?
- Each of us already has the equivalent of a credit card worth of plastic in our bodies, either through food or the air (from plastic that is burned)
- Additives in plastics are detrimental to our hormones
- Plastic in the body is beginning to affect reproductive capabilities in some parts of the world.
What can we do?
- Avoid plastic, especially single-use plastic- bags, straws, fast food wrappers, water bottles
- If you have to use plastic reuse it again and again if at all possible.
- Recycle everything that is recyclable
- Support legislation banning single use plastics
