Jim Hightower: The problem with plastic ... is plastic
By Jim Hightower | 1/22/21 | The Joplin Globe
What do your toothbrush, a fish dinner and your running shoes have in common?
Plastic.
For roughly 4,499,999,900 years since our planet was formed, plastic was not a presence on Earth, much less a problem. But in the past few decades, this manmade petroleum polymer has become a dominant element in nature. We now live on Planet Plastic, and it’s definitely a problem. Billions of tons of waste from everyday products made of these chemical contaminants are strewn literally everywhere — from the highest mountaintops to the deepest sea beds, in dense tropical jungles and all across barren deserts. It’s estimated, for example, that in less than 30 years, the gross volume of plastic in our oceans will be exceed that of fish. From ubiquitous carryout bags and shower curtains to almost-invisible microplastics, the vast tonnage of this trash increases every minute and has an afterlife lasting centuries, wreaking havoc on ecosystems; destroying species; and infusing our water, air, soil, food — and us.
Consider just three products trashing our earthly nest:
• Toothbrushes: Until the 1930s, these were made of such degradable components as wood. Since then, practically all have been throwaway plastic brushes. But there is no “away,” so nearly all of the trillions of brushes we’ve discarded in the past century are still out there somewhere on land or in water.
• Bottles: Since the 1970s, marketers of soda, water and other drinks have jacked-up profits by switching to disposable polyethylene bottles. A million of these containers are sold every minute of every day, creating a massive trash burden dumped on governments and Mother Nature. The bottles break down into trillions of tiny pellets that kill birds and fish that mistake them for food.
• Sneakers: Every year, millions of pairs of these sports shoes are sold in the U.S. alone, advertised as being athletic and “cool.” What’s uncool is that they’re made almost entirely of melded and molded plastics that are practically impossible to recycle. So, after a short time in our closets, sneakers spend an eternity as globs of toxic plastic trash.
We’re being suffocated by our own synthetic waste — from food containers and cigarette filters to straws and synthetic rubber tires. As the wise old saying puts it, if you find that you’ve dug yourself into a hole, the first thing to do is to quit digging. Well, I can report that governments and industries are teaming up in the U.S. and around the world to respond forcefully to this planetary crisis. Unfortunately, their response has been to engage in a global race to make more plastic stuff. Read More >>