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Jessica Dixon

Mrs. Bell

Research Paper

20 November 2019

Plastic Pollution and its Effects on this Planet

Plastic pollution is described as synthetic plastics that are causing problems for the

environment and the wildlife in it. This is a hot topic in our society today. There are many steps

to fix what has already been done to the planet. Many people are focused on the cost of those

actions and not the outcome. Large companies that produce most of our single use synthetic

plastics are slowly trying to find alternatives and not lose money at the same time. The average

plastic bottle can last up to 450 year in a marine environment. Big name corporations need to

reduce the amount of plastic they produce and find an alternative because it is hurting the

ecosystems and wildlife in it.

The first synthetic plastic was produced in 1907 by Leo Baekeland with his invention of

Bakelite. This was the first synthetic plastic that contained no molecules from anything found in

nature. By World War II there were many synthetic materials being made such as nylon and

plexiglas. Synthetic plastic production has just grown since then. The past few years have not

been the first time people are worried about the plastic in the ocean. The first plastic debris found

in the ocean was in the 1960’s.

Reducing the amount of plastic a large company produces would help in the fight against

plastic. About 57% in 2014 of the plastic beverage containers sold in the US were water bottles.
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“​Americans purchase about 50 billion water bottles per year, averaging about 13 bottles per

month for every person in the U.S.! That means by using a reusable water bottle, you could save

an average of 156 plastic bottles annually” (Fact Sheet: Single Use Plastics 2018). That is 156

less bottles in landfills or the ocean, per person annually. If large corporations sold reusable

bottles or switched to a more eco friendly container there would be thousands of less plastic

bottles to worry about.

This is one example of where our plastic ends up. Once plastic is in the water it ends up

breaking down. It breaks down into what is called microplastics. Micro plastics are microscopic

plastic particles that we can not see with our eyes just by looking into the water. Scientists have

been able to catch some of it with a certain kind of net. Microplastics also end up in the fish,

including the fish we eat. It eventually makes its way into our systems. ​Research has been down
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and shows that people can consume anywhere from 39,000 to 52,000 microplastic particles a

year. These microplastics are found in anything from fish to beer. ​ ​Microplastic also confuses the

marine animals, mainly fish, into thinking they are finding food. This can cause a lack in

nutrition the fish need to survive. The plastic can take up room in their stomachs and block any

nutrients they need to survive. Scientists in China did a test of the inland water systems to see

what plastic they could find. “The results show that microplastics are ubiquitous in the

investigates inland water systems, and high microplastic abundances were observed in developed

areas” (Zhang 1).

Another reason large corporations should is the impact it is making on wildlife and the

ecosystems they live in. This image is one example of what the plastic does to wildlife. This

image is a life size whale sculpture completely made up of plastic waste to bring attention to
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what it is doing to sea life. The whale will ingest it with their food and it will take up room in

their stomachs and keep them from getting the proper nutrients they need to survive. Whales

often wash up and have tons of plastic stuck in their stomachs. From the article The Good the

Bad and the Ugly of Plastic Pollution on blueocean.net, “​presence of plastics in seas and oceans

is one of the biggest threats to the conservation of wildlife in the world” (​Frerck​ 6). That quote is

by ​Consuelo Rosauro for this article. It is one of the biggest threats because of how many

animals are killed because of the waste we put there.

One con for companies moving away from plastic would be the cost to find an

alternative. Plastic is pretty cheap and easy to produce. Finding an alternative could be costly and

could take a while to find the perfect alternative for that specific company to use. This also

trickles down to the plastic producers. The less plastic people want the less they are going to

produce. This could cause layoffs and make the company scale back on their production. While

this is ideal and great for the environment, people would lose jobs and money. Unfortunately this

world is run by power and money. It is not an easy switch for larger corporations relying on the

income a plastic product or the use of single use plastic.

Some solutions for plastic pollution is to recycle more, use alternatives, and buy plastics

that is used more than once. The best way to recycle is through your city. Collect your single use

plastics and take them to a local recycling place. Scientists have been working on finding many

alternative to the plastics we use today. Such as grape waste from wine companies. Another

alternative would be liquid wood, lignin is mixed with water and other materials and then high

heat is applied to make a malleable substance that has been used in toys and golf tees. Another

alternative that we could be doing at home is to use reusable bags. There are many everyday
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products that could replace the plastic we love. Glass is another product we could be using

instead of plastic.

Plastic pollution is one of the big problems in this world. This research shows how it has

impacted this earth and not just the animals and ecosystems on it but also the human race. This is

our problem and we need to stop it. There are many ways to combat this problem and slow it

down. It hurts every inch of this planet and we pay no attention to it. It is more important to large

corporations to make money than it is to pay attention to the planet we inhabit. Big name

corporations need to reduce the amount of plastic they produce and find an alternative because it

is hurting the ecosystems and wildlife in it.

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Works Cited

“Fact Sheet: Single Use Plastics.” ​Earth Day Network,​ 10 Apr. 2018,

www.earthday.org/2018/03/29/fact-sheet-single-use-plastics/.

Frerck, Robert. “The Good, the Bad and the Ugly of Plastic Pollution.” ​Blue Ocean Network​, 17

Apr. 2018, blueocean.net/the-good-the-bad-and-the-ugly-of-plastic-pollution/.

Gibbens, Sarah. “You Eat Thousands of Bits of Plastic Every Year.” ​The Average Person Eats

Thousands of Plastic Particles Every Year, Study Finds​, 5 June 2019,

www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/2019/06/you-eat-thousands-of-bits-of-plastic-e

very-year/​.

Leeson, Craig, director. ​A Plastic Ocean.​ ​Netflix​, Sept. 2016,

www.netflix.com/browse/genre/2243108?bc=34399&jbv=80164032&jbp=4&jbr=15​.

Parker, Laura. “The World's Plastic Pollution Crisis Explained.” ​Plastic Pollution Facts and

Information​, 7 June 2019,

www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/habitats/plastic-pollution/.

“What Are Businesses Doing to Turn off the Plastic Tap?” ​Unenvironment.org​, United Nations

Environment Programme, 28 June 2018,

www.unenvironment.org/news-and-stories/story/what-are-businesses-doing-turn-plastic-t

ap.

Zhang, Kai, et al. “Microplastic Pollution in China's Inland Water Systems: A Review of

Findings, Methods, Characteristics, Effects, and Management.” ​Science of the Total

Environment​, vol. 630, 15 July 2018, pp. 1641–1653. ​Academic Search Complete,​

EBSCOhost, doi:10.1016/j.scitotenv.2018.02.300. Accessed 20 Oct. 2019.

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