Plastic Pollution Solutions

Plastic is something we are addicted to. It's everywhere. Bags, bottles, cars, shoes, glasses, packaging, electronics, and the list goes on and on. Unfortunately, plastic does not biodegrade. And because of this and a specific system of currents, a massive landfill has been created in the middle of the Pacific Ocean. And what comprises most of said landfill? You guessed it- plastic.

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According to this article, the garbage patch is MASSIVE, and almost impossible to view as a whole. But unlike a landfill, the garbage doesn't stay put, and it isn't being regulated because it's not a real damn landfill! That means it's growing. Every. Single. Day. There are a whole host of problems associated with the patch as well.

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Wildlife consumes the plastic, often leading to death. Plastic and other garbage washes up in massive quantities on landmasses all over the globe (sometimes decades old), and because plastic lasts so long, it just breaks down into smaller pieces literally creating plastic sand which also washes up all over the place (source). So what can we do? We can sit an cry about a problem all the live long day, but what do we do when push comes to pollute?

Source (Pictured: Charles Moore, the man who discovered the Patch)

Humans have the capacity for creation and destruction. We all know this. And some very bright minds are working on many solutions to help ween us all off of plastic. Some ideas are very simple. Don't buy plastic! Especially plastic water bottles. Others are less cold turkey. Bioplastics, a relatively new group of materials are slowly being developed and introduced.

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Sometimes, bioplastics are obtained from algae:

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And sometimes from corn, too:

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These materials are more biodegradable than conventional plastics, and they come from renewable resources. But, with any developing technology, there are pros and cons. But that shouldn't stop us from developing a better bioplastic.

But these solutions are just two to a list that might not even be invented yet. There are amny ways to lessen your impact on the environment, and more often than not, being more conservative and conscientious about the environment can actually save you money!

Don't get discouraged, though. The world is riddled with problems like this, but the world is filled with twice as many people looking to solve these problems. So with that said...

Why not be one of them?