Briefing: Single-Use Plastics & Our Ocean

From: Earth
To: Humans
Brieﬁng: Single-Use Plastics & Our Oceans

In one year, the world produced
369.3 trillion pounds of single-use
plastic. (2016)
https://www.earthday.org/2018/03/29/fact-sheet-single-
use-plastics/
www.crystalgraphics.com

adjective
designed to be used once and then disposed of or destroyed.
"billions of single-use cups are thrown
into landfill sites every year"
What does
single-use mean?

Single-Use Plastic examples:
4
Humans buy about 1,000,000 plastic
bottles per minute in total.

5
It is estimated that 4 trillion plastic
bags are used worldwide annually.

Wait a minute…

Those are recyclables.

Recyclables get re-used.

So what’s the big deal?

91% of plastics
are not recycled.

Recycled Plastics
0
25
50
75
100
Plastics
not recycled
recycled

It takes plastic 500-1000 years to degrade.

Even when single-use plastics are sent to landﬁlls
(there are 3,091 active landﬁlls in the U.S. alone),
they aren’t harmless.

Landﬁll liners can leak
harmful pollutants
into the watershed and
plastics on the tops of
landﬁlls can be carried
away by the wind.

Only about 23% of plastic bottles are recycled
within the U.S.
That means around 770,000 plastic bottles per
minute end up as trash or litter per day.
15www.crystalgraphics.com

16
And
only 1% of plastic bags are recycled.
1% out of 4 trillion annually.

Can you do the math?
That’s basically 4 trillion plastic bags still floating
around in landfills or other places.

So where does it all go?

A full 32% of the 78 million
tons of plastic packaging
produced annually is left to
flow into our oceans.

Every minute, one garbage truck
worth of plastic is dumped into the
ocean.
Yearly, a colossal 1.4 billion pounds
of trash ends up in our beautiful
oceans.

21
Every minute…

This is expected to increase to two
garbage trucks dumping plastic into
the ocean every minute by
2030.

23
Every 30 seconds…

24
Every 30 seconds…

And enough plastic to ﬁll four
garbage trucks will ﬂow into the ocean
every minute by
2050

26
Every 15 seconds…

27
Every 15 seconds…

28
Every 15 seconds…

29
Every 15 seconds…

By 2050, this could mean there will be more
plastic than fish in the world’s oceans.

When looking at the big picture,
it’s not even that bad right
now.
Compared to what it could be in
the future.
31

Plastic exposure to the ocean
in the last one hundred years..
0
1
2
3
4
1910 1930 1950 1970 1990 2018 2030 2050
Plastic measured in garbage trucks

This is a time-sensitive global project.

So what can we do?

“That’s how it’s been and how it will be.”
“The damage is done.”
“It’s not my problem.”

Let’s take a look at our history.

•Plastic was invented in
1862 by Alexander Parks at the Great
International Exhibition in London.
•It wasn’t until 1996 that
salad-in-a-bag packaging
(metallocene-catalyzed polyolefins) was
introduced, helping to reduce food
waste and making it easier to purchase
fresh produce.
• https://
www.plasticsmakeitpossible.com/about-
plastics/history-of-plastics/plastic-
innovations-in-packaging-through-the-
decades/
A Plastic History

“That’s how it’s been
and how it will be.”
38
Wrong! Until recently, humans used natural,
biodegradable resources.
In Earth years, plastic is young.

39
The main cause for the increase in
plastic production is single-use,
plastic packaging.
“That’s how it has been
and how it will be.”

40
Plastic packaging made up 52% of
plastics thrown away—not recycled.

42
Wrong! It’s not done—the damage is
continuing. In fact, correlating with the
human population, is bound to get
worse.

43
Over the last ten years we have produced more
plastic than during the whole of the last
century.
If there were a time to do something, I’d say…

The damage is not “done” yet.

45
We understand.
You weren’t the one to capitalize on plastic and sell it
commercially.
But it is your problem.
It’s not just floating in the oceans and polluting lands.

Recently, deceased marine life has been washing to shore
with full bellies—of plastic.

Plastic is quite literally in the food web.
Plastic ingested by marine life is soaked into their muscle,
which we then eat.
You are eating the molecules of plastic.
Is that your problem?
47

We know you care (just a little?)
about our future generations.

We can reduce single-use
plastic consumption.
Eventually, stop it all together.

As consumers,
if we change
our habits,
suppliers will meet
the demand. That’s how it works.www.crystalgraphics.com

Consumers have the power. Power in numbers.
Vote with your money.

Zero-waste and low-impact living are becoming popular—again.
Know it is possible to cut back.

It starts with mindfulness.

Squeaky wheel gets the oil.
Or rather,
the vocal environmentalist gets the
alternative.
A quick word with the manager is always
taken into consideration.
54

“I notice you’re using plastic straws/cups/utensils/plates.
Have you considered using
biodegradable plastic?”
It makes a difference.

A few habits to change
in 5 seconds or less:
Shop at grocery stores that in bulk or opt for
plastic-free choices. Use reusable bags.
56www.crystalgraphics.com

57
Use your reusable water bottles and encourage friends and
family to use them, too.

58
Make sure to mention when you’re eating in at places serving
food packaged to-go by default. (ceramic mugs rather than
plastic cups/lips etc.)

59
Pick up trash when you see it. It will encourage others to take
care of our Earth.
A reminder that somebody cares!

As of July 1, Seattle will become the
ﬁrst US city to enact a ban on plastic straws,
along with single-use plastic utensils.
It’s
working…

Still not convinced?

1. Kenya
2. Vanuatu
3. UK
4. Taiwan
5. Zimbabwe
6. Montreal
7. Malibu
8. Seattle
9. Australia
10. Canada
11. Hamburg
12.France
13. New Delhi
14. Morocco
15. New York
62
15 Countries and Cities that Have
Banned Single-Use Plastics:
i.e. The bans are different for each country/city;
ranging from bags, cutlery, to micro-beads:

The average American throws “away” approximately
185 pounds of plastic per year.

Come on, America!

You can make a difference.

Spread awareness.
And the idea that we can
change consumer culture.

Mother Earth
needs you.

“It’s only one straw, said 7.4 billion people.”

Thank you for caring!
Resources:
https://www.ecowatch.com/22-facts-about-plastic-pollution-and-10-things-
we-can-do-about-it-1881885971.html
https://www.earthday.org/2018/03/29/fact-sheet-single-use-plastics/
https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-
waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/
https://www.biologicaldiversity.org/programs/population_and_sustainability/
sustainability/plastic_bag_facts.html
http://oceancrusaders.org/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistics/

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