Blog #19: A World of Plastic

I used to think that individual actions would be enough to save us from the climate crisis. As if using a metal straw would save the turtles from dying in mass numbers. And eating tofu instead of beef would relieve the cows and the atmosphere from suffering. And using my hydroflask instead of a single-use plastic water bottle would equate to one less plastic bottle being produced.

There is of course merit to individual actions. They’re a reflection of the world we wish to see. They represent what we NEED to do in order to succeed as a society. Consumers have some power when it comes to purchasing and behaving a certain way, but it’s not nearly enough. The power is only evident when everyone is acting in unison.

We can’t possibly assume all the responsibility to improve though, because it’s the industry’s fault for only giving us shitty options to work with. In this modern society, we value cost-effective and environmentally-destructive items over materials that are actually sustainable and good for our health. Our government subsidizes the shitty materials to ensure the cost stays low, making the undesirable choice even more accessible. Notice how when you grocery shop, you can hardly control the sustainability or ethicality of your haul -- especially when everything is cheap, imported and wrapped in plastic. Those choices become even more difficult when you’re financially strained or live in a food desert. 

Let’s take the plastic water bottle, for example. An unassuming everyday item. We drink the bottled water within a half hour, and if we’re feeling ~environmentally friendly~ we’ll toss it in a blue bin after (that is, if one is easily accessible). Once that bottle leaves our possession, we have no reason to think of it again -- it’s not our problem anymore. But that is exactly the problem…

Most of our interactions with plastics are short-lived, but these materials live in the natural environment for ages beyond us. Plastic is a really interesting topic because it encompasses so many different environmental problems into one behemoth. 

Plastic is…

a pollution issue,

a climate change issue, 

a biodiversity issue, and

a human rights issue.

It’s a pollution issue because plastic is horribly mismanaged all around the world. When plastic isn’t disposed of properly, it ends up in the natural environment. You might be shocked to know that only 9% of our plastic waste actually gets recycled. The other 91% is sent to a landfill, an incinerator, or is released into the wild. When plastic ends up in the environment, it never biodegrades -- only breaks down into smaller and smaller pieces. The tiniest shreds of plastics, called microplastics, are found in the deepest trenches, the highest peaks, and the most remote places of Earth. They’re found in the guts of marine animals and the organs of humans. Plastic is inescapable.

It’s a climate change issue because plastic is made of fossil fuels. From extracting the raw materials, to manufacturing, to disposing -- plastics emit greenhouse gasses at nearly every stage of their lifecycle. Within the next 10 years, plastics are poised to overtake coal as a primary contributor to climate change. As gas-powered cars and electricity plants phase out, plastics are the only way to keep the fossil fuel industry alive. Plastic is the new coal. 

It’s a biodiversity issue because plastic is killing our marine wildlife in astonishing numbers. Nearly 12 MILLION TONS of plastic gets dumped into the ocean every year. That’s the equivalent of more than one full dump truck unloading plastic into the ocean every minute. Marine animals like whales, manatees, turtles, seabirds, fish and even plankton are severely affected by this pollution. On top of being poisoned or starved due to ingesting plastic instead of real food, they can get entangled in it, suffocate, and die. Plastic is an enemy to the ocean.

It’s a human rights issue because humans are equally impacted by the negative consequences of plastic that marine animals and the environment are subject to. Think about the neighborhoods where plastic is manufactured and disposed of -- these “fenceline communities” are often home to low-income communities of color who have limited power and choices on where to live because of long standing inequalities. Instead of subjecting rich white people to pollution, industries force already overburdened communities to breathe toxic, contaminated air at all times. This constant flow of pollution causes severe medical issues like respiratory illnesses, cardiovascular diseases, damages to the reproductive system, and cancer. Real families are suffering. Plastic is killing us.

The plastic issue is a multi-faceted, interconnected and deeply concerning issue. When I first learned about the reality of our plastic problem, I was in utter shock. How could such an unassuming product cause so much destruction? Deepening my understanding about it through my work these past 3 months has been equally maddening as it is eye opening. When I try to dig deep to understand the core of this issue, it comes back to capitalism. Every. Single. Time. 

The plastic issue is the same as the climate change issue. It’s about seeing what happens when we expend finite resources and ignore the true price of our actions. It harms our wildlife, our environment, our communities, our home. So why do we use and abuse our precious resources on Earth until there’s nothing left? Because of money and greed. 

The plastic industry, in truth, does not give a fuck about us. All they care about is meeting their bottom line -- profiting off of our willful ignorance. I can’t even begin to describe the fire in my belly that’s lit every time I think about the many people who are perpetuating a world where profit is put before people. Without PEOPLE there would be no profit. Things are only valuable in society because we assign arbitrary significance to them. We inherited this big blue planet and we may never understand the true meaning of life on Earth, but that’s no reason to disrespect this land (and by default, ourselves). 

Just imagine what our world would look like if we honored the wellbeing of our community and environment above all else. Our decisions would be led by love instead of greed. Every human and animal would enjoy the right to clean water, clean air, clean land. 

Manifesting our ideal vision of society has to start somewhere. In fact, it has to start with polluting industries. But since they have no incentive to improve, we realistically have to start with policies that create systemic change. By all means, use the metal straws, reduce your meat consumption and fill that reusable water bottle because they’re all good and healthy practices -- but understand that we will not achieve environmental justice until we attack the problem at the source.

Luckily, you can be part of the solution with your VOTE. This upcoming November, we will have a chance to vote on a plastic ballot measure that will reduce single-use plastic production and pollution in California! We can create a future free of plastic and it starts with educating ourselves on the issue and advocating for the world we wish to see. The plastic advocates will do everything in their power to maintain their power, but we must evaluate their true intentions and maintain optimism to win this fight. I have trust and determination in my heart that we can do this. We can choose not to live in a world of plastic.