How many people today grab a takeaway coffee cup from the local cafe to drink on the go? We don’t know, but the number must be enormous.. Most every one of the above have a plastic top that will last 100s of years. Some cafes still use plastic cups that last a similar time. Is 10 minutes of coffee worth 100s of years of trash?
These items can be seen littering our gutters and on our streets all over the place. If they were all cardboard, they would still be littered, but they would, at least, be gone in a short time.
They do not need to be made of plastic.
On the way home from the gym last week, a distance of about 1 km (1/2 mile), I counted the items of plastic litter on the curb as I walked. In that short distance I counted 63 pieces of plastic litter. Plastic drink bottles, bottle tops, candy wrappers, plastic film, polystyrene fragments etc. That seemed to be a lot to me. I guess it is a generational thing. Our parents would have been horrified to see that amount, whereas it seems to go unnoticed by our youth of today. In another 20 years how many pieces will there be on this stretch, -- 200? What will today’s youth think of that new amount then when they are older? Will their children be so readily accepting of a higher amount of litter? Oakton students win ban on sale of plastic water bottles on campus – USA
Posted on June 16, 2016 by DrRossH in Plastic Limiting RegulationsIn response to a student lobbying effort, the Oakton Community College President’s Council recently agreed to support a ban of single-use plastic water bottles on campus, joining colleges across the nation that have taken a similar stance, including Northwestern and Loyola universities.
Source: Oakton students win ban on sale of plastic water bottles on campus
Another team discovered consequences that included a negative economic impact on college students. The team calculated a gallon of bottled water is 2,000 times more expensive than a gallon of tap water. Among findings of other teams was that it takes more than 1,000 years for plastic bottles to break down in a landfill, plastic litter can be devastating to wildlife, manufacturing bottles creates pollutants and greenhouse gasses, plastic may release carcinogens into the water before it is consumed, and the processing and transportation of bottled water consumed 17 million barrels of oil.
“It is sad that we buy a water bottle, drink it, and toss it, without ever considering the results of our actions,” said second-year honor student Roxana Berinde, a graduate of Niles West and club co-president. “I was shocked once I began to learn all of the different ways in which a simple convenience like this can have long-lasting negative consequences for people and our environment.”
Good work Oakton students. Now you understand what a big problem these items really are.
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