We are a Throw Away Culture

Since plastic production really kicked off in the 1950's it became easier to throw away unneeded because of high production and inexpensive costs (Nagy, 2016). We are seeing more and more people switch to reusable plastic bags and refillable water bottles, but we still have a worldwide problem of single use plastics that are thrown away in a matter of minutes after being used. Cities are starting to charge for plastic bags and are printing cute designs on reusable ones to persuade consumers, but is that enough? The united States throws away thirty-eight billion bottles every year and two million tons of that goes into landfills (Ruxon, 2016) Aside from just water bottles, eight million tons of plastic is dumped into oceans every year (Ruxon, 2016). This could be related to people having little care to the future or the future of the planet because lets face it, who's going to be around to care (Cooper, 2016)? In fact, we should care because we are already seeing detrimental effects on wildlife, the environment and the people inhabiting planet Earth.

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When plastic is found in the ocean it is almost impossible to know who or what company is responsible for it. This is one reason for the lack of plastic cleanup in the oceans. Storm drain, rivers, and currents travel these plastics so far away from their source that one piece of plastic could come from a completely different country (NOAA, 2011). It is said that only 25% of water bottles that are disposed of end up in the recycling, the rest end up in the garbage (Savage, 2008). Most of common household trash consists of plastic food packaging, which is growing steadily in production each year (Lazaros & Shackelford, 2008). Because ​waste management, especially plastic, is becoming harder to handle with the amount that is being produced, it is causing damage to our environment and our oceans (Nagy, 2016).

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It's important that we transition to more eco-friendly products and take it upon ourselves to make these lifestyle changes as well as pushing for policymakers to make widespread changes (Brussels, 2016). Some simple ways to curb the "throw away" lifestyle is to avoid single use plastics, use bottle deposits, and pressure manufacturers to become responsible for their plastic and where it goes (Ruxon, 2016)

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Bains, C. (2012, July 5). Most West Coast seabirds have bellies full of plastic. Globe & Mail [Toronto, Canada], p. S2. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A295280149/OVIC?u=las&sid=OVIC&xid=3da52a3c

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Brussels. European Society Should Transition from Throw-Away Culture Toward More Sustainable, Job-Rich Era; For Editor Struck; No lede match verified not secondary. (2016, December 15). Targeted News Service. Retrieved from http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A474009428/STOM?u=las&sid=STOM&xid=c0f175b8

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Cooper, T. (Ed.). (2016). Longer lasting products: alternatives to the throwaway society. CRC Press.

People throw away things with little care about their own future and the future of the planet

 

NAGY, Á., & KUTI, R. (2016). The Environmental Impact of Plastic Waste Incineration. AARMS: Academic & Applied Research In Military & Public Management Science, 15(3), 231-237.

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Ocean Pollution. (2011). (NOAA) National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. doi:10.1107/s0108768106054255/bk50432f-pcb3sup2.hkl

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"Plastic pollution: Help turn tide of a throw-away culture." Cape Times [South Africa], 24 Apr. 2018, p. 8. World History In Context, http://link.galegroup.com/apps/doc/A535898706/WHIC?u=las&sid=WHIC&xid=1847d429. Accessed 6 May 2018.

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Ruxon, J. (Producer & Leeson, C. (Director). (2016). A Plastic Ocean [Motion Picture]. Netherlands

 

Savage, M. (2008). A profusion of plastic: most everyone agrees that reducing the amount of plastic we throw away is a good idea. State Legislatures, (5), 16.