Single-use plastics are a threat; will Canada’s efforts take any traction globally?

BY STEVEN KASZAB

Did you know there’s a giant floating island of trash in the Pacific Ocean?  It is called The Great Pacific Ocean Garbage Patch and it is larger than the State of Texas. Discarded pieces of plastic are filling our waterways, oceans and seas and this has created an ecological disturbance we will all feel in the near future.

While Canada has officially banned single-use plastics specifically: plastic bags, straws, cutlery, stir sticks, six pack rings and some containers the spread of plastics globally has not changed, but in fact increased.

Environmentalists are hoping Canada’s ban will initiate similar political efforts globally. By 2050 there will be more plastics in our oceans than fish. Due to plastics pollution over 700 aquatic species could become extinct. Every year over a million birds die from plastic pollution, a majority having plastics in their stomachs.

Approximately 50% of plastic waste produced annually is single use. We have been recycling our garbage for many years now, yet only 10% of our plastic products are recycled, the balance goes to landfills and our waterways in those nations where land is scarce.

Micro-plastics have become so prolific that they now show up in many of our foods and the water we drink. Plastics degrade over time, breaking down and becoming part of the environment they are found in, so if in water or the soil, they leach into micro bits attaching to their new environment.

Plastics have a large imprint upon our society and the products we use daily. Did you know that most clothing manufactured today contains some form of plastic? Your phones, cooking utensils, pots and pans, tires and so on are all plastic. The manufacturers of plastic items have responded to Canada’s banning of single use plastics by sending their manufacturing facilities out of the country. Every minute one million single use plastic items end up in landfills, and it takes 500-1,000 years for these items to degrade fully.

70% of the oxygen we breathe is produced by marine sources, so we all have skin in this game. A true challenge we must all face. Will Canada’s efforts take any traction globally? While small changes make a difference, will the world react in time?