Plastic: An Invasive Species We Created and Must Confront

http://www.commondreams.org/view/2014/06/13



Plastic: An Invasive Species We Created and Must Confront
by Michael SanClements
Published on Friday, June 13, 2014 by Common Dreams

Plastic was created with the best of intentions. In fact, plastic was invented when a billiard company offered a $10,000 reward to find a replacement for ivory in pool balls. Yes, we used to play pool with elephant tusks. Similarly, the plastic bag was developed to reduce pressure on the forests providing raw materials for paper bags.

Often, what makes invasive species a problem is not an inherently bad characteristic, but rather an overabundance in the wrong place at the wrong time. Plastic is no different. We literally can’t move through a day without coming into contact with it hundreds or even thousands of times. Interestingly, this is a rather new development. Our grandparents didn’t grow up with plastic and was largely unheard of in civilian life until after World War II. So what happened? How did we become a society that is now producing approximately 300 million tons of plastic annually—roughly 50% of which is used just once and then discarded?

Whether a plastic bag dangling from a tree in the park near your house, the conversion of massive areas of open ocean into plastic soup, or the frightening yet invisible endocrine disrupting compounds in 90% of our bloodstreams, the effects of our rampant plastic use are everywhere. While it’s common to see images of seabirds and turtles dead from strangulation or consumption plastic, we tend to hear less about the linkages between plastics and human health. Yet, chemicals like BPA and phthalates have been linked to changes in the human body ranging from obesity to developmental disorders and various cancers.

Understanding the role of plastic in our lives is critical to effectively protecting ourselves, our children, and our environment from harm. After more than a year of thinking and writing about their role in society I’ve come to see various plastics as fitting into three categories — the Good, the Bad, and the Ugly. The Good plastics are the ones we want to keep. From medical, research and recreational equipment, to computers, cell phones, and essential components of our energy and transportation systems, the good plastic greatly improves our lives. The Bad plastic products are those that get reused again and again but leach toxins into our food and drink or emit them into the air we breathe. Products like this are more common than you’d think, and it’s easy to find them in the average home. Shower curtains, sex toys, canned foods, and more all have the potential to endanger our health. The Ugly plastic, is just that—ugly and is comprised of those single use items we possess for a moment and then toss. This is the plastic we most commonly see littering roadways, waterways, beaches and streets.