Me No Nemo
Premium Member
From Defenders of Wildlife, 2008
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.
Ben: Yes sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Ben: Yes I am.
Mr. McGuire: ‘Plastics.’
Ben: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Ben: Yes I will.
Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That’s a deal.
When Walter Brooke, as Mr. McGuire, spoke those words to Dustin Hoffman in his legendary role as Benjamin Braddock in the classic film The Graduate , audiences would not have known just how enduring the future of plastics would be. Quite likely, the very same plastics discarded in 1967, the year The Graduate took movie_goers by storm, still persist in landfills and in the ocean today. In fact, plastics now make up 60 to 80 percent of all marine debrisâ€"a percentage increasing at an alarming rateâ€"with dire consequences for marine wildlife, including sea turtles.
Whether you live far inland or near the coasts, your actions have an impact on marine pollution. About 80 percent of marine debris, including plastics, comes from land-based sources such as landfills, industrial facilities, recreational activities, and sewage and storm runoff. These wastes can be carried great distances to the coasts and oceans by rivers, storm drains, and winds.
The other 20 percent of marine debris comes from merchant and passenger ships; offshore oil and gas platforms; fish farming operations; and other recreational, commercial, and military craft.
Plastics are popular because they are strong, durable, lightweight, and inexpensive. Unfortunately, these same characteristics also make plastics a danger to the environment, as they are persistent and easily carried on winds and currents. Aside from the direct physical impacts of plastic debris, the production of plastics, which are petroleum based, is also resource intensive and may contribute to climate change.
Sea turtles and other marine species are affected by plastic debris. The impacts of plastics on sea turtles fall into two main categories: entanglement and ingestion. Sea turtles entangled in plastic straps, ropes, lines, and nets can become trapped beneath the ocean surface and drown or may suffer injury or interference with their regular behaviors.
Ingestion of plastic fragments is also a real risk for sea turtles. Evidence suggests that turtlesâ€"especially young onesâ€"feed indis_criminately, and plastic pieces often collect with passive drifting food sources. When ingested, some small plastic pieces can pass through the gut, but larger pieces completely block the digestive passages, and sharp-edged fragments cause internal injuries and infections. Plastic particles can also accumulate in the gut, where they suppress hunger and may lead to death.
An informal survey of professionals studying sea turtle stranding shows that the threats to sea turtles from plastic debris vary consider_ably around the world. More systematic studies are needed to explain these differences and to explore the possible ecosystemwide effects of marine plastic debris.
Despite some noteworthy efforts to reduce marine pollution (see “Leatherbacksâ€"Going Faster Than You Think†on pages 30â€"œ31), the problem is growing. Fortunately, we, as individuals, can have a profound, positive effect by taking simple steps to reduce, recycle, and clean up:
Reduce . Decrease your consumption of single-use, disposable plastic products. Bring your own reusable bags to the store, use refillable water bottles instead of single-use bottles and containers, and avoid products that use excessive packaging.
Recycle . It is nearly impossible to avoid plastic altogether. When you do use plastic, be sure to recycle it. If you don’t have a recy_cling program in your town, school, or work_place, request one! The demand for recyclable PET (polyethylene terephthalate, made from natural gas and petroleum) plastic is so high and the supply so low that recyclers are looking everywhere for new sources.
Clean up . The Ocean Conservancy’s Inter_national Coastal Cleanup (www.coastal_cleanup.org) is one successful effort in which volunteers around the world collect trash from local coasts and waterways.
Roz Cohen , now retired, was a biological oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She currently volunteers with Conservation International’s Sea Turtle Flagship Program. She gratefully acknowledges those who responded to her survey with valuable data, images, and insights that contributed to this article.
Plastics by the Numbers
More than 2.27 billion kg. (5 billion lbs.) of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic products were manufactured in the U.S. in 2005.
In the U.S., less than 25% of plastic bottles are recycled.
Anywhere from 500 billion to 5 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year. Americans alone use about 380 billion plastic bags, sacks, and wraps each year.
According to the city of San Francisco, less than 1% of plastic bags are recycled worldwide; 2% are recycled in the U.S.
Roughly 6.4 million tons of marine litter are deposited in oceans and seas each year.
60% of trash on beaches is plastic. 90% of debris floating in the ocean is plastic.
More than 13,000 pieces of plastic litter are floating on every square kilometer of ocean today (46,000 pieces per square mile).
On a single day in 2006, volunteers with the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup helped clean 55,619 km. (34,560 mi.) of shoreline and removed about 3.18 million kg. (7 million lbs.) of trash; divers collected 103,079 kg. (227,250 lbs.) of debris from the riverbed and seafloor.
In the North Pacific gyre, there are about 3 kg. (6 lbs.) of plastic for every 0.5 kg. (1 lb.) of zooplankton in the water column.
Discarded plastic fishing gear and other plastic marine debris kill more than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles each year.
Worldwide, at least 267 species are affected by marine debris.
Mr. McGuire: I just want to say one word to you - just one word.
Ben: Yes sir.
Mr. McGuire: Are you listening?
Ben: Yes I am.
Mr. McGuire: ‘Plastics.’
Ben: Exactly how do you mean?
Mr. McGuire: There’s a great future in plastics. Think about it. Will you think about it?
Ben: Yes I will.
Mr. McGuire: Shh! Enough said. That’s a deal.
When Walter Brooke, as Mr. McGuire, spoke those words to Dustin Hoffman in his legendary role as Benjamin Braddock in the classic film The Graduate , audiences would not have known just how enduring the future of plastics would be. Quite likely, the very same plastics discarded in 1967, the year The Graduate took movie_goers by storm, still persist in landfills and in the ocean today. In fact, plastics now make up 60 to 80 percent of all marine debrisâ€"a percentage increasing at an alarming rateâ€"with dire consequences for marine wildlife, including sea turtles.
Whether you live far inland or near the coasts, your actions have an impact on marine pollution. About 80 percent of marine debris, including plastics, comes from land-based sources such as landfills, industrial facilities, recreational activities, and sewage and storm runoff. These wastes can be carried great distances to the coasts and oceans by rivers, storm drains, and winds.
The other 20 percent of marine debris comes from merchant and passenger ships; offshore oil and gas platforms; fish farming operations; and other recreational, commercial, and military craft.
Plastics are popular because they are strong, durable, lightweight, and inexpensive. Unfortunately, these same characteristics also make plastics a danger to the environment, as they are persistent and easily carried on winds and currents. Aside from the direct physical impacts of plastic debris, the production of plastics, which are petroleum based, is also resource intensive and may contribute to climate change.
Sea turtles and other marine species are affected by plastic debris. The impacts of plastics on sea turtles fall into two main categories: entanglement and ingestion. Sea turtles entangled in plastic straps, ropes, lines, and nets can become trapped beneath the ocean surface and drown or may suffer injury or interference with their regular behaviors.
Ingestion of plastic fragments is also a real risk for sea turtles. Evidence suggests that turtlesâ€"especially young onesâ€"feed indis_criminately, and plastic pieces often collect with passive drifting food sources. When ingested, some small plastic pieces can pass through the gut, but larger pieces completely block the digestive passages, and sharp-edged fragments cause internal injuries and infections. Plastic particles can also accumulate in the gut, where they suppress hunger and may lead to death.
An informal survey of professionals studying sea turtle stranding shows that the threats to sea turtles from plastic debris vary consider_ably around the world. More systematic studies are needed to explain these differences and to explore the possible ecosystemwide effects of marine plastic debris.
Despite some noteworthy efforts to reduce marine pollution (see “Leatherbacksâ€"Going Faster Than You Think†on pages 30â€"œ31), the problem is growing. Fortunately, we, as individuals, can have a profound, positive effect by taking simple steps to reduce, recycle, and clean up:
Reduce . Decrease your consumption of single-use, disposable plastic products. Bring your own reusable bags to the store, use refillable water bottles instead of single-use bottles and containers, and avoid products that use excessive packaging.
Recycle . It is nearly impossible to avoid plastic altogether. When you do use plastic, be sure to recycle it. If you don’t have a recy_cling program in your town, school, or work_place, request one! The demand for recyclable PET (polyethylene terephthalate, made from natural gas and petroleum) plastic is so high and the supply so low that recyclers are looking everywhere for new sources.
Clean up . The Ocean Conservancy’s Inter_national Coastal Cleanup (www.coastal_cleanup.org) is one successful effort in which volunteers around the world collect trash from local coasts and waterways.
Roz Cohen , now retired, was a biological oceanographer with the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. She currently volunteers with Conservation International’s Sea Turtle Flagship Program. She gratefully acknowledges those who responded to her survey with valuable data, images, and insights that contributed to this article.
Plastics by the Numbers
More than 2.27 billion kg. (5 billion lbs.) of PET (polyethylene terephthalate) plastic products were manufactured in the U.S. in 2005.
In the U.S., less than 25% of plastic bottles are recycled.
Anywhere from 500 billion to 5 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year. Americans alone use about 380 billion plastic bags, sacks, and wraps each year.
According to the city of San Francisco, less than 1% of plastic bags are recycled worldwide; 2% are recycled in the U.S.
Roughly 6.4 million tons of marine litter are deposited in oceans and seas each year.
60% of trash on beaches is plastic. 90% of debris floating in the ocean is plastic.
More than 13,000 pieces of plastic litter are floating on every square kilometer of ocean today (46,000 pieces per square mile).
On a single day in 2006, volunteers with the Ocean Conservancy’s International Coastal Cleanup helped clean 55,619 km. (34,560 mi.) of shoreline and removed about 3.18 million kg. (7 million lbs.) of trash; divers collected 103,079 kg. (227,250 lbs.) of debris from the riverbed and seafloor.
In the North Pacific gyre, there are about 3 kg. (6 lbs.) of plastic for every 0.5 kg. (1 lb.) of zooplankton in the water column.
Discarded plastic fishing gear and other plastic marine debris kill more than 1 million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals and sea turtles each year.
Worldwide, at least 267 species are affected by marine debris.
