Introducing, Plastics in Water

Plastic is everywhere and we all use it daily.?

For example, most containers plants are grown in and distributed in are plastic because they are lightweight and strong. Clay pots are heavy and they break. Daily I use plastic pots to plant in. Yes, I recycle them and forage the neighborhood for pots but the alternative peat, earthen or fabric containers are very convenient for my give-away gardens-to-go.

In sunny Southern California plastic literally disintegrates. I paint pots to keep them longer but that only means they last a bit longer. The plastic breaks down. When I dig I find larger pieces or the plastic disintegrates making it difficult to find pieces to recycle.?

What does that mean to human health? Or the health of the other inhabitants of the biosphere? All the microscopic plastic pieces that are in the soil water and air in the remote parts of the globe.?

And some are not small and they mass together.? You would have to be under a rock not to have heard about the Pacific plastic mass known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch which has been studied and analyzed for decades.?

The gigantic GPGP scans an area double the size of Texas (triple the area of France or Thailand), it is estimated to contain about 100,000,000 kilograms of plastic debris. In 2024 the goal of the Ocean Cleanup a global non-profit project is to demonstrate that it can rid the oceans of plastic. To do this they are targeting the largest accumulation of floating plastic on Earth that is between California and Hawaii.?

A patch that floats of which there are many is just one of the impacts of plastic on the ocean. Our ocean waters also accumulate plastics. Find out what a garbage patch is and isn't, and what we can do about this ocean-sized problem.

Have you seen the turtles with plastic collars or the plastic in the stomachs of birds and fish? They are usually means they are photographed postmortem.? Hence, marine debris found in garbage patches can impact wildlife:

• Marine life can be caught and injured, or potentially killed in certain types of debris. Lost fishing nets are especially dangerous. They are often called “ghost” nets because they continue to fish even though they are no longer controlled by a fishing boat. Ghost nets can trap or wrap around animals, entangling them. Plus loops can hook on wildlife - think packing straps, six-pack rings, handles of plastic bags, etc.
• Animals mistakenly eat plastic and other debris. This is harmful to ish, seabirds, and other marine animals. These items can take up room in their stomachs, making the animals feel full and stopping them from eating real food.?
• Debris transports species from one place to another. Algae, barnacles, crabs, or other species can attach to floating debris. Once established in the new area they can become invasive and outcompete or overcrowd native species, disrupting the ecosystem.

We know some of the effects of plastic on this 54th Earth Day. The focus on this worldwide situation is wise.??

We could all blame the movie The Graduate from 1967 which used that famous line of advice “plastics”. We did not know then how plastics made with fossil fuel would change the world. Yes, plastics are useful but relatively new in the history of humankind.?

Perhaps it is time to use more natural products which can be safely composted. In various states, we charge for bags at stores but where I shop people pay the ten cents instead of giving their own bag.?

Do you bring a bag when you shop? Do you rethink what you throw out? Please comment with your suggestions.