Our Today is Forever

By Michael Smith (Veshengro)

Plastic is a petroleum derivative, and is as bad for the marine and biological environment as oil is. Not completely inert, plastics break up into small pieces, offgass and photodegrade to the molecular level. Because those are synthetic molecules, they are large and they clog the biological systems they get into. In addition to that they are also poisonous and often, as can be seen from the video, plastic products, such as plastic bags, but also other items, are ingested by animals and birds, leading to their death.

Currently we have a number of garbage patches in the world's oceans made up of nothing but a variety of plastic products and only because we, the majority of us at least, thoughtlessly toss plastic bottles, etc., into rivers and the sea and fishing trawlers and ships discharge their plastic waste into the oceans too. In addition there are snagged nets, ropes, and such like that have come into the marine environment through the maritime traffic.

It is really time that we thought about out actions as to the pollution that we are causing to the Planet and the environment, and not just with all the plastics that we chuck into the wrong places.

Nor are plastics save when they get to the landfill sites. There too birds, such as gulls, which live by the thousands on trash dumps, ingest plastic bags, and other products and more often than not die as a result of it. Domestic animals too have died from ingesting plastic bags, such as goats.

Even in the landfill, covered with whatever, those plastics still are not safe and the best way to deal with them, other than not to have them in the first place, is to either burn them in incinerators which also could run CHP plants at the same time, or by turning the plastic materials back into an oil. It can be done.

© 2011