plastic debris – Aquarius-Systems

Plastic is Killing 40% of Baby Sea Turtles

Thu, 14 Dec 2023 19:28:43 +0000

Plastic is killing 40 % of young sea turtles, shocking new research has shown.

Baby turtles are almost four times more likely to be killed by ingesting plastic waste compared to adults.

Not only do these animals have weaker bodies, but they also feed in offshore waters closer to the surface, which are more likely to be contaminated with large plastic items that can accumulate in their digestive tracts.

Post mortems on almost 1,000 dead turtles found more than half of the babies – and about a quarter of juveniles – had swallowed plastic, compared to just one in seven adults.

22 Million Pounds of Plastic Debris Enter the Great Lakes Annually

Wed, 20 Sep 2023 17:43:27 +0000

A new study from researchers at the Rochester Institute of Technology says that nearly 22 million pounds of plastic debris are entering the Great Lakes from the U.S. and Canada each year.

Half of that plastic is going into Lake Michigan, followed by Lake Erie, Lake Ontario, Lake Huron and Lake Superior. The amount of plastic in Lake Michigan equates to 100 Olympic-sized swimming pools full of plastic bottles.

Unlike in ocean gyres, much of this debris is carried to shorelines by winds and currents. About 80% of the litter found on these lakeside beaches is comprised of plastic.

Food Wrappers, Not Cigarette Butts Majority of Beach Litter

Sun, 11 Oct 2020 23:39:10 +0000

Ocean Conservancy released the results of the 2019 International Coastal Clean-up, revealing that for the first time in ICC history, cigarette butts were displaced as the number-one-reported debris item along beaches and waterways worldwide. Instead, food wrappers topped the list, with 943,195 volunteers removing a record 4,771,602 food wrappers in a single day. Food wrappers – a category consisting of crisp packets, sweet wrappers, drink pouches and similar flexible packaging – are usually made of plastics. Because they are often low-density and composed of multiple layers of plastics and other materials, these items are effectively un-recyclable.

Food wrappers are uniquely challenging from an environmental stewardship perspective because they are difficult, if not impossible, to recycle, and yet there are few comparable alternatives. It is time for food science and packaging experts to accelerate research and development of packaging that isn’t destined for landfills, and that keeps both people and our ocean safe and healthy.

You are What You Eat

Wed, 02 Apr 2014 16:33:00 +0000

The notion behind the phrase “You are what you eat” is that to be fit and healthy you need to eat good food. In the 1960’s the phrase became the slogan for healthy eating and even today we associate with good, healthy foods. Eat junk and feel like junk.

Simply put, cows eat grass, chickens eat grain, fish eat fish and humans eat all of those things; natural, organic, healthy. Unfortunately that is not the case. Farm animals are often fed same species meat, manure and other animal waste, drugs and chemicals, and plastics. Now some plastic is intentionally fed to livestock, but not all of it.

The Panama Rubber Tree is native to the tropical areas of Mexico, Central America and northern South America. The latex gathered from the trees was converted into usable rubber by the Mesoamerican peoples in Pre-Columbian times. The fascination with rubber led to experiments and eventually developed into the plastics of today. And the bulk of rubber is now synthetic, derived from petroleum.

The estimated global plastic production is about 245 million tons, the majority of it: single use items. Unfortunately this disposable plastic does not just go away. It breaks down into smaller and smaller and smaller pieces, releasing toxins such as phthalates and bisphenol A. These toxins have been associated with altered hormone levels, reproductive effects, and increased incidence of chronic diseases, including cancer.

Not only do they release toxins, but the plastics are eaten by fish. Fish are not only eaten by people, but fish-meal is a common additive in livestock feed.

plastic debris – Aquarius-Systems

Plastic is Killing 40% of Baby Sea Turtles

22 Million Pounds of Plastic Debris Enter the Great Lakes Annually

Food Wrappers, Not Cigarette Butts Majority of Beach Litter

You are What You Eat

Welcome to the food chain, plastic.