Not Fantastic, Its Plastic!

Posted by Hudson
Our Group consists of Hudson B, Annie S, and Truman P. Our group members work and intermingle to identify the most hidden problems. The diversity of skills in our group increases the creativity in our group. We are devoted to limiting Waste in the world. We started by making a mind map and branching off from a broad topic, Waste; then we narrowed down to a smaller topic, Plastic. We each had different reasons to choose plastic as a start topic, here is what our group member Hudson who felt strongly on the topic had to say:
   Hudson: “I feel like plastic waste has been a big issue in the world for a long time, and it needs to be resolved.”
Since we have chosen plastic as one of our topics, our group has learned that plastic is human-made chemical material that is durable, lasts long, and inexpensive, which make it globally made on a large scale. There are many types of plastic but PVC is the most commonly used form. PVC is built into tubes, wrappers, and even clothing! But this “amazing” unnatural maturely is awful after being thrown away. Our group from the start has been interested in the aspects of how to make plastic easier to dispose of. On the other hand, our group is not interested in the aspects of replacing plastic because our group believes that plastic is a key ingredient to human life and cannot be replaced.
Plastic waste can contaminate natural underground water storages by breaking down until it reaches a water supply, thus contaminating it. Plastic waste can also disrupt the ecosystem by getting in the food chain. For example, plastic waste in the ocean, when it is broken down is eaten by plankton then it eventually could make its way into the human diet! A fun fact about plastic and oceans is: “In our oceans alone, plastic debris outweighs zooplankton by a ratio of 36-to-1.” Another problem with plastic is it tends to not ever “disappear.” Plastic was designed to hold foods and liquids for long periods of times, but because of this plastic survives for a long time outside our trash bins.  

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