Water and Plastics
Plastic Pollutes
Plastic pollution is a global problem that goes far beyond the scope of litter. While the world’s attention is riveted by images of ocean wildlife speared by plastic straws or body cavities packed with plastic garbage, smaller, insidious particles of the same pollution dwell in you and me.
We ingest a credit-card weight of plastic every week and we excrete it with a vague understanding of the “inflammation” it may be inflicting in our bodies. In a world’s regrettable first, Italian researchers found particles of microplastic in the placenta of pregnant women and in their fetus.
We know there are many pathways for plastic to move into our freshwater and our bodies, including plastic mulch on agricultural fields, laundry wastewater, supposedly flushable wipes in sewer lines, and even small plastic price look-up stickers on fruit and vegetables. Freshwater-based microplastic, carrying hitchhiker pollutants such as long-buried PCBs, are eaten by fish, then eaten by you and me.
With over a thousand metric tons of plastic produced globally every day, it’s not surprising that plastic waste is turning up everywhere. As our global standard of living has grown, so has the amount of plastic produced, used, and discarded.
Also, the production of plastics contributes to climate change – it’s made from fossil hydrocarbons and pollutes at every stage in its lifecycle (material extraction, product production, waste disposal).
Read on for key facts about plastic pollution and find out what you can do to help.
Join Maya’s Plastic Pollution Campaign for kids and families
Ten year-old Maya is very worried about plastic pollution harming wildlife. She knows that plastic pollution chokes river, lakes and ocean, poisons wildlife and threatens our health. Join Maya’s Plastic Pollution Campaign to #ExpandtheBan to include plastic Price Look Up stickers (PLUs).
#ExpandTheBan for Single Use Plastics
Plastic pollutes at each stage of its lifecycle and puts the health of the climate, wildlife, ecosystems, and humans at risk. Managing the problem downstream, at the point of pollution, won’t work to reduce waste and curb pollution. We need to reduce the production of plastic to prevent further harm.
Canadians Say Politicians Need to Tackle Plastics Pollution
The electorate wants action to stop plastics pollution: 86% of Canadians want you to take more action on plastics as a way of reducing climate harmful greenhouse gases. And 8 out 10 Canadians will support you to ban production and use of single-use disposable plastic containers and packaging.
Flush me? Flush me not!
While they’re convenient, using these single-use products made of plastics and/or synthetic materials has grave environmental consequences in addition to real costs to municipal taxpayers. Concerned and informed Canadians can make a difference by refusing to buy and flush these products.
Single-use plastics in our everyday life:
Polyethylene terephthalate (PET)
Water bottles, dispensing containers, biscuit trays
High—density polyethylene (HDPE)
Shampoo bottles, milk bottles, freezer bags, ice cream containers
Low—density polyethylene (LDPE)
Bags, trays, containers, food packaging film
Polypropylene (PP)
Potato chip bags, microwave dishes, ice cream tubs, bottle caps
Polystyrene (PS)
Cutlery, plates, cups
Expanded polystyrene (EPS)
Protective packaging, hot drink cups
How plastic moves from the economy to the environment
Read more about Water & Plastics
