Sam here from Story of Stuff Project
Here's three things you should know
about plastic pollution:
Lately, plastic has been getting
a lot of attention.
'No more single-use plastic straws'
'Plastic straws'
'Plastic bags'
'Plastic'
If you're like me
you've seen loads of animal videos
on social media
Like that poor sea turtle
with a straw stuck in its face?
'And because this kind of plastic
never dissolves...'
Oops, not that turtle.
A lot of people worry
about plastic's impact on sea creatures
as they should
but plastic is a problem
for more than just the oceans
Number one:
plastic pollutes at every stage of its life
When people think of plastic pollution
they tend to think of this
but it can also look like this
See, all the plastic in the ocean
it originally started out as oil and gas
From extraction to production
plastic is a problem
way before it enters our ocean
The fossil fuel industry
is producing plastic
in marginalized communities
like the small town of Manchester
near Houston in Texas
Here, ninety percent of the residents
live just a mile away
from the plastics factory
And get this:
the cancer risk in that community
is twenty-two percent higher
than the rest of the Houston area
So while our turtle friends are in danger
Let's keep in mind
how plastic hurts people too
Number two:
We make way too much plastic
With all that we know about plastic's impacts
you'd think we'd be making less plastic
Instead, the plastic industry
has a plot to increase production
by forty percent
over the next decade alone
That's a lot more to-go cups
straws and plastic packaging
we don't need
And don't even get me started
on these new Starbucks sippy cups
Number three:
recycling alone won't cut it.
Of all the plastic ever made
just nine percent has been recycled
So where did the other ninety one percent go?
It either ended up in our environment
in our landfills
burnt in an incinerator
or it got shipped off to counties
like China to deal with
Here's the thing:
China recently stopped accepting the world's trash
and other countries are now following suit
So what's the solution?
Maybe we need to stop
searching for countries to take our plastic
and just make less in the first place
So next time you're in a store
And you see something like this
or this
Ask them what they're doing
to break free from plastic
The turtles
and loads of other creatures
will thank you
Cheers
'Liked what you saw?
Then give it up for the turtles!'
So who's your favorite Ninja turtle?
Let us know in the comments below
Thanks for watching
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