Plastic is being lost to the ground

Because taxpayers are responsible for paying for municipal waste systems, there is no pressure on producers to curb their manufacture of “throwaway” products. Instead this system encourages them to seek profit in “disposables”.

The bulk of single use plastics end up in landfills

Over time, harmful chemicals leach out of plastic to contaminate soil, streams and groundwater. Even if we make conscious decisions to avoid plastic in our day to day lives, we may be subjected to harmful chemicals as they leach out of plastic into the environment after they are thrown out. This restricts our freedom of choice as to what chemicals we ingest. We become subjected to chemicals which are making us sick.

Incineration is not a solution because it releases carcinogens into the air we breathe. PVC, for example, releases dioxin and furans, two of the most harmful carcinogens known.

“Biodegradable” plastic carries with it a whole host of problems, including the resources used to make it as well as the chemicals introduced into our environment in the production. But one area it could be developed to great benefit is in the millions of pounds of plastic film used to control weeds in industrial farming.

Large scale solution
Shift the burden of dealing with waste from consumers to producers. Make them responsible for the whole life of their product. If producers were responsible for the end of a products life, they would take much greater care in designing goods that could be used longer, and which would be packaged in ways that are less wasteful.

Several policy makers are adopting a "Zero-Waste" initiative which focuses on reducing the consumption on the side of consumers and extending the lifespan of designed materials on the side of industry.

We can curb our own habits of consumption by looking back to our grandparents and return to ethic of reuse which was manifested in an era when we didn’t have the resources to be wasteful. Adopting traditional practices allow us to focus on reducing the consumption of single use plastic at the beginning of the cycle instead of finding ways to deal with the massive amount of waste created by overpackaging. As consumers, we can reduce the packaging choices we make. Many fruits come in their own packaging which can be composted. We can bring our own bags to market to avoid using plastic shopping bags.