Holiday revelry in United States produces massive quantity of plastic waste
According to Stanford Researchers, during the holidays, from Thanksgiving to New Year's Eve, Americans create a gigantic mountain of plastic waste, about 25% more waste compared to the rest of the year.
At the recent United Nations conference on climate change held in Baku Azerbaijan, a man dressed in a red suit with white trim, a red hat, and a long white beard was greeting attendees. The surprising figure was not Santa Clause but "SustainaClaus." His real name is Philip McMaster, and he is an environmental activist.
His message to those attending the climate change conference: the planet's getting hotter, and we need to act now.
"If we focus on childhood and we focus on generations to come, we will make better decisions," said the Santa of Sustainability.
One major hurdle: plastic waste. At another UN meeting, held in Busan, South Korea, the goal was to develop a global treaty to end plastic pollution. It ended with no agreement.
Plastic pollution is a vexing, threatening problem.
"The plastic waste problem is huge, and it has only grown exponentially," remarked Professor Kate O'Neill at UC Berkeley.
O'Neill is an expert on plastic waste and does research at Cal's Department of Environmental Science, Policy, & Management.
She explained how the United States generates a staggering amount of plastic waste. One report puts the figure at about 97 billion pounds a year.
Most of the plastic waste is made from fossil fuels. Yet less than 9% of plastics ever gets recycled.
"Even with the plastics that are recyclable, it's very rare that they can be recycled more than once without downgrading them into something that is unusable," added O'Neill.
Most single-use plastics cannot be recycled in the United States and will end up in landfills, incinerators, or the environment.
A recent CBS News investigation found even with a major company that promotes sustainability and recycling, there are problems.
CBS journalists across the country dropped plastic cups with trackers into 36 recycling bins at Starbucks locations. Fourteen trackers last pinged at landfills, another 13 went to waste transfer stations, five ended up at incinerators, and only four pinged at locations that accept recycling.
Another concern is what's in some recycled black plastic.
"Regulation is really lacking now," explained researcher Megan Liu. Liu is the science and policy manager of the non-profit research and advocacy organization Toxic-Free Future.
Liu was the lead researcher in a new study on e-waste and some black plastics found in our homes. The study was published in the peer-reviewed scientific journal Chemosphere. Chemosphere publishes original research on chemicals in the environment.
In the study, researchers found certain kitchen utensils and food trays made from recycled black plastic contained toxic chemicals. These chemicals are known flame retardants used in electronic gear.
You can't tell by just looking at the object made out of black plastic. Lui explained that you would have to test it. She cautioned against using black plastic kitchen utensils while cooking food. If they are made from recycled e-waste, then they may contain flame retardants that are associated with human health concerns.
The National Institute of Environmental Health Services detailed how some adverse health affects may include endocrine and thyroid disruption, immunotoxicity, cancer, and adverse effects on fetal and children development, as well as neurobehavioral function.
"There are studies that show how flame retardants can actually leach out of contaminated kitchen utensils to the food that we're cooking. And so, something that people can do here is replace their black plastic kitchen utensils with safer options like wood or stainless steel," advised Liu.
Another great holiday gift: a reusable cup. For other sustainable holiday ideas, the World Wide Fund for Nature is a great place to start. And for some great ideas on plastic-free holiday gifts, check out Beyond Plastics.
