‘How Bad For The Environment Can Throwing Away One Plastic Bottle Be?’ 30 Million People Wonder

According to several news stories over the last few months, scientists have confirmed second giant ocean garbage patch, or patches, in the Atlantic Ocean (the first was discovered in the Pacific Ocean in 1997). In an area known as the North Atlantic Subtropical Convergence Zone, trails of seaweed mix with plastic bags and bottles, crates and other debris, trapping wildlife and gradually breaking up into a fine particle soup just below the surface of the water. According to the United Nations Environmental Program, 80 percent of this ocean trash originates on land.

The title of this post, taken directly from The Onion, vividly illustrates the challenge of addressing an environmental problem one person at a time on a planet of 6 billion. (But don’t be one of the satirist’s 30 million; pledge to Rise Above Plastics and Protect Water Quality on Care2.)

Incentives for Changing Environmental Behavior

Earlier this month the Gallup polling company announced: “Green Behaviors Common in U.S., but Not Increasing.” Based on three rather limited indicators of environmentalism – likelihood of recycling household trash, conserving energy, and buying “green” products – the pollsters found no statistically significant increase in green behaviors over the last decade. At the same time, the Washington Post reported that the DC bag tax appears to have resulted in more than an 85 percent decrease in plastic bag use in the nation’s capital.

Wow. Maybe people need an incentive to change behavior?

This shouldn’t be terribly shocking. Millions of people still smoke cigarettes in spite of the indisputable evidence of a high probability of long-term negative consequences of doing so. Many common smoking cessation techniques involve creating immediate incentives or disincentives.

Bottle Bills Create an Incentive to Recycle

Several states in Canada and the United States have promoted a dramatic decrease in littering by placing a nominal ($0.05 or so) refundable fee on beer and soda containers. Not only did this create an immediate disincentive for dropping a can out a car window, it created an incentive for picking up those dropped by others. Enormous opposition by bottling companies and retailers combined with faith that curbside recycling would solve the problem without onerous fees stalled the U.S. effort to take bottle bills nationwide. And, unfortunately, bottle bills don’t capture bottle caps (a big part of both the Pacific and Atlantic gyre trash) and generally don’t cover beverages that were not popular when the laws were enacted but are ubiquitous now: juices, teas, bottled water, and other non-carbonated beverages.

Depending on household curbside recycling to alleviate litter and prompt recycling of single-serve bottles reveals a disconnect between policy and consumer behavior it hopes to affect. Where’s the incentive for a consumer who purchases and drinks a bottle of tea, water, or juice away from the home, where most single-serve beverages are consumed, to carry that bottle home and recycle it? And, while 90 percent of Gallup respondents claimed to recycle, there’s no where near that proportion of even commonly recyclable household trash getting collected in curbside pickups.

Big Problem of Giant Garbage Patch Will Require Multiple Solutions

I’m obviously in support of bottle bills, bag fees and similar measures to keep trash out of our oceans. What would you like to see done about the problem? What are you doing in your community to stop trash at the source? Please share in the comments.

You can also pledge to Rise Above Plastics and Protect Water Quality on Care2.

**More Care2 Earth Day Coverage**

ANYTHING AND EVERYTHING EARTH DAY:

Come Celebrate Earth Day with Care2! – Nicole Nuss

TAKE ACTION

Seven Ways to Get Involved for Earth Day – Beth Buczynski
Get Out! For a Free Book Giveaway! – Judy Molland
Now is the Time – Angel Flinn
Don’t Toss that Plastic Bottle – Jennifer Mueller
White House Initiative – Dave Rochlin

HOW ARE ANIMALS AFFECTED?

Top Ten Endangered Species – Sharon Seltzer
A Review of Disneynature’s Oceans – Beth Buczynski
Eating as if the Earth Matters – Heather Moore

THINGS TO PONDER

Four Rules To Save The Planet – Nancy Roberts
Earth…Gay? Coming Out for Sustainability – Steve Williams
Family Planning and Earth Day – JamieAlexis Fowler
All My Sisters: Avoiding Breast Cancer – Angel Flinn
Humans are the Earth’s Problem AND its Solution – Beth Buczynski
Earth Day at 40: The Politics Erupt – Gillian Caldwell
Gambling with Global Warming – Beth Buczynski

THOSE MAKING A DIFFERENCE

2010 Goldman Environmental Awards – Nancy Roberts
Climate Champion Dr. James Hansen – Nicole Nuss
Boyd Cohen’s Quest to Offset Carbon – Suzi Parrasch
350.org’s Bill McKibben – Nicole Nuss
Reverb’s Adam Gardner – Nicole Nuss

Floating plastic bottle photo by flickr user ansik / CC BY 2.0

Disclaimer: The views expressed above are solely those of the author and may not reflect those of
Care2, Inc., its employees or advertisers.

Aubrey G.

10:06PM PST on Nov 28, 2011

Hemp Plastic!

send a green star

Paul B.

3:58AM PST on Jan 31, 2011

www.hempplastic.com - Hemp Plastic is available now - let's tell the world to use that now!

Past Member .

4:01PM PST on Nov 16, 2010

use hemp plastic instead.

Colin H.

5:19AM PDT on Oct 21, 2010

Noted and signed!!

3:08PM PDT on Jul 1, 2010

noted

Beng Kiat L.

4:28AM PDT on Jun 11, 2010

Thanks.

Tekla D.

6:35AM PDT on Jun 7, 2010

we need to lift our eye and look at the whole situation - not just the bottle in our hands... In sweden most of them are recycled.

Alice V.

6:21PM PDT on May 7, 2010

Hope we are going to use hemp

9:02AM PDT on May 7, 2010

HEMP as plastic GOOGLE HEMP, GO TO WIKIPIDIA
The basic building block of plastics is cellulose taken from petroleum, but toxic petrochemical compositions are not the only way to derive plastics. Plastics can be derived from plant cellulose, and since hemp is the greatest cellulose producer on Earth (hemp hurds can be 85% cellA recent technological advance with biodegradable plastics made from cornstarch has led to a new material based on hemp. Hemp Plastics (Australia) have sourced partners who have been able to produce a new 100% biodegradable material made entirely from hemp and corn. This new material has unique strength and technical qualities which have yet to be seen before, and this new material can be injection or blow-molded into virtually any shape using existing moulds, including cosmetic containers, Frisbee golf discs, etc.ulose), it only makes sense to make other organics, instead of letting our dumps fill up with refuse.
The possibilities are endless with hemp plastics and resins, and bio-composites. Virtually any shape and purpose can be fulfilled by bio-composite plastics. Hemp plastics are already on the rise, it is only a matter of time before we will see the need to grow hemp in the United States to meet our demands.

By physical address I meant an actual address you can send it to like a place that produces hemp. But many petitions can be faxed if you have a fax number. Faxes would be the way to send petitions to the targets after they have been

Vanessa S.

11:26AM PDT on May 5, 2010

I am very much in support of doing whatever necessary to stop pollution and increase recycling. If bottle bills will contribute to that, then I am all for it. I am sure everybody is just as shocked as I am that the large companies that profit from the individual serving bottles are not willing to put the environment , and the humans and animals affected by the condition of it, before their precious dollars. Not! Once again the wealthy gets more control of the law that the general population that is affected by it.

PS I am currently trying to obtain nonprofit status for an animal assistance charity called Animal Assistance League of West Virginia. If anyone would to be off assistance in this effort, please contact me at vanessasandy@care2.com

At this time, we are trying to find help for a badly injured adult male bluetick. He desperately needs to see a vet, but we haven't found any that is willing to take payments or hold valuables until the bill can be paid. So far, all of the vet clincs we have contacted needs the entire amount up front before they will provide treatment. If anyone is aware of a rescue or individual who would be willing and able to take him in and provide the vet care that he needs, please contact me at the email provided above. I will be discussing the possiblity of starting a fund for his care with a local vet clinic. For more info on how to help or if you would like to offer advice, please contact me at the email above.