In today’s society, the process of recycling is relatively easy. Sorting paper, plastic, glass, steel, aluminum, and cardboard takes roughly 30 minutes a week. Getting them to a maintenance recovery facility (MRF) is achieved by simply having a truck pick them up. Even the processes that transpire at the MRFs are quick and efficient because of advancements in technology. There is only one problem. That one problem is the 185 pounds of plastic that the average individual uses each year.
One must first understand why the process of dealing with plastic is deemed as being too arduous. Paper and cardboard go through a sorting process, compacting process, shipping process, and two baths. Steel is picked up by a magnet, crushed, baled, shipped, and melted down. Glass is shattered, sorted, sifted, and boiled. Aluminum is shredded, washed, melted, and turned into long sheets. This leaves plastic. Plastic has to be classified into at least six different categories. A seventh pile is formed if there is a chemical substance that is unidentifiable. Each one of those plastics has to go through a process at a different facility. These plastics are known as Polyethylene terephthalate, high-density polyethylene, polyvinyl chloride, low-density polyethylene, polypropylene, and polystyrene.
The amount of work that is put toward one of these plastics supersedes the amount of work that is put towards recycling paper, glass, steel, aluminum, and cardboard. For example, one can look at the type of plastic that is known as polyvinyl chloride. To recycle this type of plastic one must send it to a special facility. That facility will grind it into a powder. That powder will then be mixed with additives so it can be reused. If that did not occur, one would attempt to burn it. That action would result in the highly toxic substance that is known as hydrochloric acid. That is why this type of plastic is more commonly known as the “poison plastic.”
The Biggest Danger of Them All
At this point, one should be able to understand that plastic is by far the hardest product to recycle. With that being said, the next thing that needs to be pointed out is the danger associated with plastic. When one does not recycle their plastic, it is taken to a landfill. That landfill will then proceed to accrue thousands of pieces of plastic, which will form leachate. That endangers soil and all animals. Additionally, those pieces of plastic can end up in the ocean, which causes animals to die and the overall food chain to experience an adverse effect.
That means plastics are not just the hardest substances to recycle. They are also the most hazardous materials when not recycled. This can be further understood by looking at what happens when glass is not recycled. Glass sits in a landfill just like plastic, but it does not form leachate. It creates pockets in the earth's crust, which do not hinder plant growth or the thriving of wildlife. Lastly, if glass gets into the ocean, it does not cause the water to become toxic and bright colored.
Assessing The Problem
The question becomes How will this plastic situation be corrected? The problem can be corrected by looking at just one of the six types of plastics. That plastic is known as Polyethylene terephthalate (PET). Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) is responsible for over 50% of all the plastic in the world. Really the question becomes How can we reduce the production of PET?
Each year the U.S uses 50 billion bottles of water. If soda bottles are added then the number exceeds 100 billion. The interesting fact is that Every single one of those bottles is made of PET. All-in-all that means soda bottles and water bottles are the problems.
No More Water Bottles!
The first solution is to replace all the bottled water and drink filtered water. This process sounds relatively simple, but it is most definitely not. One must understand several things about the current condition of the water that is consumed by billions of people every day. This includes the ph levels of the water and the effects those levels have on the body.
Every individual is made of 65% water, which explains why one is recommended to drink nearly a gallon of water per day. The problem is that if one drinks that gallon of water and it has a ph level that is acidic they leave their body susceptible to illnesses. The normal water that is provided in homes is most definitely not above a 6 on the ph scale. That means the majority of the households are drinking acidic water on a day-to-day basis.
That is a big problem that every bottled water industry tries to use to their defense. The sad part is that almost every single company that bottles the water is not producing water that is alkaline. This leads to billions of people paying for overpriced water that is in many cases worse than the water they have in their home. There are a couple of companies that do provide water that is alkaline. However, a bottle of that water costs $2.00.
The solution, in this case, would be to take all the money that is spent on water bottles and put it toward the water purification system. That translates to taking fifteen billion dollars and putting it toward water purification. By doing this, the average person would be able to save money and live a healthier day-to-day life. Overall the environment would no longer have to be subject to 50 billion water bottles. That would undoubtedly reduce all the previously mentioned hazards.
Glancing Forward Through the Looking Glass
The water bottle industry could be removed. However, that would still leave all the sports drinks and sodas, which are all made of the same material as bottled water. To rid the world of all that plastic one could resort back to a glorious time in history. A time when millions of beverages were made of glass.
This step would definitely cost more money for the organizations producing the products. That should not be a problem because longevity supersedes profit. Only 25% of all the plastic bottles are recycled. That means only 25 billion bottles are recycled. If that same event occurred with glass, there would definitely be a problem. However, that problem would not produce the life-threatening effects of plastic. The soil would still be able to contain nutrients to bear plants, and the wildlife would be infringed upon very often.
The following options are available:
The purification of regular water is corrected so that every individual consumes alkaline water.
The bottled water industries are removed.
Individuals start recycling all the other plastic bottles so that more than a quarter of all them are recycled.
Both bottled water and soda can be altered so that billions of glass bottles are purchased.
The water that is in those bottles is corrected so that the ph levels are at least a 9.
-Individuals can recycle all the other plastics
Laws can be created to make it where all individuals must recycle their plastics.
People are informed about the problems discussed in this work and they decide to not throw their plastic in the trash.
The correct choice:
At this point, one may be looking at all the choices and seeing two things that match up. That choice would include fixing the ph levels of water and informing more people about why they need to recycle. That would be the easiest choice that would actually improve mankind the most. The water would allow one to live a longer life. The information would allow hundreds of millions of people to realize their impact on the planet. Additionally, the information would allow individuals to realize that the planet must be taken care of. Overall the answer is to fill in that 75% of plastics that is not being recycled. That simple step will ensure that billions of plastic bottles do not kill the planet.
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