Facts about Plastic pollution

Here Some  Facts about Plastic Pollution.

• Over the last ten years we have produced more plastic than during the whole of the last century.
• 50 percent of the plastic we use, we use just once and throw away.
• Enough plastic is thrown away each year to circle the earth four times.
• We currently recover only five percent of the plastics we produce.
• The average American throws away approximately 185 pounds of plastic per year.
• Plastic accounts for around 10 percent of the total waste we generate.
• The production of plastic uses around eight percent of the world's oil
• Americans throw away 35 billion plastic water bottles every year (source: Brita)
• Plastic in the ocean breaks down into such small segments that pieces of plastic from a one liter bottle could end up on every mile of beach throughout the world.
• Annually approximately 500 billion plastic bags are used worldwide. More than one million bags are used every minute.
• 46 percent of plastics float (EPA 2006) and it can drift for years before eventually concentrating in the ocean gyres.
• It takes 500-1,000 years for plastic to degrade.
• Plastic constitutes approximately 90 percent of all trash floating on the ocean's surface, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile.
• One million sea birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed annually from plastic in our oceans.
• 44 percent of all seabird species, 22 percent of cetaceans, all sea turtle species and a growing list of fish species have been documented with plastic in or around their bodies.
• Researchers found 1,500 and 1.7 million of these particles per square mile.).
• Plastic chemicals can be absorbed by the body—93 percent of Americans age six or older test positive for BPA (a plastic chemical).
• Some of these compounds found in plastic have been found to alter hormones or have other potential human health effects.

 Ways To “Rise Above Plastic."

• Choose to reuse when it comes to shopping bags and bottled water. Cloth bags and metal or glass
• Avoid single-serving packaging, excess packaging, straws and other "disposable" plastics.
• Reduce everyday plastics such as sandwich bags and juice cartons use alternative they are not hard to find with a little effort
• If you must use plastic,
• . Avoid plastic bags and polystyrene foam as both typically have very low recycling rates.
• Support plastic bag bans, polystyrene foam bans and bottle recycling bills.
• Spread the word.Be socially  active Talk.to your family and friends about why it is important to reduce plastic use   and the  impacts of plastic pollution.
• Seek out alternatives to the plastic items that you rely on. Avoid plastic stripe for your watch, plastic belt and  plastic Eyewear