http://www.surfrider.org/

Photo from AMRF

When did plastics become so popular?

Throwaway Living

What’s Made of Plastic?

What is Plastic Made of?SYNTHETIC

BIODEGRADEABLE

How many plastic beverage bottles get used in the US every five minutes?

Q:

Chris Jordan HINT: How many plastic bottles can you count in this picture?

Chris Jordan

Two million plastic beverage bottles get

used in the US every five minutes.

DETAIL

2,000,000

Chris Jordan

Chris Jordan

60,000 plastic bags get used every five seconds in the US.

ACUTAL SIZE

60,000

“But I Recycle…”.

What percentage of plastic gets recycled in the US?

Plastic Generation and Recovery

Less than 5% of plastics are recycled…

CIWMB White Paper

…and when they are, they are shipped

overseas

What Do Those Numbers Mean?

Th

e D

aily

Gre

en

#1 & #2

#3 & #6

Visit Earth911.com to see what your town recycles

How much plastic reaches the ocean each

HOUR?

A. 12,000 pounds

B. 1.5 million pounds

C. 2 billion pounds

Q:

Chris Jordan

2 billion pounds of plastic pollution enter the oceans every year!

2,000,000,000

How Does Plastic End Up In the Ocean?

How Does Plastic End Up In the Ocean?

LA Beaches After The Rain

Ballona Creek Algalita

Santa Monica Beach Ben Kay

Great Pacific Garbage Patch

• A giant, eternal swirling spiral of floating trash

• 90% plastic

There is 42 times more plastic than plankton at some spots in the North Pacific gyre.

AMRF

All of this (more than a half-pound of plastic) was removed from the stomach of

an albatross, a large sea bird

Gre

gg S

egal

Lisa Openshaw

How many marine animals die every year due to

Plastic?

A. 100

B. 100,000

C. 1,000,000,000

Q:

B100,000 marine mammals die each year because of plastic litter in the North Pacific.

Algalita

©Dino Ferri http://www.auduboninstitute.org/zoo

http://news.bbc.co.uk

Toxic Plastics

Plastics Leech the Chemicals They Are Made Of

Bisphenol A (BPA)• Plastic hardener• Used in DVDs, canned food

lining, baby bottles, water bottles

• Chemical found in 93% of Americans over the age of 6

Phthalates• Plastic softener • Found in toys, food

packaging, shower curtains, nail polish, hair spray and shampoo, baby teething rings

These Chemicals are ‘hormone mimickers’ that affect the

Endocrine System.

Plastic Bath

A study of 20 teens across America detected 16 chemicals from 4 chemical families including plastic (phthalates) in their blood and urine.

Look up your products at SKIN DEEPwww.cosmeticsdatabase.com

Toxic Toys

PLASTIC ERNIE US

(Made with Phthalates)California passed a law in

2008, loopholes still make it possible to sell toys with phthalates in US

CLOTH ERNIE Europe Mexico, Argentina, Japan, CanadaEU Banned phthalates in 1999

Bring Your Own…

• WATER BOTTLE (stainless steel)

• BAG• CUP• TUPPERWARE• SILVERWEAR

Use Biodegradable (PLA)

Bioplastics are better, but not the answer• Require INDUSTRIAL COMPOSTING

(140° and fed microbes)• Cannot be recycled; can contaminate if mixed in• “Renewable;” but genetically-modified• Does not emit GHG’s

when incinerated• Don’t break

down inthe water

THINK TWICE•Do you really need a bag for your bag of chips?•Ask the waiter to wrap in foil instead of styrofoam•Do you really need the straw?•Don’t buy things with excess packaging•Buy the can instead of the bottle•Shop farmer’s markets

REFUSE, REDUCE, REUSE… then RECYCLE

Encourage Extended Producer Responsibility

• Extended Producer Responsibility – Companies that produce and package products are

responsible for the costs of disposing of and recycling their packaging and products

– Adopted by Germany in 1991 recycling rose to 75% – Assembly Bill 283 proposed in US

• Leave it Behind– To pass EPR, German government requested that people

leave all the packaging that their products come in behind at the stores to put the pressure on manufacturers..

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MJaI-Ohggd4

Spread the Word…with a SMILE

Share what you’ve learned • Lead by example• Ask your friends and

family to join you• Speak to city council• Write letters to

government officials

• Rethinking the products I buy• Refusing single use plastics• Using reusable canteens• Using reusable bags. • Recycling & reusing the

plastic bags I already have.• Sharing the knowledge I’ve

gained today with others

I will rise above plastics by…

You must be the change

you wish to see in the world.

- Gandhi -

For more information visit:

www.greenambassadors.org

www.surfrider.org

www.algalita.org

www.riseaboveplastics.org

www.seaofconsequences.blogspot.com

http://www.ewg.org/chemindex/term/468

PASS IT ON…