Hundreds of miles between the coasts California and Hawaii is what’s known as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch — an accumulation of plastic expanding nearly a million square miles or roughly twice the size of Texas.
The plastic, which ranges from massive fishing nets weighing more than a ton to tiny fragments often just millimeters in size, collected for decades due to a gyre, or whirlpool of currents, that focused ocean pollution from disparate areas into one localized spot (it’s not like a floating landfill, instead the plastic is suspended throughout the water column). The patch, which was discovered in 1997, has since grown to be the largest aggregation of plastic across the world’s oceans.
In 2013, Boyan Slat, an 18-year-old entrepreneur, set out to eliminate that patch. He founded The Ocean Cleanup, a nonprofit with the goal of eliminating ocean plastic, and crowdfunded nearly $2.2 million.
Slat’s team built an enormous curved device with the purpose of passively gathering trash inside the garbage patch. The 2,000-foot C-shape plastic pipe is connected to a screen that spans 10 feet below the water’s surface.
On Wednesday, following multiple setbacks, the Ocean Cleanup announced a major breakthrough: The most recent iteration of the device successfully collected and stored plastic.
This version incorporates a parachute, which serves as an anchor. The parachute slows down the vessel so that it moves just slightly slower than the ocean’s current. That allows for faster-moving plastic to accumulate in the screen. A floatline keeps the system buoyant, and due to its slow speed, sea life are able to swim below the barrier. Large fishing nets, plastic objects, like car tires and plastic bins, along with microplastics all accumulated in the device, which is called the System 001/B.
But creating a successful device wasn’t easy, and early versions had critical flaws. At one point, a 60-foot section broke off, and the entire device had to be brought back to shore. In another version, the collected trash would spill back into the ocean.
“After beginning this journey seven years ago, this first year of testing in the unforgivable environment of the high seas strongly indicates that our vision is attainable and that the beginning of our mission to rid the ocean of plastic garbage, which has accumulated for decades, is within our sights,” Boyan Slat said in a press release.
As the device catches plastic, The Ocean Cleanup’s team uses handheld nets to gather the trash, which takes a significant amount of effort. The long-term goal is for a ship to visit the patch regularly to capture the collected plastic, which will be brought to shore to be recycled.
As The Ocean Cleanup plans to create a System 002 of the device, a few key challenges remain: How will the current device hold up during a harsh winter? Can the device hold plastic for months between pickups?
“Our team has remained steadfast in its determination to solve immense technical challenges to arrive at this point. Though we still have much more work to do, I am eternally grateful for the team’s commitment and dedication to the mission and look forward to continuing to the next phase of development,” Slate said.
But Slat said he remains positive. Once the challenges are assessed and fixed, The Ocean Cleanup plans to design a fleet of devices designed to rid oceans of their plastic. With the success of a fleet, the nonprofit predicts to remove 90% of the ocean’s plastic by 2040.
More: 37 Ways to Shrink Your Use of Plastic
Tag: plastic
Americans Throw Out Over 33 Million Tons of Plastic a Year — Let’s Fix That
First, ditch the plastic bags. A single-use plastic bag is used on average for a mere 12 minutes. It’ll take that bag more than 500 years to decompose.
So make an effort to bring reusable totes with you when you shop. If you don’t already have reusable bags, buy some. Just look for bags made from recycled plastic, which have a smaller environmental impact than cotton totes.
While you’re grabbing your reusable bags, grab a thermos or tumbler for coffee and tea.
Bonus: Many local and national coffee shops give you a discount for bringing your own cup. That’s money in your pocket.
On a similar note, avoid buying bottled water. Every single minute the world uses one million plastic water bottles. Ninety-one percent of those never end up the recycling bin. Use a reusable water bottle, and it’ll save you about $200 a year.
It’s all about creating a habit of thinking before using. But once you do, you’ll feel better about the planet and save some money too. Check out the video for more ways to reduce your plastic consumption.
More: Five Things That Should Never, Ever Be Flushed Down the Toilet
Canada Just Announced a Ban on Single-Use Plastics. That’s a Big Deal for Our Oceans.
On Monday morning, Canadian Prime Minister Justin Trudeau announced that his government will move to implement a federal ban on single-use plastic items within the next two years.
“We need to cover all of Canada with this decision — and that’s why the federal government is moving forward on a science-based approach to establishing which harmful single-use plastics we will be eliminating as of 2021,” the prime minister said.
Trudeau’s office did not immediately provide details on which specific single-use plastics might be prohibited under the ban. CBC News, citing a governmental source, reported that items such as “cotton swabs, drink stirrers, plates and balloon sticks” might become illegal under the new federal law.
Canada’s announcement comes just a few months after the European Union moved to implement a similar ban on single-use plastics. Frans Timmerman, an EU official who championed the passing of the plan through the continental parliament, celebrated its passing as a major step toward saving our planet’s oceans.
“Today we have taken an important step to reduce littering and plastic pollution in our oceans and seas,” Timmerman said. “We got this, we can do this. Europe is setting new and ambitious standards, paving the way for the rest of the world.”
Experts estimate that as much as 8 million tons of plastic waste find their way to our oceans each year. That waste kills an estimated 100 million animals annually, imperiling entire ocean ecosystems. According to Ocean Conservancy, an environmental advocacy group, plastic waste has been found inside of 60 percent of seabirds and 100 percent of sea turtles who mistook the pollution as a source of food.
Many of the sea creatures who don’t die from the plastic they ingest experience extreme pain and distress. One viral video with millions of views shows a marine biologist struggling for eight minutes to dislodge a plastic straw stuck inside the nostril of a sea turtle, which writhes in agony and bleeds profusely.
By themselves, the Canadian and EU bans won’t be the solution that saves millions of marine animal lives from a potentially excruciating death due to plastic ingestion. However, the proposed restrictions represent a meaningful step forward — and all other nations should take note. Only through cooperation on a global scale can humankind stop millions more tons of plastic waste from finding its way to our water.
Whether the United States’ leaders will follow suit on the federal level remains to be seen, though some of our nation’s cities and states have placed limited bans on specific items like plastic bags and straws.
5 Small Ways You Can Reduce Your Plastic Consumption
It’s now in vogue to ditch plastic straws, with Starbucks and a handful of other retailers phasing out the hollow plastic columns in an effort to shrink ocean pollution — and for good reason. In 2014, the Environmental Protection Agency estimated that Americans throw out 33.3 million tons of plastic. Less than 10 percent of that ends up being recycled.
All of this trash has environmental ramifications. Plastic bottles, for example, take close to 450 years to fully decompose, which harms ground waters and soil.
But for all the hoopla surrounding them, plastic straws are a very tiny fraction of the problem. (According to Bloomberg, the real culprit polluting our oceans is discarded fishing nets and other fishing gear.) Even still, anti-straw activism is certainly a step in the right direction. And here are a few other pain-free ways to ply plastic from your life, both at the grocery store and at home.
JUST SAY NO TO SINGLE-USE BAGS
Getting rid of plastic bags at grocery and convenience stores has been a hot topic among state legislatures for the past few years, ever since California started charging customers for them in 2014. Since then, there’s been a decrease in plastic bag consumption across the state and as a result, a number of other cities have followed suit, with Washington, D.C., touting a 60 percent reduction in bag usage (though that number is contested).
For eco-conscious consumers, canvas tote bags are the holy grail of recycling accessories. Since they’re reusable, they’re obviously superior to single-use plastic bags, but do keep in mind that amassing a bunch of totes isn’t necessarily the best option for the environment, either. (Cotton takes more resources to produce and distribute than does conventional plastic bags.)
Your best bet? Tote bags made from recycled plastic, not cotton.
BYOCC (BRING YOUR OWN COFFEE CUP)
It’s good that big companies like Starbucks and McDonald’s are working toward eliminating plastic straws from their stores, but relying on companies to get rid of to-go cups has been more of an uphill battle.
An estimated 60 billion paper coffee cups end up in landfills every year because they’re not easily recyclable — and it takes over 20 years for a single cup to decompose.
An easy solution? simply bring your own thermos with you to your local coffee shop. (Bonus tip: Starbucks gives you a discount for doing so as well).
STOP IT WITH THE BOTTLED WATER ALREADY
Here are two sobering statistics that should scare you:
- Globally, humans buy almost 1 million plastic water bottles per minute.
- Ninety-one percent of all that plastic is not recycled — including those very bottles.
As anyone who’s had to pound the pavement during a sweltering summer knows, it’s all too easy to snag a bottle of water while on the go, and then just as quickly toss it away. What’s more, companies are profiting hand over fist by bottling and selling water. Even entertainers have caught on to the money-making potential of bottled water: Justin Timberlake is an investor in Bai Brands, which among other beverages sells antioxidant water, and 50 Cent made millions from his stake in Vitamin Water.
To correct for that, conscientious consumers have been snapping up reusable water bottles, and the market for them is expected to reach over $10 billion in less than six years.
While not enough studies have been conducted to determine the ecological impact of stocking reusable water bottles, anecdotally at least, there are benefits — both for the environment and your wallet.
A simple, one-time $20 purchase of a reusable water bottles means less plastic ends up in landfills or clogging up the ocean. It also means you can save some dough. If you’re like the average American, you buy about $5 worth of bottled water a week. Make the switch, and not only will you have paid off the price of your own bottle within a month, you’ll also save about $200 a year.
BUY IN BULK — AND USE YOUR OWN CONTAINER TO DO SO
Buying individually packaged foods is incredibly wasteful, but buying things in bulk — be it from a grocer that offers bulk buys or your local Costco — is incredibly helpful in reducing plastic waste.
It’s also advisable to bring your own containers to stores, as many grocers stock plastic bags for you to put your produce, nuts and other goods in, which obviously defeats the purpose.
One word of caution: According to a study by the University of Arizona, buying in bulk oftentimes results in enormous food waste, especially when it comes to perishable foods that could rot or go stale before you’ve had the chance to eat all of them. Instead, stick to bulk-buying items that can either be frozen or won’t go bad.
BE WARY OF MICROPLASTICS
Plastic bottles, cups and straws are straightforward examples that help illustrate the problem of the plastic ravaging our oceans. But another environmental menace are the microplastics — or tiny plastic particles less than 5 millimeters in size — that lurk in common items like polyester clothing and personal care products like toothpaste and face scrubs.
These small pieces of plastic are so microscopic that they get flushed into sewage systems every time you wash clothes made with synthetic fibers or rinse off an exfoliating face wash. Eventually, the harmful particles reach the oceans, where they account for anywhere between 15 and 30 percent of marine plastic pollution.
In the U.S., the Microbead-Free Waters Act, signed in 2015, will eliminate the itsy-bitsy plastic pellets from all cosmetics and toothpastes by next year. A similar law was recently passed in the UK. These government actions help, of course, but it’s also worth your while to check out which companies are still manufacturing products with microbeads (see the list here), and which aren’t (that list is here).
This Coalition is Confronting a Big Problem with Music Festivals
Stick around to the end of a music festival or concert, and the grounds can look like a graveyard of disposable cups and discarded plastic bottles. While it’s not unusual for a concert-goer to go through a few bottles of water or other beverages while enjoying some music, when the party’s over, this plastic pollution seriously adds up.
That’s why, as Rolling Stone reports, the Plastic Pollution Coalition (that’s made up of individuals and institutions dedicated to eliminating plastic waste on a global scale) have made it a mission to stamp out this environmentally harmful, single-use item at concerts.
The coalition’s project, Plastic Free Touring, advises artists such as Jackson Browne, Ben Harper and Crosby, Stills and Nash to reduce their plastic footprint while on the road. The coalition also partnered with this year’s Bonnaroo Music and Arts Festival, where revelers could purchase stainless steel water bottles and beer cups (and receive a $1 discount for every subsequent beer purchase), which could be used to stay hydrated with free water refill sites.
MORE: Here’s How Colleges Are Leading the Green Revolution in Sports
Dianna Cohen, eco-activist and Plastic Pollution Coalition co-founder, tells Rolling Stone that she wants to expand this plastic-free initiative outside of the music arena. “This can be extended to sporting venues and schools,” she says. “I’d also like to see venues offer more people options of producing beverages from kegs, large containers and soda fountains.”
She adds that she has a larger goal to wipe out humanity’s plastic bottle habit for good. “Millions and millions of bottles are sold every minute,” she says. (About 2.4 million tons is discarded annually, with 75 percent going straight to the landfill.) “It’s insane, just collective madness.”
Besides the plastic carnage, concerts (and just about any other event that attracts large crowds) use up a lot of other resources — from the countless fliers that get handed out to the amount of carbon that is emitted when people travel to shows.
However, more and more artists and bands such as Radiohead, Drake, Phish, and The Roots are embracing sustainability, utilizing biodiesel tour buses and compostable catering. Large gatherings are opportune moments for musicians and concert organizers to be role models in sustainability. After all, why can’t concerts be fun and work towards the greater good at the same time?
DON’T MISS: 37 Ways to Shrink Your Use of Plastic
37 Ways to Shrink Your Use of Plastic
Plastic has an undoubtedly convenient but worrying presence in our lives. Everyday items such as wrappers, bottles and even chewing gum (yes, it’s made of plastic!) are thrown away without much thought. In fact, Americans discard 14.4 million tons of plastic a year, and only 13 percent of it is recycled.
This leads to a devastating problem, as the chemicals in plastics have been known to have adverse effects on our bodies as well as the planet. It’s gotten so bad that in the Pacific Ocean a plastic island has formed that’s twice the size of Texas — leaching chemicals, harming marine life and destroying ecosystems. However, you can help curb the impact of this environmentally hazardous material by implementing the following practices:
1. Give up buying beverages that come in plastic bottles. About 2.4 million tons of this plastic — known as polyethylene terephthalate (PET) — is discarded annually, with 75 percent going straight to the landfill. Invest in a stainless- steel bottle or opt for soda or other beverages that come in glass bottles or paper cartons.
2. Stop using disposable cups. From Styrofoam to Solo cups to plastic-lined paper cups, these beverage holders have a lifespan of about half an hour. This is why you should make it a habit of bringing your thermos or tumbler every time you hit the coffee shop or a fast food restaurant.
3. And since you’re now going to use your own beverage container, you can also ditch those single-use straws, stirrers and lids.
4. If the coffee shop uses plastic cups or cutlery but doesn’t have a recycling bin, take these items home with you and recycle them yourself.
5. Repurpose the plastic that you already have. Cups and yogurt tubs make great planters, and bags can be woven into baskets or mats. The tops of water bottles can be sliced off to make awesome seals for bags of food.
6. Skip the freezer section. While TV dinners may be convenient, they tend to come wrapped in excessive packaging.
7. Choose loose fruits and vegetables instead of bagged produce, such as carrots, apples and lemons. By doing so you avoid using plastic and it allows you to buy only what you need, so there’s less food that could spoil and go to waste. Even better? You might save money, too.
8. Fill up on grains, cereals, nuts and other kitchen staples at the bulk bin. Be sure to bring your own bags or containers from home when purchasing these items.
9. Shop local. Frequent farmers’ markets for fresh produce and eggs, bakeries for bread and butchers for meats since they often use less packaging to wrap items.
10. Later on, return all your plastics — baskets, containers and jars — to the farmers’ market vendors for reuse. (They’re bound to appreciate your action.)
11. You probably know this already, but it bears repeating: Say no to plastic bags. Why is it so important to take your reusable tote (preferably made of canvas, cotton or hemp, not vinyl or polyester) each time you head to the supermarket? It takes 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture the 102 billion plastic bags that Americans use annually,according to the United Nations. So keep several reusables in your car or handbag, and if you must use a plastic bag, remember to recycle it later on. It’s easy to do, since many grocery stores have their own bag-collection bins.
12. Try growing your own food at home. Salad vegetables and herbs are really easy to grow in the garden, a hanging basket or on a windowsill. By doing so, you avoid buying produce that comes in plastic packaging.
13. Buy detergent that comes in cardboard boxes instead of plastic containers. Better yet, pop in a few soap nuts (a magical dried berry that works as an all-natural cleaner). Or if you like to DIY, try this homemade three-ingredient laundry detergent.
14. Clean your home with all-natural ingredients that you might find in your kitchen — baking soda, lemons, vinegar — rather than buying bottles of toilet cleaner and bleach.
15. At the dry cleaners, bring your own garment bag for pickups or ask for your clothes to be returned free of plastic wrap.
16. Line your garbage bins with paper bags or biodegradable trash bags instead of buying plastic trash bags. Earn extra eco-points by starting a compost heap for your organic waste.
17. For condiments such as ketchup, mustard and salad dressing, choose varieties that come in glass jars instead of squeeze bottles.
18. Swap your synthetic sponge for a cotton washcloth or try doing your dishes with one of the cellulose varieties, which are made of wood fiber.
19. For parties or at work, avoid using disposable cups and plastic utensils. Use real silverware and cups and wash them later or purchase compostable ones.
20. Stick to wines that have cork stoppers instead of synthetic stoppers, since the natural material is completely biodegradable.
21. Place a lid or a plate on top of leftovers instead of reaching for plastic wrap. Mason jars or ceramic containers are also a great alternative to Tupperware and Ziploc baggies.
22. Wrap food in aluminum foil or try beeswax-coated food wraps that can be used repeatedly.
23. Reuse the bags that hold baked goods like bread for cleaning up after your dog.
24. Swear off single-use coffee pods. We know they are convenient, but if you care about the planet, an old-fashioned coffee machine with a reusable filter works just as well.
25. Wear natural, organic textiles instead of synthetic ones such as nylon, acrylic or polyester. Did you know that in an average wash, 1,900 fibers come off a single synthetic article of clothing and that this is one of the most common types of plastic pollution in our oceans?
26. Try to use soaps, lotions and shampoos that come in solid bars instead of liquid form in a bottle.
27. Avoid cosmetic products with microbeads (which might be included in the ingredients list as polyethylene or polypropylene). These tiny plastic beads are causing big environmental problems in our Great Lakes.
28. For hair care, skin care and other beauty products, find varieties that come in glass or metal containers. Believe it or not, but there are even plastic-free options for products such as mascara and deodorant, which seem to only come in plastic tubes.
29. Use paper tape instead of Scotch tape when mailing large items.
30. Buy cloth diapers instead of disposable ones. They might be messier, but they create much less waste compared with disposables, which don’t decompose and amount to a stunning 4 million tons of landfill waste per year.
31. Unload old electronics in a responsible manner. A large portion of plastic waste comes from discarded televisions, fax machines, keyboards, cell phones and other tech gear. According to the EPA, 37 million tons of electronic waste was tossed in 2009 (an amount that’s surely increased since then). You don’t need the latest smartphone if the one you have works perfectly well. And if your device is acting a little wonky, try repairing it. Take electronics that are no longer functioning to e-waste facilities that can dispose of them.
32. For difficult-to-recycle plastics (toothbrushes, cigarette butts, food wraps, beauty products, etc.) that are usually landfill-bound, check out TerraCycle. You’ll be surprised what items this innovative company repurposes.
33. Use matches or invest in refillable metal lighters such as Zippo instead of disposable ones that aren’t recyclable.
34. Shave with razors that have replaceable blades, not whole disposable ones. Or consider using a safety razor that you can simply sharpen.
35. Be mindful of the material used in toys. Plastic varieties might contain BPAs, phthalates and other harmful chemicals that could harm young children and pets. For kids, choose wood or cloth-based toys, and for pets, buy catnip for cats and squeaky stuffed animals or large ropes for dogs.
36. Burn candles (soy or beeswax, not paraffin) or incense, instead of buying air fresheners in plastic holders.
37. Lastly, learn how to correctly recycle plastic. Get familiar with the triangle-shaped recycling symbol on the bottom of most bottles and containers. As we previously reported, most recycling centers will collect Nos. 1, 2 and 5 plastics such as water bottles and Tupperware. Plastics that are Nos. 3, 4 and 6, like disposable cups and vinyl shower curtains, are moderately recyclable. This leaves plastic No. 7, which is nearly impossible to recycle because it’s made of a combination of all types of plastic (which means you should avoid using it if possible).
How Good Are You At Recycling? Take The Quiz
1. Aluminum Foil
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
During World War II, Americans would take care to save the aluminum in gum wrappers. Today, aluminum foil can be recycled and returned to store shelves in as few as 60 days, according to Waste Management. Just make sure you clean any food residue off of it first.
2. Aerosol Cans
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
They might be made of aluminum, but that doesn’t mean they can be recycled like a soda can. Aerosol-powered products like spray paint and hair spray can almost never be recycled. They’re explosive and contain materials that can pollute the waste stream and groundwater. Make sure the cans are completely empty before disposing of them in the trash.
3. Solo Cups
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
These are typically plastic No. 6, which is generally acceptable at local recycling centers, though it’s harder to repurpose than plastic Nos. 1, 2, and 5. If you have a choice, buy cups that are No. 5s.
4. K-Cups
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
One in three Americans has discovered the joys of the single-cup coffee pod. They’re fast, convenient, clean — and recyclable. Split the pods open, empty them completely of all coffee grounds and recycle the plastic. It may take a little extra effort, but it’s worth it.
5. Juice Boxes
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
The makers of popular juice boxes are working on recyclable juice boxes, which will be specially marked. But until those are rolled out, juice boxes have to go in the trash.
6. Wet Paper
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
Paper is generally a good thing to put into a recycling bin, but if it’s wet, its fibers aren’t strong enough to be reused, according to Mother Nature Network. Plus there’s the risk of contamination.
7. Plastic Shopping Bags
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
There’s just no excuse to contribute to plastic bag pollution anymore. Your local grocery store probably collects these from returning customers. Better yet, save them for future use (transporting small items, doggie bags, etc.).
8. Tin Cans
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
These are some of the most-recycled items in the U.S. today. About 71 percent of these cans do end up in the correct bin. Making a new can with an old one saves about 75 percent of the energy that goes into the process, according to Waste Management.
9. Waxed Cardboard
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
While most cardboard is fine to recycle, many municipalities won’t accept the waxed kind, like what’s used in some shipping boxes and juice or milk cartons. The tricky thing is that waxed cardboard isn’t always labeled. If the surface of the cardboard is smooth and shiny and doesn’t include the recycling symbol, however, you’re safe in assuming that it’s waxed, and that you can’t drop it in your curbside recycling bins.
10. Yogurt Cups
Recycle
Don’t recycle
Yep!
Nope!
Yogurt cups, butter tubs and other items made from plastic No. 5 can now be recycled at most Whole Foods stores through their partnership with Preserve’s Gimme 5 Program. Just drop them off in designated bins, and Preserve will upcycle the items into useful things like toothbrushes and park benches.
Score: 0 / 10
6 Common Environmental Culprits That Need Regulation
There’s been a lot of buzz lately about California being the first state to ban plastic bags (even though Hawaii arguably deserves the title). This news is undoubtedly fantastic, but it’s really just a small victory in light of much larger environmental problems.
Adam Minter writes on Bloomberg View that the ban — now awaiting Gov. Jerry Brown’s signature — is much more symbolic than real: “Gestures such as these can be important in inspiring broader, more meaningful environmental reform. But they risk fueling a self-congratulatory complacency that distracts from more serious challenges.”
He’s got a point. As Minter says, the 3.4 million tons of plastic bags, sacks and wraps thrown out in 2012 is just 10 percent of the 31.8 million tons of total plastics thrown away, or a mere 1.3 percent of the 251 million tons of solid waste generated annually.
ALSO: Can I Recycle This? 5 Things You Should Always Recycle (and 5 Things You Shouldn’t)
Plastic bags are just a start. Here are six other big, wasteful household items that deserve our attention, and more importantly, what can be done about them.
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Can I Recycle This? 5 Things You Should Always Recycle (and 5 Things You Shouldn’t)
If you’re anything like us, you’re constantly trying to figure out, Can I recycle this or not? We wish the rules were simple and consistent, but what you can recycle (takeout containers? shipping boxes? junk mail?) and where (curbside? recycling center?) largely depends on what your local municipality can — or will — handle.
The good news is that with a little effort, you can achieve zero waste. If you can’t leave a particular item curbside or in your apartment building’s recycling bins, for example, you can probably take it to a recycling center or donate it to a specialized recycling company like TerraCycle, an international firm that collects hard-to-recycle items and repurposes them into resalable products.
In 2012 alone, Americans recycled and composted 87 million tons of municipal solid waste, eliminating more than 168 million metric tons of CO2 from the atmosphere, and saving 1.1 quadrillion British thermal units of energy — enough to power about 10 million households in the United States for a year. Decent numbers, but given that U.S. households create more than 251 million tons of trash a year, half of which ends up in landfills, we still have a long way to go. So, we asked Albe Zakes, global vice president of communications at TerraCycle, to help us get there. Here’s his simple guide of recycling do’s and don’ts. We hope you’ll pick up some key pointers. We sure did.
MORE: How One County Makes Sure Their Trash Doesn’t Go to Waste
5 Items You Can’t Recycle
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ALSO: You’ll Never Guess What NYC Is Turning Its Biggest Trash Heap Into
5 Items You Should Always Recycle
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These 10 tips are just a starting point. The ultimate goal is to rethink your lifestyle and reduce the amount of waste you produce to begin with. As the mantra goes: Reduce, reuse and recycle. “They’re in that order for a reason,” Zakes says. If you can’t reduce your consumption, reuse what you can; if you can’t reuse it, then recycle — even if it takes additional effort. “In reality, almost everything can be recycled,” Zakes says. “The only reason that something is considered ‘nonrecyclable’ is the economics behind it. So the cost of collecting and processing the material is too high versus the revenue that the end material creates.”
Correction: A previous version of this article stated that all aerosol cans cannot be recycled. NationSwell apologies for the error.
ALSO: One Company’s Quest to Reduce eWaste in Landfills
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How the Humble Shrimp Could Fix a Jumbo Environmental Problem
As the saying goes, your trash is someone else’s treasure. And in this case, your discarded food waste is the vital ingredient needed by scientists to make bioplastic (plastic made from renewable biological sources).
Scientists from the Wyss Institute for Biologically Inspired Engineering at Harvard University have figured out a way to turn chitosan (the second most common organic material found on the planet and a component of shrimp shells) into bioplastic.
The idea of bioplastic isn’t new; there are already types made out of wood, corn, potato, wheat, tapioca and rice. But there’s a big downside to bioplastic: It’s costly and energy intensive to produce, and it doesn’t easily degrade in landfills. The new chitosan-based bioplastic, however, uses an already-abundant waste resource (discarded shrimp shells), plus a waste product from wood remnants. This “miracle material” also breaks down into useful components for soil in about two weeks, TreeHugger reports.
MORE: These Researchers Want to Put Plastic Bags in Your Gas Tank
What’s neat about this stuff is that it can be injection molded or cast into any shape, whether it be toys, cell phones, or Tupperware. Plus, it is fully biodegradable.
“There is an urgent need in many industries for sustainable materials that can be mass produced,” said Don Ingber, M.D., Ph.D., a professor of bioengineering at Harvard. “Our scalable manufacturing method shows that chitosan, which is readily available and inexpensive, can serve as a viable bioplastic that could potentially be used instead of conventional plastics for numerous industrial applications.”
Let’s give a jumbo thanks to the lowly shrimp.