01-05-2013, 04:36 AM
Breaking down and decomposing are not the same thing, when something "decomposes" it breaks down into its constituent molecules, when it "breaks down" it retains its molecular structure but just keeps breaking up into ever tinier pieces. When you leave a plastic bag (or any other plastic) out in the sun it may break up, but that doesn't mean it "decomposes" in the true sense of the word. It just breaks up into smaller and smaller pieces of plastic, and while for most of us it may be a matter of "out of sight, out of mind" it has not gone away or changed into a different molecular chain.
In particular the ocean life cycles are being negatively impacted by the amount of tiny plastic bits that now are replacing phytoplankton in the food chain. Researchers who do sampling for phytoplankton in the open oceans are finding some areas where plastic molecules can be as much as 90% of the sample. Needless to say the plankton eaters do not get any benefit from the plastic they consume, but the plastic molecules are making their way up the food chain. There are also beaches where much of what looks like sand is actually little bits of plastic, is this the world we want to leave our children and grandchildren?
I have mixed feelings about how effective a plastic bag ban is in dealing with the problem of plastic in the environment, but we shouldn't lie to ourselves and pretend there is no problem just because a plastic bag left in the sun turns into bits that are too small for us to see. Every single one of those plastic molecules is still there, we just can't see them with the naked eye anymore.
Carol
In particular the ocean life cycles are being negatively impacted by the amount of tiny plastic bits that now are replacing phytoplankton in the food chain. Researchers who do sampling for phytoplankton in the open oceans are finding some areas where plastic molecules can be as much as 90% of the sample. Needless to say the plankton eaters do not get any benefit from the plastic they consume, but the plastic molecules are making their way up the food chain. There are also beaches where much of what looks like sand is actually little bits of plastic, is this the world we want to leave our children and grandchildren?
I have mixed feelings about how effective a plastic bag ban is in dealing with the problem of plastic in the environment, but we shouldn't lie to ourselves and pretend there is no problem just because a plastic bag left in the sun turns into bits that are too small for us to see. Every single one of those plastic molecules is still there, we just can't see them with the naked eye anymore.
Carol
Carol
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb
Every time you feel yourself getting pulled into other people's nonsense, repeat these words: Not my circus, not my monkeys.
Polish Proverb