Let's start off by dismissing the myth that plastic is evil. Many people like to make plastic this thing that is inherently bad, unfortunately it isn't that black and white. Plastic is in fact a very useful material that has many applications for instance it revolutionised medicine by being very sterile.<\/p>
That all being said, it has its problems too. Which we'll go over now...<\/p>"},"paragraph1":{"id":4886305,"value":null},"paragraph2":{"id":4886306,"value":null},"paragraph3":{"id":4886307,"value":null}}},{"id":523873,"type":"textBlock","published":1,"size":{"x":6,"y":0},"order":2,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4886405,"value":null},"subTitle":{"id":4886406,"value":null},"html":{"id":4886407,"value":"
Plastic packaging has some merits to it. It's a useful material for packaging because of it being lightweight, durable, decay resistant, mouldable but most importantly to these companies it's cheap. But the cost to the planet and the environment seldom is forgotten by these companies.<\/p>
On top of it not being renewable there are other negative impacts that come from it. Firstly majority ends up in landfill sites and the ocean (90% of all plastic in fact ends up here). This fact is even worse due to plastic being non-biodegradable. All the plastics produced still are on the planet. Whether it remains as it is or has been broken down into micro plastics.<\/p>
There is currently over 51 trillion micro plastics in the ocean. Every year we add over 8million tonnes of plastic to it and in 2050 it is estimated that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean!<\/p>"},"paragraph1":{"id":4886408,"value":null},"paragraph2":{"id":4886409,"value":null},"paragraph3":{"id":4886410,"value":null}}},{"id":523879,"type":"pod","published":1,"size":{"x":6,"y":0},"order":3,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4886465,"value":null},"copy":{"id":4886466,"value":null},"href":{"id":4886467,"value":null},"badge":{"id":4886468,"value":null},"icon":{"id":4886469,"value":null},"overlay":{"id":4886470,"value":"0"},"ratio":{"id":4886471,"value":"square"},"textAlign":{"id":4886472,"value":"center"},"image":{"id":4886473,"value":"{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.podos.io\\\/tk2qjce2bjwu2tr4fodg8i39jcvt3brnrf2yu0lszzavejq8.jpeg.jpg?w=auto&h=auto\",\"alt\":\"\"}"}}},{"id":523894,"type":"textBlock","published":1,"size":{"x":12,"y":0},"order":4,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4886610,"value":null},"subTitle":{"id":4886611,"value":null},"html":{"id":4886612,"value":"
This problem is worsened when you realise that many of these micro plastics get consumed by marine life. This is incredibly harmful to them. It is understood that 54% of all marine mammals are impacted by plastic and each year over 100,000 of them are killed by it. This is typically from ingestion and entanglement.<\/p>"},"paragraph1":{"id":4886613,"value":null},"paragraph2":{"id":4886614,"value":null},"paragraph3":{"id":4886615,"value":null}}},{"id":523962,"type":"textBlock","published":1,"size":{"x":12,"y":0},"order":5,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4887331,"value":null},"subTitle":{"id":4887332,"value":null},"html":{"id":4887333,"value":"
Many companies will use packaging that is 'recyclable' but is that really much better? The answer is not really. It's very much a greenwashing technique that sounds good that plastic can be reused and repurposed after it has been used as packaging.<\/p>"},"paragraph1":{"id":4887334,"value":null},"paragraph2":{"id":4887335,"value":null},"paragraph3":{"id":4887336,"value":null}}},{"id":523965,"type":"textBlock","published":1,"size":{"x":6,"y":0},"order":6,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4887374,"value":null},"subTitle":{"id":4887375,"value":null},"html":{"id":4887376,"value":"
The reality is that most plastic never gets recycled even if it can be. Globally we produced over 9 billion tonnes of plastic every year. But less than 9% of that gets recycled. As mentioned before it almost always ends up in landfill or the ocean.<\/p>
What actually happen if it does get recycled<\/strong><\/p> Many people assume that when plastic gets recycled it gets fully repurposed and can get used for something else. Unfortunately that is not the case. When plastic gets recycled you don't get back all you put back in (it is not a 1:1 ratio) you always lose some. Along with that it is down-cycled and becomes a lower grade of plastic - which can't be recycled again. These low grade plastics when recycled will just have some plastic parts extracted but the rest is burnt and dumped. This is especially in poorer countries where there are laxer laws in place they just release the plastic waste into the environment where it contaminates the land, rivers and eventually the sea.<\/p>"},"paragraph1":{"id":4887377,"value":null},"paragraph2":{"id":4887378,"value":null},"paragraph3":{"id":4887379,"value":null}}},{"id":523966,"type":"pod","published":1,"size":{"x":6,"y":0},"order":7,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4887380,"value":null},"copy":{"id":4887381,"value":null},"href":{"id":4887382,"value":null},"badge":{"id":4887383,"value":null},"icon":{"id":4887384,"value":null},"overlay":{"id":4887385,"value":"0"},"ratio":{"id":4887386,"value":null},"textAlign":{"id":4887387,"value":"center"},"image":{"id":4887388,"value":"{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.podos.io\\\/cqgyiureuupk5nr0ihhgx7uvralhdlp24hqaglucnpiw1gth.jpeg.jpg?w=auto&h=auto\",\"alt\":\"\"}"}}},{"id":523967,"type":"textBlock","published":1,"size":{"x":12,"y":0},"order":8,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4887393,"value":null},"subTitle":{"id":4887394,"value":null},"html":{"id":4887395,"value":" Plastic is made from fossil fuels which are a finite resource on the planet - they're non-renewable. At our current rate of using fossil fuels we'll run out of them by 2060! So eventually we won't be able to make any more plastic items. That alone means we should use it sparingly and only for necessary items where it's useful properties are needed.<\/p> It also takes its toll on the land. Where it gets extracted from it scars and damages the land whether it be mining on land or drilling at sea. Not to mention the inherent additional problems involved when doing this such as oil spills - thousands of oil spills happen every year in fact but majority don't reported on unless they're too big for oil companies to cover up.<\/p> That's why plastic should not be used for packaging as it not necessary to be used for packaging. There's also plenty of adequate, alternative materials that be used instead.<\/p>"},"paragraph1":{"id":4887402,"value":null},"paragraph2":{"id":4887403,"value":null},"paragraph3":{"id":4887404,"value":null}}},{"id":523969,"type":"pod","published":1,"size":{"x":6,"y":0},"order":10,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4887405,"value":null},"copy":{"id":4887406,"value":null},"href":{"id":4887407,"value":null},"badge":{"id":4887408,"value":null},"icon":{"id":4887409,"value":null},"overlay":{"id":4887410,"value":"0"},"ratio":{"id":4887411,"value":null},"textAlign":{"id":4887412,"value":"center"},"image":{"id":4887413,"value":"{\"src\":\"https:\\\/\\\/images.podos.io\\\/xfjqju9x8ppwsbzjucxbpif7pe1vvlnm8tjctspgebgfsosu.jpeg.jpg?w=auto&h=auto\",\"alt\":\"\"}"}}}],"properties":{"userSaved":{"id":4886241,"value":"1"},"isStorePage":{"id":4886242,"value":"1"},"loginState":{"id":4886244,"value":"everyone"},"title":{"id":4886245,"value":"BLOG: Plastic Packaging Sucks"},"description":{"id":4886246,"value":"What Companies That Use It Don't Want You To Know"},"ogImage":{"id":4886247,"value":"https:\/\/images.podos.io\/1rktnwsr6naxim3okwjkpj9ktzz9eltpbktfgasajdjdsqqr.jpeg.jpg?w=1200&h=auto"}},"labels":[],"published":1,"sitemap":1,"divisionId":114661,"edited":true}WHY We Should Reduce Our Plastic Consumption<\/h3>"},"paragraph1":{"id":4887396,"value":null},"paragraph2":{"id":4887397,"value":null},"paragraph3":{"id":4887398,"value":null}}},{"id":523968,"type":"textBlock","published":1,"size":{"x":6,"y":0},"order":9,"items":[],"properties":{"title":{"id":4887399,"value":null},"subTitle":{"id":4887400,"value":null},"html":{"id":4887401,"value":"