Tag Archives: plastics

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Beware!! Plastics Are Found In Almost Everything & They Do Make A Difference….

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Guilty for disregarding the hazardous effects of plastics and ignoring the need to recycle them? I certainly am. To be honest…before this semester, I did not pay heed to plastics, let alone to any wastes that require recycling. I did not own a separate recycling can, as I didn’t care much nor understand the reason for recycling. However, following the lectures given in this semester, I will admit, I am guilty- I am guilty for disregarding the harmful effects plastics have on the environment.

Following the Plastics Data Collection, I became extremely aware of every piece of plastic that was thrown away. I had a separate bag that collected mine and my husband’s plastics. I did not think for a second that I would actually begin recycling after this assignment. I thought to myself, ‘well, I’ll do this for 4 days just for Professor Branco.’ Oh, How I was wrong!

My husband has been nagging me to recycle every single day since the day we married. Being ‘lazy’ and kind of inconsiderate to the environment, I found the idea of recycling ‘dumb’ and ‘time-consuming,’ having to separate certain wastes from others. To my dismay, during this assignment, I realized exactly how difficult the process of recycling really is, even though I ONLY separated plastics. Being mindful and attentive to what was considered plastic and what was not was an endless and tiresome process, but it opened my eyes to the abundance of plastics that I throw to waste each and every day. Every water bottle was considered 2 pieces of plastics. I consume about 6 bottles a day, alone, disregarding the amount of water my husband consumes, and the other pieces of plastics I throw away throughout the day. Although the process of separation was tedious, the results were outrageously shocking! At the end of each day, the bag set aside for plastics was full, while my usual garbage can was almost empty! Almost everything I put to waste contained wholes or fragments of plastic!!

I found that the research obtained before the data collection of plastics was extremely crucial because without the knowledge of the harmful effects plastics can have on the environment, I would not have paid heed to the amount of plastics I threw out a day and would certainly not begin recycling. I am proud to say, to my husband’s surprise (and happiness of course!) I bought a recycling bin for my house and began recycling what needs to be recycled. I now understand the effects that recycled wastes, especially plastics, can have on the environment and do not intend on causing any more harm!

So thanks to Professor Branco, for opening our eyes to the hazardous effects that plastics have on the marine environment!

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Home Plastics Data Collection: Is Being Mindful Enough?

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Upon receiving the assignment for the home plastics data collection, I was immediately hesitant. I didn’t think my family would be particularly participatory, and besides, who wants to quantify the harm they’re personally contributing to the environment?

To my surprise, my family responded relatively warmly. I hung up a chart on the refrigerator with a pen conveniently attached (if they had to expend effort looking for a pen to record the data, I wasn’t going to get much), and acted as the annoying voice in the back of their head reminding them to be aware of the plastic they’re consuming.

In addition to learning more precisely what is and isn’t plastic, and in which category the pieces belong, the data collection compelled us to be mindful—mindful of our plastic intake, where we dispose of these plastics, and how dependent on plastics our lives have become.

I think that doing research before participating in this plastics audit was a good idea. It allowed us to be mindful in another way, besides the aforementioned ones: we were able to understand, at least to some extent, the damage of plastics in the environment. It contextualized what exactly we were doing. However, it then led me to wonder: yes, all those who participate in such a data collection will inevitably learn of the harm caused by plastics, but does that prompt a real shift in plastic consumption? Is there a tangible change in attitude and lifestyle? Besides, how many households could even make a dent in national—or even citywide—plastic consumption? We talked a bit in class about what corporations can do, since they’re the ones with the power. But what can the average layperson, who’s throwing out 6 pieces of plastic a day, do to positively impact the environment?

This led me to think about what recycling really does. Why didn’t we just count the plastic that we didn’t recycle? I did some simple googling, and came across an informative CBS News article, in which I learned that “the materials least likely to be melted and reused were plastic: PET…bottles and jars had a recycling rate of 29.2 percent, white translucent bottles a rate of 27.5 percent.” Also, a professor from Baruch (go CUNY!) was quoted as saying, “Even if everyone is America was perfect at recycling everything, it wouldn’t make a dent in the overall flow in the waste materials.” Ultimately though, recycling isn’t bad and “it helps companies and governments save some money in the long run.” Still, I’m not satisfied.

All I can say is, instead of providing answers, this data collection prompted lots of questions.

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Are You There, Pods? It’s Me, Margaret.

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If by “pods” you mean “left-over, un-dissolvable plastic particles from PODS” and by “there” you mean “in our water” then the answer is probably yes.

After participating in our Home Plastic Audit Data Collection, my mother asked me if we should have been counting our use of laundry and dishwasher pods. My answer to this was, “Well, probably, but if they’re biodegradable, we aren’t really throwing them out.” But are pods really as eco-friendly as most consumers believe? To answer this question, I did some basic research pertaining to Tide PODS.

Most advertising listings for these pods list that they are completely dissolvable. In Aaron Mickelson’s Masters Thesis Project, The Disappearing Package, Mickelson even reports that the, “POD plastic is… water soluble.” Yet, on Drugstore.com, the ingredients for Tide PODS are listed as, “Nonionic and Anionic Surfactants, Ethoxylated Polyethylene Polyamine (Polymer) and Enzymes.” A Google search was unable to tell me whether or not this kind of polymer was dissolvable in water, so I turned to the less-specifics. According to, “How a Polymer Gets Dissolved,” polymers take a long time to dissolve but when they do the particles are not completely broken down, which is why polymeric solutions have a high viscosity. To my understanding, then, Tide PODS seem to dissolve in water because there is no residue left in a consumer’s washing machine, but plastic particles remain in the water that is flushed out.

With a rise in plastics being found in the world’s water overall, it seems counterintuitive for companies to be packaging detergent in plastic to be sent directly into our water systems. However, the Environmental Success Stories in the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry reports that Tide PODS, “are packaged in either a recyclable tub or a lightweight bag, reducing plastic use by 50 percent per customer.” Perhaps the PODS and their packaging are more friendly in their attempt to decrease overall plastic use than their predecessor, but they are still far from perfect. The Mickelson Thesis claims that each PODS bag is 16 grams of plastic waste and with the plastic component of the PODS themselves, the reduction of plastic use per consumer by 50% seems like a drastic statistic.

I am not a scientist, nor am I a research analyst, but Tide PODS do not seem to be as environment-friendly as I originally believed them to be. My family will probably continue to use Tide PODS because they are quick and easy to use, so I hope that the statistic labeled by the Grocery Manufacturers Association is correct in that consumers who use PODS are reducing their plastic use overall. After all, as Tide states in the PODS product description on their website, “The Earth’s resources are limited and valuable, and we have an obligation to future generations to use these resources wisely.”

Works Cited

Environmental Success Stories in the Consumer Packaged Goods Industry. Grocery Manufacturers Association Online. Grocery Manufacturers Association, 2014. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Grassino, Susanna B. “How a Polymer Gets Dissolved.” Polymer Solutions. University of Southern Mississippi Department of Polymer Science, 2000. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Mickelson, Aaron. “The Disappearing Package – Tide PODs.” Thesis. Pratt Institute, 2015. The Disappearing Package – Tide PODs. Pratt Institute. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Tide Laundry Care 5-Item Bundle Pack. Drugstore.com. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

Tide PODS Laundry Detergent Original Scent. Tide. Web. 27 Oct. 2015.

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The Plastics Highway to Trinidad and Tobago

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A CUNY colleague of mine shared this short video shared on the Facebook page of the Papa Bois Conservation organization in Trinidad and Tobago. It’s short and simple, but describes how plastic waste from far away places washes up on the shores of this Caribbean Island. Note that the sources of many of these items can be determined by the markings and information found on the bottles and other debris. The fact that the information survives the journey across the seas from Guyana to Trinidad speaks to the durability of the plastics, and why they have become such a distinctive and ubiquitous feature of the Anthropocene.

Do you have any idea how far trash travels in the ocean? Have a look at the space rocket parts that regularly wash up on Trinidad's East Coast, together with plastic bottles from Guyana, Surinam and Venezuela. See some footage of Trinidadian bottles that made it all the way to Mexico!

Posted by Papa Bois Conservation on Monday, 7 September 2015