Plastic Pollution is Killing Us. Here’s the Only Way to Stop it.

BY SOFO ARCHON

On March 8, 2014, a tragic event occurred: Malaysia Airlines Flight 370, en route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing, suddenly vanished from radar screens. For weeks, no trace of the aircraft could be found. In search of wreckage, experts scrutinized satellite images. One day, they spotted a cluster of objects floating on the ocean’s surface that resembled scattered aircraft parts. For a brief moment, it seemed they had found what they were looking for. But upon closer inspection, they were shocked. Instead of the missing plane, it was a massive pile of plastic trash.

***

Humans consume hundreds of billions of kilograms of plastic each year—and demand continues to grow. Most of it ultimately ends up on land or in the oceans, polluting natural habitats and endangering countless creatures.

Each year, roughly 8 billion kilograms of plastic enter the world’s waters. As a result, millions of marine animals die from plastic pollution, and it is estimated that around 700 marine species have been affected. But these are not the only victims. Seabirds and mammals are also killed by plastic, such as by ingesting it or becoming strangled in discarded fishing nets and six-pack rings.

It’s not just small animals that suffer; even massive creatures like whales fall victim. Recently, two whales were found dead—one in Italy, the other in the Philippines—each with stomachs full of indigestible plastic bags. And just a few months ago, a sperm whale in Scotland died with a 100 kg “litter ball” in its stomach, containing fishing nets, packing straps, ropes, plastic cups, and bags.

Today, plastic waste is found almost everywhere. Marine biologist and researcher John Hocevar observes: “We’ve found plastic everywhere we’ve ever looked. It’s in the Arctic and the Antarctic and in the middle of the Pacific. It’s in the Pyrenees and in the Rockies. It’s settling out of the air. It’s raining down on us.” Plastic bags, candy wrappers and other objects can be found even in pristine terrestrial environments, such as the polar icecaps, and as far as seven miles deep in the Pacific Ocean’s Mariana Trench—the deepest part of the ocean.

In some regions, the scale of plastic pollution is utterly horrifying. One of the most striking examples is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch—a monstrous gyre of marine debris that has accumulated over decades in the Pacific Ocean. Some estimates suggest it is roughly twice the size of Texas, US. Below is an eye-opening video documenting how albatross birds suffer and die from plastic on Midway Island, due to the enormous influx of trash from the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.

Most of the plastic we consume is chemically engineered to be extremely resistant to biodegradation. In fact, experts estimate that it takes anywhere from 400 to over 1,000 years for plastic to fully break down into its constituent molecules.

As bulk plastics degrade over time, they eventually form microplastics—tiny fragments smaller than half a centimeter, and sometimes so small they are invisible to the naked eye. “Microplastics have been found everywhere in the ocean that people have looked,” journalist and author Laura Parker writes, “from sediments on the deepest seafloor to ice floating in the Arctic—which, as it melts over the next decade, could release more than a trillion bits of plastic into the water […] On some beaches on the Big Island of Hawaii, as much as 15 percent of the sand is actually grains of microplastic.” In the words of reporter and author Tim Dickinson, “This pollution is planetwide, impossible to fully remediate, and threatens to disrupt natural systems — including those that allow the oceans to remove carbon from the atmosphere.”

But microplastics aren’t just found “out there” in the world — they’re inside our bodies too. Shockingly, the average person ingests nearly 2,000 microplastics every week, through water, food, and even the air. Disgusting, right? But beyond being disgusting, this is extremely unhealthy. Many of the tiny plastic particles we consume contain hazardous chemicals—such as colorants, flame retardants, and plasticizers—which have been linked to hormone disruption, developmental delays, and even cancer.

As you can understand, the effects of plastic pollution are devastating. The planet—and that includes us—is drowning in a sea of plastic, the result of our own actions. The pressing question, then, is: why do we keep producing and consuming plastic as if there were no consequences?

What’s Good About Plastic?

The increase in plastic production has been exponential. In 1950, the world produced roughly 2 million tons of plastic annually. Today, that number exceeds 300 million tons! In fact, plastic production has grown so rapidly that nearly half of all plastic ever made has been manufactured in just the past 15 years.

Look around you, and you’ll notice that most of the things we use or own—clothes, furniture, electronic gadgets, automobiles, and more—are at least partly made of plastic. So why is that?

There are two main reasons:

The first is low cost of production. The raw materials for plastic—such as cellulose, coal, natural gas, salt, and crude oil—are inexpensive and widely available. Plastic is also extremely versatile, allowing nearly anything to be created from it. On top of that, it can be mass-produced quickly, enabling corporations to reduce production costs and sell a wide range of products at affordable prices. Since business is fundamentally profit-driven, it’s no surprise that plastic has become a component of almost every product sold.

The second reason is consumer convenience. Many plastic products are cheap, making it easy for people to discard them—even if they could last for years or decades. In fact, about 40% of all plastic produced is intended for single-use purposes. These include plastic bags, packaging boxes, cups, straws, and cutlery. People often throw them away after just one use, enjoying the freedom from maintaining them, only to buy new items of the same kind, use them briefly, and discard them again.

It’s profoundly saddening that, for the sake of convenience, cost and financial gain, people are filling the world with toxic plastic waste. But what’s even more troubling is that many remain unaware of the devastating impacts our relentless plastic consumption is having on the planet.

The Myth of Plastic Recycling

Corporations and governments have long promoted the idea that plastics can be recycled, and most of us have bought into it. As a result, we continue to buy plastic products endlessly, tossing most of them into the recycling bin, confident that we aren’t contributing to plastic pollution.

The truth, however, is that only a tiny fraction of plastics can be recycled—and even then, only temporarily. In the end, all plastics find their way into the environment, polluting Earth and endangering the 8.7 million animal species we share it with.

Regenerative designer and inventor Russell Maier provides a revealing look at how environmentally destructive the common “recycling” process really is:

In nature, when a leaf falls from a tree, 100% of its nutrients biodegrade and are recycled (in the true meaning of the word) back into the local ecosystem. This all happens within a few dozen square meters. When a plastic bottle is tossed into a blue bin it begins a process of a fundamentally different sort: a high-energy journey around the planet, bouncing from one factory and superstore to another where it inevitably crash-lands into a distant ecosystem.

He goes on to explain how PET plastics—the most commonly used “recyclable” plastics in consumer products—are not, in fact, fully recycled:

Whereas 100% of a tree’s leaves are recycled, not all PET bottles are. A significant percentage is lost– either someone put it in the wrong bin or the sorting plant missed it. Likewise, a percentage are too worn or dirty to be recycled back into PET. In this case, it is recycled into a lower form of plastic (like plastics #2, 3, 4, 5, 6, 7). Maybe a bottle cap. Maybe a plastic bag.

In Europe in 2012, 38% of plastic waste was not recycled. But this number in itself is misleading– because eventually all PET will be lost, be worn, or be too dirty to be recycled. Eventually all PET is recycled down a number. And then eventually that plastic is recycled down another number. Finally, the material is recycled down into something that just can’t be recycled anymore.

In other words, recycling doesn’t prevent final disposal—it only delays it. Even if it did, a 2017 study found that of the trillions of kilograms of plastic waste produced since 1950, only 9% has ever been recycled. And remember: plastics persist for hundreds of years.

If current trends continue, by 2050 plastic is expected to outnumber fish in the oceans, with roughly 12 billion metric tons accumulating in landfills. To put that in perspective, that’s the equivalent of the Empire State Building’s weight multiplied 35,000 times. So I ask: is this truly the kind of world we want for ourselves, our children, and all other living beings on Earth?

How to Stop Plastic Pollution

If we want to stop poisoning the planet, we need to put an end to plastic pollution. To achieve that, action is required on four different levels:

• Firstly, as individuals, we need to minimize our plastic consumption. Much plastic exists simply because there is high demand for it. If demand decreases, production will follow. Each of us can help reduce plastic pollution by limiting our use of plastic wherever practically possible. I emphasize the word practically because, in a world where plastic is nearly everywhere, it’s almost impossible for most people to live entirely plastic-free. Still, even small reductions can make a significant difference.
• Secondly, we need to disincentivize corporations from producing plastic. The main reason corporations manufacture so much plastic is its low cost. But as we’ve seen, the hidden costs are enormous. Instead of corporations paying for the damage, the burden falls on the victims—people, animals, and the natural world. Corporations must therefore be heavily taxed for environmentally harmful practices. By removing their financial incentives to produce plastic, they will be forced to adopt more eco-friendly materials in their manufacturing processes.
• Thirdly, we need to radically transform our economic system—an issue that almost nobody is talking about. It’s easy to blame corporations for the immense environmental harm they cause, but the truth is they are not inherently evil. They operate in a competitive, profit-driven economy based on endless consumption and growth. In such a system, even if the world’s most polluting corporations were removed, others would inevitably take their place because the underlying incentives remain. To truly eliminate plastic pollution—and environmental destruction more broadly—we must transition to an economy that prioritizes sustainability over short-term profit. (I discuss this in detail here.)
• Lastly, we need to raise awareness about plastic pollution. Most people remain unaware of the impacts of their plastic consumption. Living far from dump sites or coastal areas, they buy and discard plastic without much thought, often believing recycling absolves them of responsibility. Educating others about the consequences of plastic use and ways to reduce or stop it is essential for change. The fact that you’ve read this article to the end shows that you care deeply. So, if you found it valuable, consider sharing it with friends and family. Ultimately, this is how social change always begins: with a few caring people raising awareness about issues that matter.