THE TRUE COST OF PLASTIC: IT STARTS CHEAP – ENDS UP COSTING THE EARTH

Eol verdadero coste del plástico

At first glance, plastic seems like the perfect material: its malleable, resistant and economical – very economical.

Depending on the type of plastic, a kilo of virgin raw material costs pennies and its much cheaper to produce new products than recycling old ones. That´s why manufacturers doggedly use it and why we consumers devour it – its dirt cheap.

Plastic is economical, but comes at a price, a big price….

If we include the other factors in the mix we can see the real cost of plastic.

PLASTIC: A PROBLEM FOR THE PLANET, PEOPLE AND ANIMALS

1. Costing the earth

Our rivers, forests and shores are flooded with containers and with that comes micro-plastics entering the food chain and contaminating the earth. In case the environmental cost of plastic wasn’t enough, there is also an economic cost for the planet.

Elverdadero coste del plástico

Have you stopped to think about how much it costs to efficiently manage the plastic we produce?

What is the economic cost of dealing with the waste resulting from approximately 350 million tons of plastic manufactured each year and potentially doubling by 2025 (Greenpeace USA) where will all this plastic go??

If you read our post “Plastic recycling is a lie“, you will know that most of the plastic (at least 70%) ends up in landfill or shipped abroad to countries like Malaysia.

To efficiently manage this material so it does´t end up in the environment would be very expensive. It would involve creating many different processes to recycle even the smallest pieces and least used types of plastic and would also involve hiring millions of people around the world to sort waste in recycling centres.

If this were to become a reality, the cost of each piece of plastic would rise enormously.

Go figure – a plastic comb or teaspoon would cost you infinitely more than its wood or stainless steel counterparts.

So what manufacturers save now, they´re stealing from the planet´s future.

2. Costing our health:

Surely you´ve already noticed, plastic is ubiquitous. Even if you´ve begun to reduce it in your home or have managed to achieve a zero waste lifestyle, as soon as you go out into the street you´re surrounded by it in supermarkets, schools, restaurants and hospitals – plastic rules.

But do you know the consequences of this daily exposure to plastic?

Plastic contains hormonal disruptors; synthetic toxins that alter the normal functioning of the endocrine system causing diseases.

In fact, according to the Ecology Centre, California, exposure to these chemicals can lead to cancers especially breast, prostate and testicular. They can also cause birth defects, immune system suppression and developmental problems in children. Other effects of plastic pollution include lowering of IQ in the next generation, thyroid problems, lowering sperm count, infertility in women, obesity and diabetes. Guardian – Health Costs of hormone disrupting chemicals over €150bn a year in Europe

Although the research is in its early stages, the predictions on public health from these toxins cannot be underestimated and the cost for health service providers could be disastrous.

3. The effect on our animal kingdom:

The animal kingdom is the other huge area damaged by the plastic boom. They die by ingesting it, by getting trapped in it or their habitats become too toxic to survive in.

Ave víctima plástico

 

Its almost impossible to calculate the economic cost of rescuing or saving each animal harmed by the problem of plastic. Among other reasons, because there is currently no reliable research and statistics that show the vast amount of animals affected.

And if its already difficult to measure in economic terms, losing whole species could have catastrophic effects on our planet; its difficult to imagine the huge effort it would take to limit this damage.

 

IS TAXING PLASTIC THE SOLUTION?

Given the real cost of plastic, there is a debate about possible solutions.

One of them is a plastic tax.

What would happen if our governments treated plastic like tobacco? If plastic is considered a public health hazard and campaigns against it are encouraged?

And above all, what would happen if plastic included a tax to cover the environmental, health and animal costs?

As you can imagine, what would happen is that plastic would stop being so cheap and both companies and consumers would begin to abandon it for other safer and more respectful alternatives for us, the animals and the planet.

 

OUR PROPOSAL: REUSE AND REDUCE

As we told you in the post “Are paper bags greener than plastic?” Changing one raw material for another is not the only solution.

But in this particular case, changing plastic for paper or glass would solve part of the problem, especially for our health, environment and for the economy.
Alternatives that are being initiated are not only seen as an “eco” alternative, but as a real necessity.

 

CONCLUSION: PLASTIC IS A CHEAP MATERIAL… BUT ITS COSTING THE EARTH

EPlastic is cheap for those who use it looking for individual savings, but collectively it costs us a lot.

And that leads us to a question: is it fair that the planet, people and animals suffer the true cost of plastic use to line the pockets of a few fat cats?

We think not.

Do you tell us in comments what you think?

Para saber más sobre el tema del plástico, consulta nuestro catálogo de libros

books about plastic pollution

 

23 thoughts on “THE TRUE COST OF PLASTIC: IT STARTS CHEAP – ENDS UP COSTING THE EARTH”

  1. Okay, wow! First off, does anyone really think the pic of the duck with plastic inside of it, is real? Do you really believe all of the feathers just happened to be pushed neatly into the sand? And the person who staged this ridiculous picture put the feet on the wrong side, clear up by the neck. Just another lie to the people to promote your money making schemes. You can’t go on treating people like dirt, the universe won’t allow it. And your day is coming real soon. No such picture truly exists because it’s not real and a bold faced lie. Shame shame shame on you!!!!!!

    Reply

    1. wow i didn’t expect someone to take that so seriously, especially from someone who chances are, are much, much older than me but hey, we all make mistakes

      but you, my friend, made a big one

      lemme explain

      i looked that “fake” photo you mentioned up on Lens and although i couldn’t really find any direct matches, (my laptop’s too laggy so i was forced to give up) i know for a fact, even without looking at the source that this is clearly an artistic composition designed to outline the issues of plastic, not a factual and true piece of evidence someone found just laying on a beach like you assumed

      i can tell because of the lack of green in the photo, and a deliberate gradient from a vibrant red to a almost-greenish teal

      in layman’s terms, that means an art piece

      this art piece’s even been featured in many other articles, if you’ll bother to look

      complaining about the “fake image” would have been fair enough, again, we all make mistakes, i seriously can’t believe that you think that encouraging us all to save the planet is just a scam to promote their “money making schemes”

      like bro, what side of the internet have you been stuck on, the side where you can’t escape the free robux, or the free YT2MP4 converters, or the 1 millionth visitor pages, or the “get free pension here” articles or the goddamn blockchain for crying out loud like oh my GOD

      is WARNING you guys treating you guys like dirt? what on earth could be offending you lot? what could possibly warrant this kind of reaction from someone?! this was a harmless article that i was reading for my Geography project and everything here made sense!

      i mean, c’mon, the ENTIRE article is about how supporting plastic is just supporting those who turn a blind eye to the damage it does to the world, quick buck or not

      what i’m trying to say is the only person wrong here is you

      ’cause that’s not even sand, ya thick-headed prick, that’s more likely to be the rubble outside my goddamn doorstep

      so don’t go calling people bold-faced liars when you don’t know a THING about what you’re talking about

      and shame on you, and your six exclamation marks.

      shame on you.

      Reply

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