Plastic=Bad?

Question

I'm wondering if someone can explain to me why plastic is so bad for the earth.

I understand that if someone burns plastic,it puts toxins into the air.And if you throw it away,it will take thousands of years to break down.But think of all the good things you get from plastic.

Your childs bike helmet

Iv bags in hospitals

Plastic bags at the grocery store(which can be recycled!)

So can someone explain to me why plastic is "bad for the earth"?

Answer 1

I dont think plastic a nessicarily a bad thing.If you think about how much plastic we could recycle,plastic could be the thing that saves the earth.Practially everything you own in your life has or is made up of plastic.We depend on it so much in the world,that if we were to get rid of it,you would loose 95% of the things you own.

I'll admit,plastic isnt always the best way to go,but if you recycle it,it can be used over and over.And recycling is the number 1 way to save the earth.

It's always better to reuse than to recycle for starters,for example:

Empty soda bottles or mayo bottles-store something in them

Plastic 6 pack can holders-sew them together to make netting for your garden

And the things you cant reuse,you can recycle them,or if they are still usable,try donating them!

Good luck!

Answer 2

more than 90% of plastic bags are never recycled. Which is why I can see three in the trees outside my bedroom window. I hate them.Lets face it, when I was a kid they neverput two items in a paper bag...they do that all the time at grocery stores now. Why? because they dont have a very long life span as far as use.

Yes, there are some good things about plastic - but most of it sucks - in large part because its so cheap, and we are so irriesponsible about using it.

Answer 3

Well you see, plastic is what you find ALOT in any cheapo's home.  Cheap people are the pollution in the social "world."  Think about it.

Answer 4

Most things that are left on the ground abandoned biodegrade sooner or later, even if it takes from 1 week to hundreds of years.

Plastic NEVER biodegrades, thus keeping more trash on the earth, filling up landfills with worthless plastic just sitting there.

If we as people would come together and recycle EVERY SINGLE plastic thing, it would save alot of litter on the ground, and would go back into making those great things like bike helmets and IV bags.

The statistics of those who recycle plastics in any way is horrible: it's only about 5%.

60 billion plastic bottles are made every year, yet only 20% of that is recycled.

We need to start shopping with re-usable, enviornment friendly bags. All of these plastic bags are going no where, they are wasting away in our backyards, landfills, parks, anywhere imaginable.

Also, plastic rings and everything are thrown on beaches, and the animals eat it, then the animals die. Sooner or later these animals all die out. There is some upsides to plastics, but the downfalls far outweigh them.

Answer 5

plastic is bad for the earth because it takes a lot of years to descompose

Answer 6

Plastic doesn`t biodegrade like say paper,It takes longer

As A Recycling professional I can tell you what we do with the plastic we collect.

We take it to a processing center,They bale it up and resell it,to be used again for more plastic products

Answer 7

Read Rachel Carson's "Silent Spring".  It's not just the fact that plastic is un-biodegradable and ends up in the rubbish heaps.  It also has a estogen hormone mimmic ability.  It causes "the feminisation of nature".  And have you seen what happens to the people who end up having to DO the recycling?  It's seriously not good for the health!