Plastic Straws and the Need for a Ban
Plastic straws are non-biodegradable; banning it beats plastic pollution in the environment. There has been a heated debate on whether to get rid of plastic straws in Canada and other world countries in the recent past. This debate has been brought about by the scale of problems that have been created by the use of single-use plastic straws in the country. Single-use plastic materials such as straws are the nastiest form of plastics because they have a very short lifespan. Most plastics when used are discarded off to landfills, making it to be the greatest avoidable environmental pollutant in the world.
The Environmental Impact of Plastic Straws
Research has shown that close to 8.3 billion tonnes of plastics have been made since 1950 and out of it; of which 6.3 billion have been wasted. This production creates a risk from disposal of non biodegradable materials on the environment. The end destination for most of the plastic waste materials is usually in the ocean and other water catchment areas. Among the most commonly disposed of plastic material is the straw. This paper seeks to identify some of the effects that plastic straws bring to our environment and the reasons why it should be banned in Canada. To do this, the effect of plastics straws on the environment including land pollution, water pollution and air pollution, is considered. The fact that plastics do not biodegrade and cannot be recycled is also considered. To counter this policy on the ban, the argument that it is not enough to ban plastic straws as one of the plastic materials is considered. Excess plastic straws disposed on the environment are harmful both to the animals to human beings:
Effect on Land and Air
Firstly, Excess disposal of plastic straws have dangerous effect on land and Air. Plastic straws being the most unnecessary plastic materials are discarded more often than any other materials. When discarded inappropriately, it litters the environment and makes the land ugly. When it is dumped in landfills, it usually mixes with water to form chemicals which are hazardous to the environment. The same chemicals sip down the soil to add toxic substances to the soil content and when it mixes with underground water it degrades its quality ("No Straw Please", 2018).
Since plastic straws are light, they can be carried ways by wind and they get deposited in another place an effect which litters the land. They also can get stuck on trees, electric or telephone poles, fences and traffic fences and domestic animals might ingest them leading to death. They waste when inappropriately disposed of can end up in the soil and disintegrate into very small particles which when it breaks down further can ether the food chain ("Environmental Impact of Plastic Straws (2018 Facts & Statistics)", 2018). It is therefore appropriate that Canada bans plastic straws in order to create a policy that helps reduce and eradicate the effects of plastic wastes.
Effect on Aquatic Life
Secondly, plastic pollutants have extensive negative effect on aquatic Life. Since plastic materials are made out of toxic chemicals, disposing them into water bodies is very harmful to aquatic plants and animals. Those disposed into oceans in a million everyday day have the effect of physically displacing water animals such as fish and ducks if not poisoning them (Parker, 2017). In other instances, aquatic animals such as fish and ducks are eating plastic thinking it is food. Since plastics have the ability to disintegrate into very small pieces that is enough to pass through the stomach and flesh of fish, human beings and other animals that feed on fish also end up eating the same plastics which they have thrown into the sea (Suzuki, 2018). Because of its effects on water and aquatic life, plastic straws should be get rid of in Canada.
Non-Biodegradability and Lack of Recycling
Finally the reason why Plastic Straws should be banned which would the main reason concerning the environment and the future of it is the fact that they Non-Biodegradable and Can’t Be Easily Recycled. Plastic Straws are made from type 5 polypropylene, a material which is not accepted by most recycling plants. Because they are not recycled they end up in landfills or water bodies ("Environmental Impact of Plastic Straws (2018 Facts & Statistics)", 2018). They also cannot be broken down naturally into smaller particles to be digested by micro-organisms. It has been estimated that it usually takes up to 200 years for pieces of plastics to disappear completely on earth ("Why Are Straws Bad For The Environment? | 1 Million Women", 2017).
The Counterargument
Despite of the strong arguments for banning plastic straws, there has also been a second thought against this policy. The main argument is that, plastic straws are just but a fraction of plastic produced yearly in Canada which would require consideration of whether to get rid of plastic straws to be given a second thought. There are different types of plastics other than that the straws, 300 million tones are produced every year of which straws is just a fraction of it. (Chung, 2018). Advocates that are against this ban argue that the ban may not be a feasible way of eradicating plastic wastes but instead, the law should be made to consider broader changes including the way in which plastics are produced, used and disposed of. Canada should, therefore, monitor the effects of the policy on plastic straw bans beforehand to avoid enforcing a regulation that is not effective.
Conclusion
To sum up, it is evident that there are a number of environmental effects that are created by the presence of plastic straws in Canada. As discussed above, plastic straws are one of the mostly single-use plastics in the world since they are used only for a short time before being discarded. As such straws pause more environmental effect than other plastics. These effects range from water pollution, land position and killing of aquatic life. Although many people are of the opinion that plastic straw’s ban would result in a cleaner environment consideration should also be given to the fact that there are also other plastic materials that can pollute the environment. The most appropriate way to handle this issue would be to formulate a policy that in calculates broader changes including how plastics should be produced, used and disposed of.
Reference
Chung, E. (2018). 'We need to rethink the entire plastics industry': Why banning plastic straws isn't enough | CBC News. Retrieved from https://www.cbc.ca/news/technology/banning-plastic-straws-1.4628160
Environmental Impact of Plastic Straws (2018 Facts " Statistics). (2018). Retrieved from https://get-green-now.com/environmental-impact-plastic-straws/
No Straw Please. (2018). Retrieved from http://www.plasticpollutioncoalition.org/no-straw-please
Parker, L. (2017). Straw Wars: The Fight to Rid the Oceans of Discarded Plastic. Retrieved from https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/plastic-straws-ocean-trash-environment/
Suzuki, D. (2018). Plastic straws suck - David Suzuki Foundation. Retrieved from https://davidsuzuki.org/story/plastic-straws-suck/?nabe=4625222413320192:0"utm_referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com%2F
Why Are Straws Bad For The Environment? | 1 Million Women. (2017). Retrieved from https://www.1millionwomen.com.au/blog/straws-why-they-seriously-suck/
