Rick Crawford
I am sure you have heard of Costa’s Kick Plastic Program? Costa has done an excellent job educating anglers and creating more awareness about the impact plastic pollution is having on our fisheries. For example, it is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic than fish (by weight) in the ocean. However, a new report, Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet, was recently released demonstrating that the annual greenhouse gas emissions from the plastic lifecycle in 2019 are the equivalent of the emissions from 189 coal plants. Additionally, if plastic demand and production continues that number is expected to grow to the equivalent of 615 coal plants by 2050, which would account for 10%-13% of the world’s carbon budget.
Some of you may be wondering exactly how much is 0.86 Gt CO2e? To put the 2019 0.86 Gt CO2e in perspective, that is the equivalent of the carbon sequestered by 1,012,152,896 acres of U.S. forests in one year, or the greenhouse gas emissions avoided by 182,242 wind turbines running for a year! Fast forward to 2050 and 2.80 Gt CO2e is the equivalent of the carbon sequestered by 3,295,381,583, or the greenhouse gas emissions avoided by 593,346 wind turbines! In other words, the plastic industry has a massive carbon footprint that contributes to climate change. In fact, according to the report, “nearly every piece of plastic begins as a fossil fuel, and greenhouse gases are emitted at each of each stage of the plastic lifecycle: 1) fossil fuel extraction and transport, 2) plastic refining and manufacture, 3) managing plastic waste, and 4) plastic’s ongoing impact once it reaches our oceans, waterways, and landscape.“
The Plastic & Climate: The Hidden Costs of a Plastic Planet Report concludes that in order to avoid the climate impacts from plastics, we need national and global bans on all single-use, disposable plastic. Here are the proposed solutions:
- ending the production and use of single-use, disposable plastic;
- stopping development of new oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure;
- fostering the transition to zero-waste communities;
- implementing extended producer responsibility as a critical component of circular economies; and
- adopting and enforcing ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors, including plastic production.”
The bottom line is that the era of fossil fuels must come to an end rather abruptly, and so does our demand for single-use plastics as plastics are not only ruining our fisheries, but are clearly a major contributor to the climate emergency our planet faces. So, what can you do about it?
Ending the production and use of single-use, disposable plastic:
We are beginning to see more coastal communities banning plastic bags, styrofoam, etc., but here in South Carolina, the plastic lobbyists are making it difficult by lobbying to “ban the bans” and they have been successful so far, even though almost every coastal city and town in South Carolina has banned plastic bags. However, influencing policy is absolutely mission-critical for not only banning plastics, but also acting on climate, so call your elected officials and let them know that you want them to act on climate!
While it should be the responsibility of the companies who created this mess, here are some ways you can kick plastic today, check out our blog, 5 Things You Can Do to Refuse Single-Use Plastics, but here’s a short list for kicking plastic:
- To-Go Items: Buy reusable water bottles, coffee mugs, bags and straws prevent the need for single-use plastics.
- Bathroom: We recently bought some bamboo toothbrushes and shampoo that looks like a bar of soap, eliminating the need for plastic shampoo bottles.
- Kitchen: Do not buy fruits and vegetables wrapped in plastic. Buy in bulk with your own reusable containers to prevent the need for plastic packaging. Use bees wax wrappers instead of plastic to refrigerate items. We also recently started using dishwasher and laundry detergent that has recyclable cardboard packaging, safer ingredients and no plastic packaging!
Stopping development of new oil, gas, and petrochemical infrastructure:
We are seeing the current administration deregulate environmental restrictions that protect our air and water by pushing hard for more fossil fuel development on everywhere from the Arctic National Wildlife Refuge to expanding offshore drilling off the entire eastern seaboard, neither of which will benefit Americans, but will certainly make fossil fuel companies even more profitable at the expense of future generations ability to meet their own needs.
Fostering the transition to zero-waste communities:
If you are a business looking to go zero-waste to landfill, go carbon-neutral, or explore sustainable materials, check out our Services as we offer these sustainability services and more. If you are an individual, you can divert waste from the landfill by recycling and composting. Then, build yourself a garden where you can use your compost as healthy soil to grow your own fruits and vegetables, which also reduces food miles traveled, and therefore your carbon footprint.
Implementing extended producer responsibility as a critical component of circular economies:
If you have ever traveled to islands like the Bahamas, then you know that many of them don’t have a way to recycle any of the plastic that is imported there, so the bottled waters and sodas are either burned, which pollutes the air, so sent to the landfill. Another challenge these island nations face is that when hurricanes hit, much of the trash in the landfill are strewn all over the island and into our waterways. My point is that the companies producing all of this plastic, like Coca-Cola, Pepsi, Nestle, etc. should be held accountable for not only generating this plastic but also finding ways to collect and recycle them after their usable life. There’s a new company called Loop that is trying to solve this problem, which is certainly a step in the right direction, but these companies should be held accountable.
Adopting and enforcing ambitious targets to reduce greenhouse gas emissions from all sectors, including plastic production:
Businesses, industry associations and our government need to all be setting goals to go carbon neutral, and even carbon negative, by 2030 in order to avoid the looming climate catastrophe. If you are a business, we can help you set and achieve your carbon neutral targets, and if you are an individual, then you can contact your elected officials to influence policy that moves us towards an economy powered by renewable energy, removes the ability of plastic and fossil fuel industry to lobby and to stop subsidizing the fossil fuel industry.
So, how does kicking plastic solve climate change? Well, kicking plastic is not the only climate change solution, but by kicking plastic you are not only helping to keep our oceans clean and fisheries healthy, but you are also helping to fight climate change because the less single-use plastic produced the less greenhouse gases emitted.