Plastic Armageddon

Our world. It’s filled with an incredible, beautiful variety of life. But over the last half-century or so, there is a newcomer on the scene. Plastic.

“Global plastic production by feedstock type 2018,” Statista, January 27, 2021, https://www.statista.com/statistics/1114289/global-cumulative-plastic-production-by-type
“Study: 9 billion tons of plastic produced since ’40s, and most is still out there,” The San Diego Union-Tribute, July 24, 2017, http://www.sandiegouniontribune.com/communities/north-county/sd-no-plastic-study-20170724-story.html
“Planet or Plastic?” National Geographic, May 15, 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis
“Earth is becoming ‘Planet Plastic,’” BBC, July 19, 2017, http://www.bbc.com/news/science-environment-40654915
“By 2050, the oceans could have more plastic than fish,” Business Insider, January 26, 2017, https://www.businessinsider.com/plastic-in-ocean-outweighs-fish-evidence-report-2017-1
“A million bottles a minute: world’s plastic binge ‘as dangerous as climate change’”, The Guardian, June 28, 2017
“Coca-Cola’ increases production of plastic bottles by a billion’,” The Independent, October 4, 2017, http://www.independent.co.uk/news/business/news/coca-cola-bottles-plastic-increase-coke-total-number-world-yearly-a7981561.html
Plastic Bag Consumption Facts, Conserving Now, https://conservingnow.com/plastic-bag-consumption-facts
“The Throwaway Generation: 25 Billion Styrofoam Cups a Year,” Environmental Magazine, https://emagazine.com/the-throwaway-generation-25-billion-styrofoam-cups-a-year
“Washing clothes releases thousands of microplastic particles into environment, study shows,” Plymouth University News, September 27, 2016, https://www.plymouth.ac.uk/news/washing-clothes-releases-thousands-of-microplastic-particles-into-environment-study-shows
Dr. Teale Phelps Bondaroff and Sam Cooke, “Masks on the Beach: The Impact of COVID-19 on Marine Plastic Pollution,” OceansAsia, December 2020, https://oceansasia.org/covid-19-facemasks
“UN’s mission to keep plastics out of oceans and marine life,” UN News Centre, April 27, 2017, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56638
“Conservationists say sea garbage is hindering the search for missing Malaysia Airlines plane MH370,” Courier Mail, April 2 2014
“There’s Probably Plastic in Your Sea Salt,” Hakai Magazine, May 8, 2017, https://www.hakaimagazine.com/article-short/theres-probably-plastic-your-sea-salt
“Nearly Every Seabird on Earth Is Eating Plastic,” National Geographic, September 2, 2015, https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2015/09/15092-plastic-seabirds-albatross-australia
“UN’s mission to keep plastics out of oceans and marine life,” UN News Centre, April 27, 2017, http://www.un.org/apps/news/story.asp?NewsID=56638
“Plastic Fibers Are Found in 83% of the World’s Tap Water, a New Study Reveals,” Time Magazine, September 6, 2017, http://time.com/4928759/plastic-fiber-tap-water-study
“Plastic fibres found in tap water around the world, study reveals,” The Guardian, September 5, 2017
“World’s Leading Brands of Bottled Water Loaded With Microplastics, Study Says,” Weather.com, March 16, 2018
“Origin of Synthetic Particles in Honeys,” June 2015, Polish Journal of Food and Nutrition Sciences, vol. 65, no. 2, pp. 143–147
“Microplastics in bivalves cultured for human consumption,” Environmental Pollution, 2014, vol. 193, pp. 65-70
“Forget acid rain. Plastic rain is now falling across the U.S.,” USA Today, June 12, 2020
“It’s raining plastic: microscopic fibers fall from the sky in Rocky Mountains,” The Guardian, August 13, 2019, https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2019/aug/12/raining-plastic-colorado-usgs-microplastics
“Plastic Plague in Our Oceans,” Science In Society, Spring 2015, issue 65, p. 7.
“2-Hydroxy-4-methoxybenzophenone,” PubChem, https://pubchem.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/source/hsdb/4503
“Perils of plastics? Survey of risks to human health and the environment,” Science News, March 20, 2010, https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2010/03/100319115631.htm
“Phthalates are everywhere, and the health risks are worrying. How bad are they really?” The Guardian, February 10, 2015, https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2015/feb/10/phthalates-plastics-chemicals-research-analysis
“Chemicals From Plastics, Cosmetics Found in Wild Dolphins,” National Geographic, September 7, 2018, https://www.nationalgeographic.com/animals/2018/09/news-dolphins-plastic-chemical-traces-found
“Plastics and microplastics in the oceans: From emerging pollutants to emerged threat,” Marine Environmental Research, 2016, p. 5
“What’s Gone Wrong With Plastic Recycling,” Consumer Reports, April 30, 2020, https://www.consumerreports.org/recycling/whats-gone-wrong-with-plastic-recycling
“The New Plastics Economy- Rethinking the future of plastics,” Ellen MacArthur Foundation, 2017, https://www.ellenmacarthurfoundation.org/publications/the-new-plastics-economy-rethinking-the-future-of-plastics