The Scope of the Plastic Problem

Help us stay ahead of plastic pollution.

A popular dieting rallying cry reminds the tempted “a moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips,” a helpful reminder that momentary pleasure has a hidden price tag. That reminder has undoubtedly helped many a dieter staring down the barrel of a full bag of chips, and yet there seems to be no mainstream safeguard against perhaps a more pernicious and more myopic form of consumption, that of single-use plastic.

It's no secret that single use plastic bags and bottles don’t biodegrade, but few people probably internalize the staggering implications of that fact. A quick Google search suggests estimates of 450 years for the breakdown of a single PET plastic water bottle, making a plastic-adapted version of the dieters rallying cry more appropriately, “a minute in the hand, 6 lifetimes on the land.”

Put differently, that water bottle that you chugged on your hike or after your sports game without much thought will survive your great-great-great-grandkids - and that’s the case with each bottle. The average American is estimated to go through 156 single-use plastic bottles per year, making on the whole 50 billion bottles consumed per year. Taking the 450-year lifetime of a PET bottle and assuming that current consumption levels hold indefinitely (a conservative assumption), that suggests that at any given time, there will be a standing stockpile of 22.5 trillion plastic bottles in the process of decomposing just from American consumption. Unfortunately, it’s likely that the current consumption levels will not hold at their current levels, but only increase. What is more, the U.S. is far from unique when it comes to its plastic produced - with similarly staggering consumption being reported by countries such as China, India, Indonesia, etc.

This piling up of plastic material isn’t inconsequential. Microplastics, produced when plastic material breaks down, have been found in the highest point on earth, the Himalayas, and the deepest ocean on earth, the Marianas Trench. What is more, a recent 2024 study by the University of New Mexico found microplastics in every human placenta tested and Matthew Campen, PhD. voiced his concern that that discovery could suggest that all mammalian life on the planet may be impacted by this material. Another UNM study identified microplastics in human and canine testicular tissue and found certain types of plastic to be correlated with lower sperm counts. While all the long-term, downstream effects on human health are not fully known, these are unambiguously unwelcome signals that plastic is harming both the planet and our bodies.

Despite the negative impacts, current activities to dissuade plastic consumption and properly address plastic pollution are insufficient. No countries are actively taking responsibility for the continent-sized garbage patches in the oceans, and the tasks left to private enterprises such as the Ocean Cleanup are truly daunting. Even so the best large-scale collectors can do at present is collect the large pieces of litter, while the pepper-sized flakes swiring from the sea floor to the sea surface remain. At this point, the international community is left to simply play defense and prevent more plastic from adding to the mess.

Sadly, the flow of plastic into the world continues unabated and uncaring. Data published by Plastics Europe (PEMRG), indicates that globally over 300 million tons of plastic are now being produced annually. To make matters worse, National Geographic’s Stacey Cook indicates that below 10% of plastic gets recycled, suggesting that the overwhelming majority of the material is destined to sit in landfills or sully the ocean for centuries to come. If measures aren’t taken to chart a new course, we will soon see a world choked with plastic debris that we can’t escape.

The Rising Tide Foundation is working to remedy the plastic problem by taking plastic out of rivers and oceans to be properly re-inserted back into the economy. We need your help to counteract the onslaught of plastic waste and keep the world’s nature natural.

Sources: UNM, National Geographic, Green Match, Clinton PWGNJ, Marine Debris Program.