Causes of Plastic Pollution

A. C'mon, Praveena :-)

The point of your homework is not to harass you, but to teach you to think problems through. Sounds like you cut & pasted your homework here before spending even 10 seconds thinking about it yet. I'm happy to help you on a specific if you get stuck, but have you no theory at all on even one of your three questions?! Good luck.

A. Heck, Praveena, you sure did get a good reply from Ted ... and probably deserved his answer, too.

It's thanks to Plastics that many industrial areas are not polluting so much as they have replaced many metals ... the advantages far, far exceed any disadvantages. They have, to answer your question, benefited mankind.

The chemicals used? Mainly oil derived, (e.g., PVC's), some from natural gases (Pe and PP), others from compounding or synthesizing various gases/solvents but virtually ALL relate to carbon and, like a parrot, all are Poly this or Poly that meaning that they have been polymerized by chemists for a certain function and end use.

A. I really think that you should look around you at the lakes and rivers Praveena. You could see garbage in them. The causes of plastic pollution is that careless self absorbed people don't care about any pollution as long as it doesn't effect them. But wait and see what happens when it gets to be too much!

There is certainly truth to that Cecilia; thanks for the idea! But it's also a bit of a simplification of a complex problem, and implies that the solution to the problem requires nothing more than police officers writing citations, whereas it actually requires people to think quite deeply.

Ted Mooney, P.E.
Striving to live Aloha
finishing.com - Pine Beach, New Jersey

I am pleased to find a site concerned with plastic. Or at least lapping at the edge of the pool. Plastic pollution (just in its manufacture) is far greater than other very wasteful processes, aluminium included. Plastic has changed mankind but we need to address how it will continue to do so.

Shah, we explained the problem with Praveena's posting, but Vijay and yourself are ignoring what was said. If you have a specific stumbling point, we will be pleased to help you over it; but to simply post the subject of your homework essay and expect me write your essay for you is another matter :-)

A. I think part of your problem is that there are thousands of different plastics, Caleb. What may be true of one isn't true of the other. But if you google "when plastic decomposes", you will see some great topics.

As long as the plastic has deteriorated into small enough pieces that it is not in troublesome shapes that living things choke on or swallow, and it is non-toxic, it may not be a really major immediate concern. But the basic issue is that many plastics are long chain molecules which no living organisms can "digest", that is, they are not biodegradable. Thus, they may persist for a very long time. It can't be a good idea for this stuff to just accumulate, no matter how finely it is ground up because life-forms come in all sizes, and even plastic that has been reduced to fine dust is still something that small organisms like plankton can "choke" on.

We now have several biodegradable plastics based on plant fibers instead of petroleum oil, and current thinking is that it would be best to use them when their properties suit the application because they can be digested by some living organism and be converted to a non-plastic.

A. There are usually two sides to everything, Martha, but there is also such a thing as an "oxymoron" (a statement or phrase that is inherently self-contradictory). Look up the word "pollution". Depending on the definition you find, you may discover for example that "pollution" may be defined as a waste product in a location where it is harmful. So in this sense it simply can't have a good side, because if it did, we couldn't call it "pollution".

I think the "advantages" are few and small. But here is one for an example: plastic lumber probably would not exist if we didn't have plastic waste to start from.

Shaneed, Nilesh: we went through this twice already on just this one page. If you get stuck on something, we'll help. But you don't just pass your homework assignment on to us to do for you :-)

Go to google news and search for "plastic pollution". Pick one or two of the news articles that capture your interest and work your way through them for further sources leading to greater details and deeper insights. It is so drop dead easy today.

Regards,

A. Hi, Prerana. This is completely subjective. Some people even think the earth would be better off without mankind, so would think that a horrible epidemic spread by plastic would be a good thing for the world. So tell me what you think the worst possible catastrophe that could happen would be, and I will try to explain how plastic pollution could be involved in that.

But please tell us your grade level because if we try to explain at kindergarden level and you are a post-doc student you will take offense; whereas if we try to explain at too high a grade level for you, we may not be able to communicate.

Regards,

A. Hi Vijay. That one is easy. Draw a circle and label it "plastic". Draw another circle of the same size so that it partially intersects the first circle, and label it "waste". Look up the definition of plastic, and look up the definition of waste. Plastic waste is defined by the intersected area. But you probably knew that and just needed your memory refreshed.

Regards,

A. Hi Carrie. I already explained 3 times just on this one page why we're not going to do that :-)

Regards,