Plastic Positive Outlook

Arthur Bush

Mrs. Dykgraaf

EN 101-1889

23 April 2015

A Positive Outlook on Plastic

Introduction: The topic I chose to research is plastic and the effective ways it helps our environment. While I was searching innovation in plastic manufacturing, there were many topics that came up regarding plastic and the environment. Once I started looking through the resources that I found, I immediately notice that most of the articles dealt with how plastic is harmful to the environment. Since I work with plastic on a daily basis, I want to research and hopefully find ways that plastic helps our environment. Plastic is being used more and more every day, and I found some very interesting information, that I want to know more about.

Once I picked my topic,

One of the major problems is plastic in the landfills. The landfills are covered in plastic and this is a problem because it takes approximately 450 years before plastic starts to decompose. Even once the decomposition starts, plastics releases a toxic gas in our atmosphere. Plastic also poses a threat to our oceans. Approximately 80 percent of the trash in the ocean is made up of plastic. That equals about 500 million pounds of plastic floating around in the ocean. Some animals even mistake plastic for food and eat it. This eventually blocks their intestines and digestive system, and they starve and die (Household

The plastic used for insulation in homes is effective in the heat in the cold. It consume 60% less energy and emit 9% less GHG compared to the alternative materials. This is important because GHGs, which stands for greenhouse gas, is very detrimental to our environment. When it is present in our atmosphere it absorbs and emits radiation. This radiation is absorbed as heat, which causes a warming called the greenhouse effect. Also over the lifespan of the insulation it saves 150 times the energy used to manufactory it. Wind turbines are used to generate electricity, and the rotor blades and solar panels are made of majority of plastic. The use of Plastic gives the blades a lighter weight, which helps the blades move easier compared to the older and heavier designed wind turbines. It’s also saves 340 times the emissions used to produce them(Knowles 18). The plastic package is on the food we eat also help save energy. It provides a longer shelf life and reduces food waste which helps save energy and GHG emissions. Since producing 1 kilo of beef is the equivalent to the emissions of driving for 3 hours, this is important because we are not wasting food, which also means we are not wasting