We have been listening for many years about the negative effects of plastics. Some types of plastic filter chemicals that disrupt the endocrine system in food, while others choke or fill the stomachs of marine animals until they die a torturous death. There are also plastics that move in our oceans, and microplastics, which have made their way to seafood, sea salt and even bottled water. Yes, we are all definitely eating plastic.
Now, a researcher at the University of Hawaii at Mānaa School of Ocean and Earth Science and Technology (SOEST), Sarah-Jeanne Royer, has discovered that plastics also release methane and ethylene - greenhouse gases directly related to global warming - . So things, our dependence on plastic, is not only cramming the beaches with horrendous pollution and suffocating sea turtles, but is contributing to global warming.
During tests in which he investigated how much methane came from normal biological activity in seawater, he discovered that the plastic bottles in which he put the water samples generated more methane than the organisms in the water. It was an unexpected discovery.
"The team of scientists tested polycarbonate, acrylic, polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate, polystyrene, high density polyethylene and low density polyethylene (LDPE), materials used to store food, textiles, construction materials and various plastic items", detailed the authors in the PloS One magazine.
The worst thing is not that polyethylene, used in supermarket bags, is the most produced and discarded synthetic polymer in the world, but it is the most prolific emitter of methane and ethylene, which means that we are releasing both gases everywhere.
Taking into account that this source is not cataloged to evaluate the global cycles of methane and ethylene, it means that, because this is a new finding, these gases have not been taken into account when calculating and modeling future climate change scenarios. which shows that we have missed a possible important source of greenhouse gases. It is the tip of the iceberg (plastic).
To make matters worse, it is likely that the greenhouse gases released by plastics will continue to increase, since the rate of plastic production is predicted to double in the next two decades.
Do the companies that make plastic know this particular environmental effect?
It is impossible to know, but most likely they know this extreme and want to ignore it for economic interests.
Of course! We can do many things: first, we can continue to pressure food and beverage companies to propose alternative plastic materials that do not pollute the environment, and at the same time blame them for the waste they produce and leave in the hands of the end user (what are we) to deal with it (recycle it).
We can also reject plastic as much as humanly possible in our daily lives. Use cloth or paper bags in the supermarket, reject the plastic straws, opt for a reusable coffee cup to carry. Collect the garbage you generate on the beach, and also in the city (a large amount of plastic reaches the ocean through storm drains). Do what you can in the office, at school, in your neighborhood ... And keep this in mind when it's tedious: 40-50 years before plastics spread around the world, everyone lived without plastic . They did not need it. They had parties, vacations on the beach, morga and drank coffee and soft drinks. They stored food and cooked exquisite dishes and desserts. And they lived without plastic. Why can not we also?
