Everything we buy is packaged in large plastic clamshells. Even small printer ink cartridges are packaged in plastic 4 times larger than the item itself. Salads, sandwiches, and meat are sold in plastic containers. Consumerism dictates that goods need to be presented in big, flashy plastic packaging. And as a result, the average American throws away around 185 pounds of plastic per year; that’s 60 million pounds per year.
We don’t recycle plastic in the US; instead, we ship it to Asia where they’re supposed to recycle it. While they recycle about 5% of our plastic waste, the rest of it is illegally burned at midnight to hide from law enforcement. Burning plastic emits dioxins that are potentially cancerous and pollute the air. The fumes singe their sinuses and leaves a sickly film in their throats. They don’t exercise or go outdoors anymore.
Now that China will not take our plastic waste, Malaysia has become the new dumping ground for US plastic scrap. Most of this plastic is from America, and a majority of the plastic is for food packaging. What doesn’t get recycled is dumped illegally, burned at night, loaded in waterways, and piled into open fields. Fish and mammals mistake plastic for food and their bodies are filled with plastic. The food we eat contains plastic and our bodies are not designed to digest plastic waste.