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PLASTIC (Big Questions (What sparked the straw use increase and the stop…
PLASTIC
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What else to look into:
I know that this movement can affect people differently, such as the disability community. What does this look like for them?
I want to make sure that I look into the disability community. I know that there are a few communities of people who are reliant on the straw for various reasons. I want to make sure that I am conscious of that and understand how these movements are affecting them.
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Should straws be the forefront of focus, or should we turn our attention to something else?
I want to look deeper into the break down of how different plastic components are affecting the ocean. This will give me insight into if straws are something that should be getting as much attention as they are, or if it is distracting us from other, more impaction, plastic waste contributors.
Large trash swells
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Every minute, the equivalent one garbage truck of plastic is dumped into our oceans
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Microplastics
Estimated that by 2050 there is more plastic in the ocean than fish by weight. https://www.strawlessocean.org/faq/
Because it never gets recycled, it never goes away it just breaks down into little mini pieces of plastic floating around the ocean
71% of sea birds and 30% of turtles have been found with plastic in their stomachs https://www.strawlessocean.org/faq/
Animals who eat plastic often starve because they can’t digest the plastic and it fills their stomachs, preventing them from eating real food https://www.earthday.org/2018/04/05/fact-sheet-plastics-in-the-ocean/
Microplastics damage aquatic creatures,turtles and birds because they block digestive tracts, diminish the urge to eat and change eating habits because it gives the animals the feeling of being full even though they are actually starving
Nearly 8 million metric tons of plastic are thrown into the ocean each year. 236,000 tons of that are microplastics
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Straws
"Skip the straw" took off after a video of a sea turtle with a straw stuck his nose went viral https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/04/plastic-straws-ocean-trash-environment/
this movement is taking off because its not asking for a change in laws, just a habit change
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Compostable straws are only useful if they actually get composted. If they aren't sent to a compost facility then they will end up in landfills just like all other single use plastic straws
Straws are too small to fit through the machines that break down recycling so they either fall through the cracks on the machine or are diverted to landfill
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Initial Interest
My global and environmental systems course originally sparked my interest in the course.
The #stopsucking campaign has been a relatively big movement lately and even convinced myself to stop using straws, so I decided I should dig deeper into the issue and learn the facts
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