Too Much Single-Use Plastic is Used
at Windward School
Plastic harms the environment in many ways. The Pavilion at Windward may not use that much plastic when you compare it to the entire world, but every bit of it adds up over time. It uses many single-use plastics such as plastic utensils, containers, and cups, all of which harm the environment.
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440 million tons of plastic was produced in 2015, and plastic produced 60 years ago will likely be around in for centuries. That means that an enormous amount of plastic will still be in our world for years to come. 5.4 billion tons of plastic have been discarded in either a landfill or the environment, which means that the environment is suffering. For example, 4 million to 13 million tons of plastic waste went into the ocean in 2010, hurting sea life and causing other problems. Single-use plastics, like the utensils Windward uses, contribute to the declining health of the earth.
California recycles only 15% of single use plastic, and the growing plastic waste is clogging rivers, landfills, and oceans which causes the government to spend over 100 million dollars on plastic cleanup. This is effecting the natural life and the residents around these areas. Furthermore, the national recycling rate for plastic is expected to drop from 9.1% to 2.9% this year, and single use plastics are contributing to this decline and the above reasons.
The Pavilion at Windward uses 600 forks, 450 knives, and 275 spoons a day on average. This is over 5,000 single-use plastic utensils a week. It depends, but usually the Pavilion buys 756 salad containers a week. This is a HUGE amount of single-use plastic thrown away for one school. Windward is only helping this issue by doing general recycling so far.
https://www.latimes.com/science/sciencenow/la-sci-sn-plastic-trash-20170721-htmlstory.html