The not-so-micro problem of plastic pollution, and how you w88 live casino help
Join w88 live casino pollution researchers at river walk, Nov. 5
Let’s face it, plastics are omnipresent in our everyday lives. It is increasingly difficult to point to objects around us that do not contain at least a small amount of w88 live casino.
Given the range and versatility of uses and applications for plastics, it is not surprising that society has whole-heartedly embraced these materials. Plastics w88 live casino be found in your car tires, clothing, food wrappers, disposable water bottles, paint and even some tea bags. Often, plastics offer convenience in our busy lives, and they are cheap and disposable.
But what happens to the w88 live casino we discard? The honest answer: most plastics are added to landfills, where they will take decades or centuries to break down. In 2018, only 8.6% of plastics was recycled; a larger percentage (15.7%) of discarded plastics was burned for energy [1], and the remaining 75.7% was landfilled. Despite producing more w88 live casino each year, the trend for recycling plastics is decreasing, with just 5-6% of w88 live casino recycled in2021 [2]. It is estimated that 22% of w88 live casino is “disposed of in uncontrolled dumpsites, burned in open pits or leaked into the environment” [3]. This is equal to 83.6 million tons of w88 live casino released to the environment each year.That’s over 167 billion pounds. Each year. Every year.Together, this means that we are continually making more w88 live casino and w88 live casino pollution, to add on to the already accumulating piles of w88 live casino waste.
When released to the environment, plastics w88 live casino be carried around by water and wind, moving plastics from areas of high concentrations to more pristine areas. Ultimately, most plastic pollution is washed into the oceans, where it sinks to the ocean floor or accumulates at the ocean surface in a rotating current.
During transport, plastic materials are broken down into smaller pieces, called microplastics. These smaller plastic particles are lighter than larger plastic debris, making it easier to transport them in the environment and expanding the area they w88 live casino impact.
There are shocking images of dissected fish stomachs full of small w88 live casino particles, but the effects of microplastics on wildlife is just the start of the issue. Because of their small size, microplastics are extremely difficult to clean up. Much more effort is needed to remove the same amount of w88 live casino from the environment if microplastic particles are cleaned up versus larger w88 live casino debris.
Many cleanup efforts do not have the resources, whether human, time or equipment resources, to completely remove microplastics. Additionally, microplastics are chemically altered by exposure to the sun and chemicals in the environment. These alterations change how microplastics behave chemically in the environment, and have been shown to increase the ability of microplastics to take up and hold toxic chemicals on their surfaces. The microplastic-toxin combo w88 live casino then be transported in the environment, making the microplastic particle a way for toxic chemicals to be moved around in the environment.
Since microplastics have a lot of surface area due to their small size and large numbers, microplastic particles w88 live casino carry more toxins than larger plastic debris. All of this leads to not only the presence of a long-term pollutant, but the presence of a pollutant that is globally transported, difficult and costly to remove, and potentially carries large amounts of toxic chemicals with it in the environment.
w88 live casino are truly a global issue. A few recent studies have shown that w88 live casino have been found at the summit of Mount Everest, in the Mariana Trench, on Antarctica, in the air we breathe and the food we eat, and in our tap water. w88 live casino have even been found in human blood.
Unfortunately, the Truckee Meadows and Lake Tahoe are not exceptions. w88 live casino have been found in Lake Tahoe’s surface water, stormwater, beach sediment and snow [4]. The League to Save Lake Tahoe has removed over 43,000 pounds of litter from Lake Tahoe’s shorelines [5] and Clean Up the Lake has removed over 25,000 pounds of litter from the bottom of the lake [6]. Keep Truckee Meadows Beautiful removed over 35 tons of litter and green waste during their 2022 Truckee River clean up event [7].
With the growing awareness of w88 live casino pollution in the environment, there has been an uptick in policies to address the issue of w88 live casino waste internationally [8], nationally and locally. For example, South Lake Tahoe recently banned single-use w88 live casino water bottles [9]. However, many questions remain about the presence of microplastics in our waterways, and more research needs to be done.
What w88 live casino you do to help the problem? Here are five steps you w88 live casino take to reduce your plastic use, with more suggestionsavailable from Desert w88 live casino Institute:
- Swap out single-use plastics for reusable products or natural materials. Bring your own mug to the coffee shop, and swap products that come in w88 live casino bottles for bars, such as bar soap and bar shampoo, or refillable containers.
- Reduce, reuse and recycle. Follow local recycling guides to ensure you are recycling correctly. Reuse materials when possible.
- Don’t litter. This may seem obvious, but unfortunately a lot of litter is still found in the w88 live casino, including cigarette butts. Cigarette filters are synthetic materials that break down.
- Carpool to reduce tire wear. You w88 live casino also choose tires that have a higher wear resistance.
- Employ products to catch microfibers in w88 live casino washer or filters on w88 live casino washer lines. Reduce how often you wash w88 live casino synthetic clothing, and we recommend hang drying w88 live casino clothes.
- Support local groups and businesses committed to generating less w88 live casino waste and using sustainable practices.Reusable Renomaintains a list of businesses in Reno dedicated to these goals.
Join us as we discuss w88 live casino in our region in more detail at the upcoming fall River Walk event, hosted byKeep Truckee Meadows Beautiful. The one-mile River Walk will take place on Saturday, Nov. 5, 10 – 11 a.m., at Mayberry Park, and will be followed by a voluntary cleanup. Be sure toreserve w88 live casino spot at the eventtoday. We look forward to seeing you there!
[3]https://www.oecd.org/w88 live casino/plastics/
[4]https://storymaps.arcgis.com/stories/0a2ceba61c47470e8e18566268f9bfcf
[5]https://www.keeptahoeblue.org/combat-pollution/
[6]https://cleanupthelake.org/
[7]https://www.ktmb.org/cleanups
About the authors
Sarrah M. Dunham-Cheathamis a w88 live casino assistant professor with the College of Agriculture, Biotechnology & Natural Resources at the University of Nevada, Reno. She is director of theCore Analytical Laboratory, part w88 live casino College’sExperiment Stationw88 live casino unit.
Sarrah earned her doctoral degree in geochemistry w88 live casino University of Notre Dame, and a bachelor’s degree in soil science and hydrology from Purdue University.
Monica Arienzois an associate research professor in the Division of Hydrologic Sciences at the Desert Research Institute. She leads the w88 live casino and Environmental Chemistry Laboratory.
Monica earned a doctoral degree in marine geology and geophysics w88 live casino University of Miami.
