Originally published in Wend Volume 3 Issue 1

By Pete Lewis

Last summer, I had the privilege of visiting Egypt’s Sinai Peninsula. On a bus journey deep into the desert on the way to Mount Sinai, we drove through a dramatic valley. Peering out of the window of the heavily-air-conditioned bus, I was awestruck at the sight of hundreds of birds, swoop- and sweeping, to and fro, up and down, across the rocky surface and up into the hazy blue sky. I wondered what species these graceful white birds were. As we got closer, I realized that they were not birds at all but rather hundreds upon hundreds of plastic bags that had congregated in this wild corner of the planet, where they performed this sickening dance. Plastic is everywhere, and it’s not going anywhere. Every piece of plastic ever manufactured in the world is still here, unless it’s been incinerated.

As reported by the BBC last year, scientists at the University of Plymouth estimate that there are 300,000 pieces of plastic for each square kilometer of the entire ocean’s surface and 100,000 per square kilometer of the seabed. Scientists call these plastic pellets that resemble fish eggs “mermaid’s tears.” Inevitably, mermaid’s tears are ingested by thousands of species of small marine animals. Meanwhile, larger chunks of plastic debris and bags have been found in larger species such as birds and fish. Floating plastic resembles food to many animals, especially sea birds. In the December 2007 issue of National Geographic, a feature on the endangered albatrosses of the South Pacific had a photograph of an adult mother feeding her chick a potentially lethal plastic bottle lid. Plastic bags floating in the open ocean can resemble jellyfish, a main staple for sea turtles, and, when ingested, suffocate them to death.

According to Dr. Richard Johnson, who took part in the study by the BBC, 95 percent of all fulmars that washed up dead on the beaches of the North Sea had plastic in their stomachs. Entanglement in plastic rope and netting is believed to be responsible for more than 10 percent of the deaths of gannets off the coast of Germany. Seals and other mammals are also vulnerable to entanglement in plastic debris, which has been known to get wrapped around a pup’s neck and slowly strangle it as it grows.

Our use of plastic is not slowing down, and plastic is notoriously difficult to recycle. An article on Salon.com in August 2007 argued that only 1 percent of plastic bags were recycled worldwide. This number is staggering, since yearly worldwide consumption of plastic bags is estimated at more than 500 billion. 40 billion plastic bottles are produced each year in the United States, and two-thirds of them end up in landfills. What’s sad about this statistic is that these bottles are made from a form of plastic that is far more practical to recycle than plastic bags. Most plastic water bottles are made from Polyethylene terephthalate (PET) which is easily recognizable by the recycle symbol and number “1” imprinted on the base. Such containers can be used for a variety of post-consumer applications as long as they’re recycled.

Put simply, PET bottles are washed, crushed and then shredded into flakes. The flakes are then washed again and dried and become a new “raw material” to be melted into a new product. It is estimated that 1.5 million tons of PET is collected every year. PETCORE, a European nonprofit that promotes the recycling of PET, estimates that by 2010 Europe will be collecting more than 1 million tons of PET annually for the purpose of recycling.

PET flakes can be used for plastic sheeting and building materials, and, of course, PET bottles can also be reused as bottles after an extensive washing and sorting process. However, the principal use of PET flakes is as a synthetic fiber for clothing such as fleece. Outdoor clothing manufacturers have been using PET for several years. For instance, Patagonia’s Synchilla fleece jackets are made from 86 percent recycled polyester and 100 percent recyclable.

NAU is also making garments out of recycled PET, using Teijin Fibers’ Eco Circle material. Teijin Fibers is a Japanese polyester fiber business that has pioneered a closed-loop recycling system whereby PET fiber purchased from Teijin can be returned directly to it for recycling. Teijin claims that its manufacturing process can reduce energy consumption by 84 percent and CO2 emissions by 77 percent.

Of course, the best way to make sure less plastic ends up in our oceans, wilderness and the bellies of the world’s wildlife is to consume less of it in the first place.

[Photo via P. C. Loadletter]