Here's your chance not just to be the mayor, but the original city planner as well! Imagine a medium sized city that would be developed with modern, low carbon transportation in mind, and other strategies to reduce the average citizens' carbon footprints.
What would that city look like? Would that make you more likely to want to live there?
Sustainable City >
Single use plastics
“Mass production of plastics, which began just six decades ago, has accelerated so rapidly that it has created 8.3 billion metric tons—most of it in disposable products that end up as trash.”
A lot of stores and companies use single-use plastics which can only be used once before being thrown away. They are used because they are cheap, but they create a lot of waste. Companies for the most part do whatever makes/saves them the most money. If we ban single use plastics companies will have no choice but to stop using them.
According to national geographic, 91% of the world's plastic isn’t recycled. “Of the 8.3 billion metric tons that has been produced, 6.3 billion metric tons has become plastic waste.” (That's roughly 76% of all the world's plastic.) “Of that, only nine percent has been recycled.” 79% of the plastic that isn’t recycled ends up in the landfill or as litter. At some point most of the plastic goes into the ocean. Of course some of the plastic that ends up in the landfill is reusable, but if we ban single use plastics, we will be able to cut down on most of our plastic waste.
I agree. Although banning single use plastics all over the world would be a great challenge, encouraging companies to utilize reusable packaging would be a great way to create positive change.
I say an alternative to just banning single use plastic world wide (that would be a challenge) i say we take baby steps into shipping products with no plastic, slowly making products without the plastic and inside make it with something reusable or bio-degradable.
Single use plastics are found everywhere. Weather they are in stores or on the side of the road, they are not good. We need to be cautious of plastics and if we use them we have to dispose of them properly.
I agree that single-use plastics only are useful to us once, and then cause more trouble than good after we throw them away. It’s already clear that animals and habitats all over the world are being affected, and if we continue to create and use so many single-use plastics the problem is only going to get worse. If it’s too difficult to eliminate plastic altogether then it would at least be better to use more plastic that is recyclable, and set up more infrastructure to be able to actually recycle most or all of it, as the majority of plastic used today is not recycled because it’s expensive and easier to just throw in the landfill than recycle it.
Hi, in France we have a law which fordbid the single-use plastic gradualy. Straws, plates and tumblers are concerned. The goal is to substitute the plastic by recycle cardboard.
Hi, in France we have a law which fordbids the single-use plastic gradualy. Straws, plates and cups are concerned. The goal is to substitute plastic by recycled and recyclable cardboard.
I agree that substituting single-use plastics with other resources is beneficial and a good step towards sustainability, however depending on the manufacturer and shipping method, the production of cardboard still can produce large carbon emissions damaging the atmosphere of not only cities but the entire world. I think using reusable utensils can be the most beneficial, however recyclable materials are still a better option for take-out or shopping bags when you forget than plastic.