From the Earth Day Network (https://www.earthday.org):
New research published this summer has shown once again that plastic pollution is harming our planet even more than we previously thought. That plastic shopping bag or wrapper that you threw into the garbage because it can’t be put into your curbside recycling bin, is harming the planet in the landfill. That’s because, according to Sarah-Jeanne Royer and her colleagues, plastics release greenhouse gases – specifically methane and ethylene – when exposed to the sun.
You heard right. In addition to damaging oil drilling, pollution from the refining process, the clogging of our sewers and waterways, the death of wildlife by entrapment and accidental consumption, and the poisoning of our drinking water, plastic is also contributing to global climate change.
EDN and hopefully you, have already been working hard to reduce and quit using plastics, but as this study and others continue to show, there are countless reasons why we need to stop using these products.
Check out EDN’s plastic pollution footprint calculator to see if you are contributing to the problem more than you thought and check out our Plastic Pollution Primer and Action Toolkit for ways to reduce your impact!
In this week’s blog, “Another Reason to Ditch Plastic” we talk more about plastic’s impact on climate change. There you will find more info on this problem and the research that discovered it.
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