plastic pollution beach

Our plastic planet

While climate change remains environmental issue #1, the worries over plastic in our water, soil, food, and bodies continue to grow.

It's always a challenge to find good news on the climate and environment beat. And we all desperately need a little more of the upbeat stuff right now.


So I apologize in advance for the following.

It's hard to ignore the looming mountain of plastics problems. Plastic pollution has been hiding in plain sight as the next eco-calamity for decades. With climate change teed up as the major global environmental challenge, let's take stock of another modern crisis.

Plastic nurdles. (Credit: Greenpeace Polska/flickr)

Nurdle alert! My first encounter with nurdles was on what should have been a pristine Costa Rican beach in 1986. The lentil-sized, grayish pellets spread the sands for miles, along with a stunning number of shoes. I never figured out the source of the shoe spill, but nurdles eventually became a headline-maker in the oceans world.

Nurdles are the feedstock for much of the world's production of plastics products. If plastic things were pancakes, nurdles would be the batter. They're spilled from trucks, boxcars, and in the case of the Costa Rican beach, apparently a container ship. There are no firm statistics on how many spills there have been, or how many hundred of billions of virtually indestructible nurdles litter our beaches and seafloors.

One example: in 2017, 600 volunteers scoured 279 U.K. beaches, reporting that two-thirds of them were "littered" with nurdles.

We do know that nurdle pollution is the tip of the plastic pollution sh*tberg.

Let's talk recycling. For years, much of what we think of as recycled plastic was collected in communities and eventually shipped to Asia. In 2018, the People's Republic of China formally announced that they'd officially had it. Imports of recyclable plastic had choked China's landfills beyond reason. Early, rudimentary successes with recycled goods had run their course. But we reached Peak Flip-Flop, and China's National Sword initiative slammed the door, barring plastic waste imports from the U.S. and about two dozen industrialized nations.

Most of our plastic goes to the landfill. In 1960 the U.S. sent roughly 390 tons of plastic waste to landfills, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency. In 2017, the most recent year there is data for, that number shot to 26,820 tons, which is about nine times more than was recycled. Yikes.

Part of this is driven by the market to make plastics: the U.S. fracking boom caused an abundance of cheap natural gas and oil. By mid-2019, it was cheaper to make new plastic than it was to recycle the old stuff.

Here are some other quick facts to put a damper on your day:

  • In 2018, Norwegian researchers reported an enormous rise of plastic particles found in Arctic wildlife as well as similar increases of plastic particles in melting Arctic sea ice.
  • A 2019 Scripps study of sediments in California's Santa Barbara Basin shows deposits of plastic have doubled every 15 years since the end of World War II.
  • Microplastics are of increasing concern in farm soils, including those placed there intentionally as seed coatings, artificial mulch, and more. Yes, intentionally.
  • In June of this year, a Utah State University researcher reported finding at least 1,000 tons of microplastics in 11 remote locations in the American West, including Grand Canyon National Park and Joshua Tree National Monument. The researcher suggested that "plastic deposition" in such remote places could mean we're bathing in it, even when we're miles from water.

We know the problem has been building for years, and the paths to solutions are often blocked by the fossil fuel industry, which sees salvation in plastics production as its other marquee products fade.

While we all rightly call for leaders to address, and in some cases just acknowledge, the climate crisis, let's also remember to skip the straws and question those that keep pumping plastic out into our planet.

Peter Dykstra is our weekend editor and columnist. His views do not necessarily represent those of Environmental Health News, The Daily Climate or publisher, Environmental Health Sciences.

Banner photo credit: Bo Eide/flickr

assateague island wetlands bird
Photo by Sara Cottle on Unsplash

Albert C. Lin: The Supreme Court just shriveled federal protection for wetlands, leaving many of these valuable ecosystems at risk

In Sackett v. EPA, a suit filed by two homeowners who filled in wetlands on their property, the Supreme Court has drastically narrowed the definition of which wetlands qualify for federal protection.
Senator Whitehouse & climate change

Senator Whitehouse puts climate change on budget committee’s agenda

For more than a decade, Senator Sheldon Whitehouse gave daily warnings about the mounting threat of climate change. Now he has a powerful new perch.

Can tires turn green?

Tire manufacturers are adopting greener production processes and more renewable materials, but they have yet to get a grip on tire particle pollution.

'I wanted to cry': Devastating risks of spray foam insulation hidden from Vermont homeowners

When asked how a homeowner could assess whether they’re hiring a high-quality insulation installer, Brent Ehrlich, a products and materials specialist at BuildingGreen, said, “I don't really have a good answer to that.”
climate change reshapes California coast
BigStock Photo ID: 430218898
Copyright: NFL1
Available for extended license use

California’s cliffs are crumbling as climate change reshapes the coast

Planners always knew choices would have to be made whether to keep building along the edge of the Pacific. They just didn't think it would happen so quickly.
Arctic warming biodiversity disruptions
Denali National Park and Preserve/Flickr/Commercial use & mods allowedNPS Photo / Alex Vanderstuyfhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Just between us squirrels, there might be trouble in the Arctic dating scene

Climate change appears to be disrupting the hibernation of females in the Far North, scientists say, and that could affect mating season.
James Hansen climate warming warning
cereid2/Flickr/

James Hansen warns of a short-term climate shock bringing 2 degrees of warming by 2050

The famed researcher publicly released a preliminary version of a paper-in-progress with grim predictions of short- and long-term warming, but not all climate scientists agree with its conclusions.

climate impacts on Lake Erie
John Beagle/Flickr/Commercial use & mods allowedhttps://creativecommons.org/licenses/by/2.0/

Bracing for climate impacts on Lake Erie, the walleye capital of the world

Though fisheries are thriving now, “continuing warming on the trajectory we’re going is not going to be good for walleye and yellow perch.”

From our Newsroom
halliburton fracking

How the “Halliburton Loophole” lets fracking companies pollute water with no oversight

Fracking companies used 282 million pounds of hazardous chemicals that should have been regulated by the Safe Drinking Water Act from 2014 to 2021.

President Joe Biden climate change

Op-ed: Biden’s Arctic drilling go-ahead illustrates the limits of democratic problem solving

President Biden continues to deploy conventional tactics against the highly unconventional threat of climate change.

oil and gas wells pollution

What happens if the largest owner of oil and gas wells in the US goes bankrupt?

Diversified Energy’s liabilities exceed its assets, according to a new report, sparking concerns about whether taxpayers will wind up paying to plug its 70,000 wells.

Paul Ehrlich

Paul Ehrlich: A journey through science and politics

In his new book, the famous scientist reflects on an unparalleled career on our fascinating, ever-changing planet.

oil and gas california environmental justice

Will California’s new oil and gas laws protect people from toxic pollution?

California will soon have the largest oil drilling setbacks in the U.S. Experts say other states can learn from this move.

Stay informed: sign up for The Daily Climate newsletter
Top news on climate impacts, solutions, politics, drivers. Delivered to your inbox week days.