Hello everyone and welcome to another educational video!

This is Environment with Em where I talk about environmental issues and how you can live a more sustainable life. This video is about the environmental impacts from our use of plastic.

Don't forget to join my three weeks long plastic free challenge starting the 17th of March!

We have been using plastic in containers and as a packaging material since the 1950s. Today we are starting to realise the consequences of that use. Not only does it have impact on our climate during the production, it has a massive impact after use. Only just under half of the plastic gets recycled or incineration. The rest ends up on landfills or in the nature. That is why we have plastic islands in the big oceans all over the world. Since plastic isn´t biodegradable it can't go anywhere. It will just end up in the oceans or in humans and animals. This is why we have to change our behaviour around plastic!

References:
- CÓZAR, A., ECHEVARRÍA, F., GONZÁLEZ-GORDILLO, J. I., IRIGOIEN, X., ÚBEDA, B., HERNÁNDEZ-LEÓN, S., PALMA, Á. T., NAVARRO, S., GARCÍA-DE-LOMAS, J., RUIZ, A., FERNÁNDEZ-DE-PUELLES, M. L. & DUARTE, C. M. 2014. Plastic debris in the open ocean. 111, 10239-10244.
- HAHLADAKIS, J. N. & IACOVIDOU, E. 2018. Closing the loop on plastic packaging materials: What is quality and how does it affect their circularity? Science of The Total Environment, 630, 1394-1400.
- HARDING, K. G., DENNIS, J. S., VON BLOTTNITZ, H. & HARRISON, S. T. L. 2007. Environmental analysis of plastic production processes: Comparing petroleum-based polypropylene and polyethylene with biologically-based poly-β-hydroxybutyric acid using life cycle analysis. Journal of Biotechnology, 130, 57-66.
- SELTENRICH, N. 2015. New Link in the Food Chain? Marine Plastic Pollution and Seafood Safety. 123, A34-A41.
- SHAH, A. A., HASAN, F., HAMEED, A. & AHMED, S. 2008. Biological degradation of plastics: A comprehensive review. Biotechnology Advances, 26, 246-265.
11.
- Ritchie, H. & Roser M. 2018. Plastic Pollution. [Online] Available at: https://ourworldindata.org/plastic-po... [Accessed 10 March 2019].


Clips used:
   • Plastics 101 | National Geographic  
   • Saran Plastic Wrap Commercial 1953  
   • disposable plastic cutlery sets wrapp...  
   • Plastic Ocean  
   • Equipment Review: The Best Plastic an...  
   • Recycling plastics – Resource efficie...  
   • Advantages and Disadvantages of Waste...  
   • Video  
   • The Great Pacific Garbage Patch Expla...  
   • Are You Seasoning Your Food With Micr...  
   • Biomagnification and the Trouble with...  

Music: Mind your Time - Me.So -    • Mind your Time — Me.So