Plastic Gut Angeline Upchurch
Marcus Eriksen was studying plastic pollution in the Arabian Gulf when he and Ulrich Wernery examined through dirt and a camels skeleton and found a mass the size of a suitcase of plastic bags. The camel had been consuming plastic because of the lack of food and the increased amount of plastic waste in the area. They cannot distinguish the difference from plastic to food. The plastic looks like food. They estimated out of the 390,000 camels that live in the United Arab Emirates 1 percent are killed by plastic waste. The researchers dubbed these plastic masses “poly bezoars” to distinguish them from naturally occurring hair and plant fiber bezoars. Some of the camels' guts were filled with between 3 to 64 kilograms. Banning plastic bags and single-use plastics is crucial for protecting camels and other wildlife.
https://www.sciencenews.org/article/camel-eating-plastic-trash-waste-deadly-masses
What are other things we can use instead of plastic bags?
Do you think this could be dangerous to the camel population and cause their extinction?
How are some ways we can hold world leaders accountable to stop plastic waste?
Do you think we can get rid of the plastic we already have through recycling? What do you think about the plastic we can't recycle?
We can use reusable bags and paper bags as well. This can reduce the need for plastic bags and they tend to be stronger. This plastic id extremely harmful for camels and many more animals and replacing the bags could be one step In the way. And maybe we can put in a global ban and restriction on plastic waste in general. And we need to recycle as much as possible and properly dispose of single use.
ReplyDelete-Tyler A.
Both paper bags and reusable bags are an alternative to plastic bags. Eating plastics is dangerous to camels, it may contribute to their extinction in that given area, however, I doubt that it would contribute to a global extinction of camels as some live in other areas with less plastic waste. World leaders can pass laws to limit plastics.
ReplyDelete- Carissa Bersche
I am afraid that because of the vast amount of plastic waste it would cost billions of dollars to find a solution to get rid of a large amount of plastic there is. I also think that we are going to have to deal with the effects of plastic especially since plastic bags is still widely used. The plastic that cannot be recycled will be the last step to deal with but also the most worrisome.
ReplyDelete-Angeline Upchurch
I think that as other people have said replacing plastic bags with paper would be the first step to limiting the use of plastic bags. I know that the cost of getting ride of plastic will be costly but at this point because weve decided to wait and continue to ignore many of our problems they've only worsened, I feel like if we take things step by step it can be doable and Id rather try than see the planet continue to slowly die from our own hands.
ReplyDelete-Raquel Morgens
Like others have said, using paper or reusable bags instead of plastic bags can help reduce waste. They are more expensive to make, so that might be an issue. If you think of stores like Sam's and Costco that use old cardboard containers and have no plastic bags at all that could be any option. Those are more for bulk items though, I guess it wouldn't really work for like smaller grocery items. Disposing of single use items properly is important too.
ReplyDeleteTrinity Mathis
We can use paper bags or maybe bags that are biodegradable. This is dangerous for the camel population, and this could cause their extinction if we're not careful. We can get rid of plastic through recycling, but I don't think it will get rid of much. I'm pretty sure only 23% of plastic that gets put in recycling gets recycled, so I'm not sure what we can do about this problem.
ReplyDelete-Ilori Tankpinou
Some other things we can use instead of plastic bags are cotton bags. They can be used hundreds of times. They're washable, biodegradable, and you can even cut them up and add them to your compost. Plastic is very dangerous to all animals and people should be careful when they just throw it in the trash and not recycle.
ReplyDeleteAlyssa Butts
I believe that any profound change to better pollution will have to start with governments and world leaders. Passing sustainable policies are the number one thing that will hold companies and consumers accountable for the waste they produce. These animals' livelihoods are at stake and if we're going to relieve this issue, the governments have to take real action. -Shirin Saha
ReplyDelete