America’s iconic national parks are buried in plastic.
A new report by the 5 Gyres Institute, an environmental nonprofit focused on reducing plastic use, finds that a shocking number of single-use plastics are piling up on public land.
What is happening now is nothing less than an environmental crisis unfolding across the postcard backdrop that is at the heart of our national identity.
what’s happening?
The 2023 report, based on TrashBlitz’s research platform, looks at trash collected through 199 cleanup events held at more than 30 National Park Service locations, including Yosemite National Park, Glacier National Park, Assateague Island National Seashore, and more. analyzed. More than 8,000 pieces of trash were found, 66% of which contained plastic. Food containers, beverage bottles, plastic bottle caps and straws were among the top offenders.
Plastic can break down into smaller pieces over time, so an astonishing 25% of all debris collected exists as plastic debris, which can be particularly harmful to ecosystems if swallowed by wildlife. It may cause damage.
Why is plastic pollution important?
National parks protect critical habitats and ecosystems that are essential to mitigating rising global temperatures. These plastics that leak into the environment contribute to biodiversity loss and release toxic gases that trap heat, such as carbon, when they decompose.
Ultimately, plastic pollution threatens to cause irreparable damage to the web of life that national parks were created to protect.
“TrashBlitz data highlights the need for an urgent shift away from the sale and distribution of single-use plastics within national parks,” the 5Gyres Institute said of the study.
What is being done to prevent plastic pollution?
As NPR reported, in 2011, a National Park Service policy significantly reduced plastic bottle waste in parks by discontinuing the sale of plastic bottles, but unfortunately the policy was rescinded in 2017. A new law proposed in 2021 called the ‘Waste Reduction in National Parks Act’ aims to reinstate this, while a recent Secretary-General’s order aims to reduce the use of single-use plastics in national parks by 2032. The government has instructed each bureau to phase out the system.
TrashBlitz report accelerates progress, including passing strong legislation, adding public water stations, requiring recyclables for on-site dining, and expanding annual waste audits across national parks There are clear recommendations for doing so.
Each of us has power through the choices we make every day. We urge our representatives to choose reusable water bottles over wasteful plastic bottles, urge businesses to reduce plastic packaging, and pass laws that protect our common backyard. You can work on it.
Our national parks showcase the world’s natural beauty. It is our responsibility to keep its beauty intact.
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