If we use paper straws, won't the turtles die anymore?

Enlarge the image

Hello readers! The weather is nice these days, isn't it? May, the queen of all kinds of flowers, sometimes feels too hot. It is said that it will rain in most parts of the country over the weekend, so if you were planning on a weekend outing, check the weather forecast.

In the first week of May, the topic that Mabu News will talk about with our readers is plastic. Perhaps you have seen turtles suffering from straws stuck in their noses or seabirds stranded by lung nets. To mitigate the damage, alternative products such as paper straws have emerged. In today's edition of Maboo News, we're going to take a look at how serious ocean plastic pollution is, and how much impact our efforts to reduce plastic have. This is the question that Mabu News asks our readers today.

If you use paper straws, won't the turtle die anymore?

Both above and below the ocean are filled with plastic

First, let's check how much plastic is in the ocean. It is estimated that about 800 million tons of plastic waste ends up in the ocean each year. That's 800 million tons, enough to fill five garbage bags for every 30cm of the planet's coastline. It is analyzed that 5% of the plastic flowing through this flow comes from land. The remaining 80% is produced in the ocean, such as fishing and aquaculture. It is estimated that about 20% of the 20% of ocean plastic comes from fishing vessels, such as nets and fishing line.

It's actually hard to analyze plastic in the ocean. It's hard to know exactly how many are there. Even if you choose a sample, it's hard to determine how representative it is. Still, scientists don't give up! Let's go to a place called GPGP where we can look at a little more detailed data. Scientists are actively doing research at the GPGP. GPGP is short for Great Pacific Garbage Patch. If you interpret it, it's like a "huge Pacific garbage area", right?

Plastic, which is less dense than seawater, will float in seawater. The floating plastic will flow along the current, and the plastic will accumulate at the point where the currents meet. There are about five meeting places on Earth where such ocean plastics and garbage are gathering. The GPGP is the largest of them all. The estimated size is 10.5 million square kilometers! Since Korea's territory is about 160,10 square kilometers, it is about 16 times the size.

Enlarge the image

There are an estimated 160.1 trillion pieces of plastic floating in an area of 8.000 million square kilometers. It weighs 80,000 tons. As you can see from the graph above, the majority of GPGP garbage is made up of plastic giant over 50cm. Large plastics weigh 4,2 tons, accounting for more than three-quarters of the total weight of large plastics over 000 centimeters. But in terms of population, 5% of all plastics were microplastics. Large plastics and large plastics may decompose into microplastics due to the influence of waves and sunlight, so the amount may increase further.

If we look at the sources of plastic waste floating in the GPGP, it is noticeable that the proportion of plastic waste floating in the GPGP is considerable, including in Korea. Japan and China account for almost one-third each, followed by the Korean Peninsula. About 4% of all GPGP plastics are analyzed as garbage from the Korean Peninsula. Due to the nature of the GPGP, it is an area where garbage from Northeast Asia and the United States is collected, but it is definitely something to be concerned about because the influence of Korea is considerable.

The plastic waste on the surface of the water is being measured, but... The rest of the plastic is also a problem. About 3% of the plastic we use is denser than seawater and is sinking to the bottom. The sunken plastic is accumulating in sedimentary layers under the sea. In fact, when we analyzed soil samples near the California coast, we found that microplastics are increasing in proportion to global plastic production. Whether it's in the ocean or on the ocean, it's full of plastic.

'Plastic smog' is growing exponentially

Looking at the OECD's 2022 statistics, 9% of plastic is recycled worldwide. Plastic production is peaking every year, and recycling is 100 out of 9, with the rest of the plastic either ending up in the ocean or landfill. Plastic that ends up in the ocean can break down into smaller microplastics over time. The amount of microplastics generated in daily life is also significant. Dear < readers, how many clothes do you buy at ZARA, H&M? As we talked about in >, the process of washing synthetic textile clothing also emits a lot of microplastics.

Microplastics in the ocean have been increasing exponentially in recent years. As of 2019, the number of plastic particles floating in the ocean is a whopping 171 trillion! This figure also rises to 358 trillion if we estimate it as a conservative average and maximum estimate. Anyhow... On an average basis, plastic particles are estimated to weigh 230.1979 million tons. That's a huge number, isn't it? The graph below shows the number of plastic particles by year.

The data below shows the amount of ocean plastic particles collected from 2019,6 stations in six oceanic regions (North Atlantic, South Atlantic, North Pacific, South Pacific, Indian Ocean, and Mediterranean) from 1 to 1. You see a surge in recent years, right? This growing number of microplastics has led researchers to dub it "plastic smog." For reference, the region with the highest levels of microplastics was the North Atlantic region.

Enlarge the image

Research continues to show how invisible microscopic particles of plastic affect living beings. Whether it has the potential to cause negative physical and chemical effects on the ecosystem is being actively discussed. As top predators, it's important for us humans to understand the dangers of microplastics. Zooplankton ingested microplastics scattered in the ocean, clams and shrimp that ate those zooplankton. If this continues, microplastics may come into your body.

According to data released by the Ministry of Food and Drug Administration in March last year, an average of 3.1 microplastics are consumed per day per person in Korea. The Ministry of Food and Drug Administration announced that washing seaweed and kelp more than twice removes a large part of the microplastics. Of course, there are still no clear results on how microplastics affect our human body. But that doesn't mean we can't let microplastics accumulate in our bodies.

The problem is that in addition to what we consume from food, we consume a significant amount of microplastics. Did you know that there are already many microplastics floating in the air? According to the data published by a team of researchers in China, microplastics suspended in the air settle onto food, eating an average of 16,3 microplastics per day. Of course, there will be regional differences, but a significant amount of microplastics are already all around us. Plus nanoplastics that are smaller than microplastics... A study found 2.2 trillion nanoplastics per liter in a disposable cup of 739°C water. Every time you drink hot coffee in a disposable cup, you're drinking trillions of nanoplastics.

Q. What if there are microplastics in the air... Can microplastics rain?

Plastic rain coming down from the sky is already a reality. Experts warn that people are underestimating the invisible and unfelt-nature of plastic. According to a paper by a team of New Zealand researchers, an average of 1,5 microplastics per square metre per day are deposited on the rooftops of the city of Auckland. In particular, the number increases when the wind blows from the coast is strong, and it is predicted that the wind and waves along the coast will produce microplastics in the air. Studies have already shown that microplastics are widespread in the atmosphere, and scientists are pointing out the need for an accurate measurement system as soon as possible.

Can it be solved by using paper straws?

As it were, since November 11 last year, convenience stores will not be able to use single-use plastic bags, and cafes and restaurants will not be able to use single-use plastic straws. However, the implementation of the policy to regulate disposables was delayed, resulting in a one-year transition period. If the policy is not pushed back again, single-use plastic straws will no longer be allowed in cafes from November 24 this year.

The government's policy of regulating disposables is going more slowly than expected, but in the meantime, there are little substitutes for disposables in our lives. More café shops are using paper straws instead of plastic straws, and more consumers are using stainless steel straws that can be cleaned and recycled. So, can paper straws solve the problem of marine plastic litter?

(The rest of the story is from the soup)

Enlarge the image