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Page 8 The Skanner April 25, 2018 News Science Says: Amount of Straws, Plastic Pollution is Huge By Seth Borenstein AP Science Writer WASHINGTON (AP) — Cities and nations are looking at banning plas- tic straws and stirrers in hopes of addressing the world’s plastic pollution problem. The problem is so large, though, that scientists say that’s not nearly enough. Australian scientists Denise Hardesty and Chris Wilcox estimate, using trash collected on U.S. coastlines during cleanups over fi ve years, that there are nearly 7.5 million plastic straws lying around America’s shorelines. They fi gure that means 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws are on the entire world’s coastlines. But that huge number suddenly seems small when you look at all the plastic trash bobbing around oceans. Univer- sity of Georgia envi- ronmental engineering professor Jenna Jambeck calculates that nearly 9 million tons (8 million metric tons) end up in the world’s oceans and coastlines each year, as of 2010, according to her 2015 study in the journal Science. That’s just in and near oceans. Each year more than 35 million tons (31.9 million metric tons) of plastic pollution are pro- duced around Earth and about a quarter of that ends up around the wa- ter. “For every pound of tuna we’re taking out of the ocean, we’re putting two pounds of plastic in the ocean,” says ocean scientist Sherry Lippiatt, California regional coor- dinator for National Oce- anic and Atmospheric Administration’s marine debris program. Seabirds can ingest as much as 8 percent of their body weight in plas- tic, which for humans “is “ For every pound of tuna we’re taking out of the ocean, we’re put- ting two pounds of plastic in the ocean equivalent to the aver- age woman having the weight of two babies in her stomach,” says Hard- esty of Australia’s Com- monwealth Scientifi c and Industrial Research Organisation. Organizers of Earth Day, which is Sunday, have proclaimed ending plastics pollution this year’s theme. And fol- lowing in the footsteps of several U.S. cities such as Seattle and Miami Beach, British Prime Minister Theresa May in April called on the nations of the British common- wealth to consider ban- ning plastic straws, cof- fee stirrers and plastic swabs with cotton on the end. McDonald’s will test pa- per straws in some U.K. locations next month and keep all straws behind the counter, so custom- ers have to ask for them. “Together with our cus- tomers we can do our bit for the environment and use fewer straws,” says Paul Pomroy, who runs the fast-food company’s U.K. business. The issue of straws and marine animals got more heated aft er a 2015 viral video showing rescuers removing a straw from a sea turtle’s nose in graph- ic and bloody detail. But a ban may be a bit of a straw man in the dis- cussions about plastics pollution. Straws make up about 4 percent of the plastic trash by piece, but far less by weight. Straws on average weigh so little — about one sixty-seventh of an ounce or .42 grams — that all those billions of straws add up to only about 2,000 tons of the nearly 9 million tons of plastic waste that yearly hits the waters. “Bans can play a role,” says oceanographer Kara Lavendar Law, a co-au- thor with Jambeck of the 2015 Science study. “We AP PHOTO/SETH BORENSTEIN Scientists say there are nearly 7.5 million plastic straws lying around U.S. shorelines In this Thursday, Feb. 12, 2015 fi le photo, Jenna Jambeck, an environment engineering professor at the University of Georgia, holds a plastic baggie with trash collected last fall from a clean up at Panama Beach, Fla., at the American Association for the Advancement of Science conference in San Jose, Calif. Jambeck calculates that nearly 9 million tons (8 million metric tons) end up in the world’s oceans and on the coastlines each year, as of 2010, according to her 2015 study. are not going to solve the problem by banning straws.” Scientists say that un- less you are disabled or a small child, plastic straws are generally un- necessary and a ban is start and good symbol. These items that people use for a few minutes but “are sticking round for our lifetime and longer,” Lippiatt says. Marcus Eriksen, an environmental scientist who co-founded the ad- vocacy group 5 Gyres, says working on bans of straws and plastic bags would bring noticeable A career you can be proud of. change. He calls plastic bags, cups and straws that break down in small- er but still harmful piec- es the “smog of micro- plastics.” “Our cities are horizon- tal smokestacks pump- ing out this smog into the seas,” Eriksen says. “One goal for advocacy orga- nizations is to make that single-use culture taboo, the same way smoking in public is taboo.” Steve Russell, vice president of plastics for the American Chemistry Council, said people can reduce waste by not tak- ing straws, but “in many cases these plastics pro- vide sanitary conditions for food, beverages and personal care.” The key to solving ma- rine litter, Russell says, is “in investing in systems to capture land-based waste and investing in infrastructure to con- vert used plastics into valuable products.” Even though Jambeck spends her life mea- suring and working on the growing problem of waste pollution, she’s op- timistic. “We can do this,” Jam- beck says. “I have faith in humans.” AP Retail Writer Joseph Pisani contributed from New York. Follow Seth Borenstein on Twitter at @boren- bears . His work can be found here . This Associated Press series was produced in partnership with the Howard Hughes Medical Institute’s Department of Science Education. The AP is solely responsible for all content. Make The Skanner a daily routine Being a carpenter isn’t just a job. It’s a way of life. We’re devoted to strengthening the lives of our members with steady work, wealth and personal growth. We take a stand for our members and all workers. We work together to lead the building industry in safety, training and compensation. We create rich lives for our members and partners. Grab a headline on your mobile device. Enjoy an in-depth read on your desktop. Receive Breaking News in your inbox. Page through the print edition online. To learn more about becoming a union carpenter, go to NWCarpenters.org. 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