It seems like every day brings more bad news about the environment. We have global warming running amok, rising sea levels, pollution everywhere the eye can see, and polar bears set adrift. Well, enough with the bad news. This article will take a look at some of the tricky situations we are facing in the natural world, and give some examples of what is being done, right now, to help the environment.
Plastic Pollution
America is home to a great many things. From the mountains to the prairies, deserts, deciduous rainforests, concrete jungles, volcanoes, and canyons, the United States plays host to just about every type of environment imaginable. In fact, the U.S. and its territories have 95,471 miles of shoreline.
That’s why it’s certainly a shame that plastic bags comprise 10% of coastline debris. The amount of plastic bags used every year is well into the billions, and very few of them ever get recycled. In fact, for all plastic products produced, we only recover 5%.
This is a big problem which will likely require a large cultural shift toward renewable materials and better recycling habits.
What is being done right now?
There are some initiatives in American supermarkets that incentivize buying a reusable shopping bag by charging for plastic ones. The general phasing out of plastic bags might take a long time still, but progress is being made.
Meanwhile, in the United Kingdom, Theresa May proposed an incremental removal of plastic packaging from supermarkets.
Greenhouse Gas Emissions
We all know about cars and fossil fuels and what we need to do to stop it, but one thing is left largely unsaid, and it is because we don’t have a solution yet.
Flights contribute 5% of all global warming causing emissions.
This is no small amount. And although commercial airlines make up the lion’s share of aviation emissions, they are not the true efficiency problem. In fact, catching a full 747 from New York to Los Angeles would most likely generate less green gas emissions per person than driving would. This is because most people drive alone in fuel inefficient cars, and while planes are less fuel efficient, the amount of people they carry makes up for their thirstiness.
Perhaps unsurprisingly, the United States accounts for 49.7% of the total private jet market, and Europe takes a close second place with 20.8%.
What is being done right now?
All major airlines now offer the ability to buy a carbon offset. This is a certified tree planting program that customers can opt into for a negligible fee by donating the amount it would cost to plant the necessary number of trees to cancel out your flight’s carbon footprint.
Even though the environment has been taking a beating lately, it’s good to see that there are initiatives to take on global warming and pollution and overcome our fossil fuel addiction.
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