In today’s world, plastic is almost unavoidable. It can be found in our cars, cellphones, clothing, and almost everything else used in daily life. Plastic is one of the most diverse materials being used in the 21st century. Not only can plastic be found in our everyday lives, but it has also made a big appearance in the natural environment.

There are many benefits that can be seen from producing plastic. According to Dr Sherri Mason, “plastic is moldable, lightweight and durable. This allows the creation of almost anything out of plastic.” Plastic is cheap, and can easily be manufactured into anything. Although these things can be seen as positive attributes, they have a very negative impact on the environment. Dr. Mason stated, ”ironically, these same properties that make it so attractive from an industrial standpoint are of concern when it comes to the environment.

Once plastic was seen as something that could be sold to the public, marketing went through the roof. “In 1955, LIFE magazine wrote an article called Throwaway Living, ‘disposable items cut down on household chores,’” Dr. Mason explained. The purpose of this article was to tell everyday people that they no longer need to do dishes or worry about cleaning up, instead they can simply use utensils once, and throw them away without having to put another thought towards it. These single use items will typically not get recycled and end up sitting in a landfill for hundreds of years, while expelling methane gas into the atmosphere. If the waste does not make its way to a landfill, it will end up in the environment, usually making its way into streams, rivers, lakes, and oceans.  

Plastic being found in the Great Lakes is a very big problem. The five lakes that are part of the Great Lakes are lakes Huron, Ontario, Michigan, Erie, and Lake Superior. These are also referred to as the acronym HOMES. All of the Great Lakes are connected, the water in Lake Erie flows through the Erie Canal and into the Niagara Falls, and then finally into the Atlantic Ocean. The Great Lakes can be seen as a last chance opportunity to prevent plastics from entering the world’s oceans.  According to Dr. Mason, “Within Lake Superior and Lake Huron, environments that are considered “pristine”, there is an average abundance of 7,000 plastic articles per km squared.” Considering that Lake Superior and Huron are of the biggest Great Lakes, this distribution of plastic is monumental. Dr. Mason also discovered in her research that, “75% of the plastics we find in the Great Lakes are less than 1 mm in diameter… the size of a period at the end of a sentence.” Since these plastics are so small, it can be almost impossible to remove these microplastic particles from the environment. These plastics were usually larger pieces that were broken down by water erosion and UV radiation. The smaller the plastic particles, the easier it is to be ingested by organisms and cause negative, toxic effects in the environment.

Plastic is one of the most common sources of material, almost everyone interacts with it every day. Plastic is also one of the most diverse materials on our planet. Although plastic can be difficult to avoid, it is important to try to reduce plastic usage, especially single use plastics like water bottles, silverware, etc. Having a reusability mindset is crucial when reducing plastic use and waste.