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Let Trees Grow in Peace
#BIOL4394Photo1
This picture was taken April 1, 2021 near Grand and Cicero Ave in Chicago, IL.
As I’m driving to work I look around for something to take a picture of for this assignment. I want to say it’s pretty easy to bump into an environmental issue because there are fragments of nature throughout the city, and you can clearly see how some people mistreat it. Here is a simple but an impactful example of what I see on a daily basis. This tree is right by a rail transport as you can see there is a bunch of plastic tangled around it.
Most of the plastic made/used today of propylene (chemical used in petroleum) which is not easy to break down (bacteria cannot degrade). Material such as paper is biodegradable can decompose within 2-6 weeks. The only thing capable of breaking down plastic would be the sun (UV light), but even that, it takes about 10 years (if not way more). The sad truth is that at times the plastic doesn’t even fully decompose, it is simply transformed into microplastic. Microplastic is known to be not only in the lands and ocean/waters but even in our drinking water.
This plastic bag could have just tangled itself to this tree yesterday or 6 months ago. What’s concerning is how long that plastic bag will stay there; that’s if someone doesn’t remove it (which I already did). There are so many little scenarios like this around the world. Nearly 1 million animals are killed by plastic every year. This includes birds, other mammals (elephants, zebras, tiger etc.), and tons of marine life, it is actually insane. This large number is due to entanglement, like this tree, and starvation. Plastic also has a pretty terrible effect on trees. Because of the toxic chemicals on plastic surfaces, those chemicals can pile up on dirt and really mess up the soil chemistry. This could potentially dry out soil and harm growing plants.
This really disappoints me and makes me feel a bit hopeless. I don’t want to say hopeless but truly, I feel we have done way too much unnecessary damage to the environment. I understand that plastic might be a cheaper source and more durable to our needs but we are not the only living beings in this planet. I hope by reading this people think twice before even purchasing a single-use plastic bag.
I do want to also add that there is action being taken in the world today towards this issue; just to see a light at the end of the tunnel. For example a the European Parliament and Canada voted to ban single-use plastic cutlery by the year 2021! A lot of countries in South America and States in the US are coming together to clean the beaches and surrounding waters yearly/seasonally. China, one of the biggest plastic users in the world are in process of completely banning non-biodegradable plastic in its majors cities, hope to be done by the year 2022. We can see celebrities bringing awareness to this issue by promoting #savetheturtles which promotes the end of plastic straws.
I hope this generation is aware of what we are capable of when we stand strong for our beliefs and change.
Let Trees Grow in Peace
#BIOL4394Photo1
This picture was taken April 1, 2021 near Grand and Cicero Ave in Chicago, IL.
As I’m driving to work I look around for something to take a picture of for this assignment. I want to say it’s pretty easy to bump into an environmental issue because there are fragments of nature throughout the city, and you can clearly see how some people mistreat it. Here is a simple but an impactful example of what I see on a daily basis. This tree is right by a rail transport as you can see there is a bunch of plastic tangled around it.
Most of the plastic made/used today of propylene (chemical used in petroleum) which is not easy to break down (bacteria cannot degrade). Material such as paper is biodegradable can decompose within 2-6 weeks. The only thing capable of breaking down plastic would be the sun (UV light), but even that, it takes about 10 years (if not way more). The sad truth is that at times the plastic doesn’t even fully decompose, it is simply transformed into microplastic. Microplastic is known to be not only in the lands and ocean/waters but even in our drinking water.
This plastic bag could have just tangled itself to this tree yesterday or 6 months ago. What’s concerning is how long that plastic bag will stay there; that’s if someone doesn’t remove it (which I already did). There are so many little scenarios like this around the world. Nearly 1 million animals are killed by plastic every year. This includes birds, other mammals (elephants, zebras, tiger etc.), and tons of marine life, it is actually insane. This large number is due to entanglement, like this tree, and starvation. Plastic also has a pretty terrible effect on trees. Because of the toxic chemicals on plastic surfaces, those chemicals can pile up on dirt and really mess up the soil chemistry. This could potentially dry out soil and harm growing plants.
This really disappoints me and makes me feel a bit hopeless. I don’t want to say hopeless but truly, I feel we have done way too much unnecessary damage to the environment. I understand that plastic might be a cheaper source and more durable to our needs but we are not the only living beings in this planet. I hope by reading this people think twice before even purchasing a single-use plastic bag.
I do want to also add that there is action being taken in the world today towards this issue; just to see a light at the end of the tunnel. For example a the European Parliament and Canada voted to ban single-use plastic cutlery by the year 2021! A lot of countries in South America and States in the US are coming together to clean the beaches and surrounding waters yearly/seasonally. China, one of the biggest plastic users in the world are in process of completely banning non-biodegradable plastic in its majors cities, hope to be done by the year 2022. We can see celebrities bringing awareness to this issue by promoting #savetheturtles which promotes the end of plastic straws.
I hope this generation is aware of what we are capable of when we stand strong for our beliefs and change.