Plastic: the good, bad, ugly facts

  • Published
  • By Michael Jago
  • 14th Civil Engineer Squadron Environmental Element Chief
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Project AWARE is all about what is happening to our waterways, beaches, reefs and oceans from a recreational diving perspective.

Their perspective is focused on recreational diving, but it is directly related to what we are doing here in Columbus, Mississippi, on dry land. Their biggest concern right now is with plastic.

Scientists and sailors throughout the world are seeing an astonishing sight while out at sea: "islands" of plastic in the calm eddies of the ocean. These "islands" are big enough to be seen in satellite imagery posted on the internet.

This is just a portion of the plastic material in the oceans. Much of the material has sunk or is suspended in the water column. Eventually this stuff will break down; unfortunately it is a very slow process and involves sunlight, abrasion, digestion, microbes and lots of fish swallowing and passing the material to break it down.

There is so much plastic now worldwide in the sediment layer, geologists have come up with a new designation of the permanent layer that has plastic in it, called plastiglomerate. That is our contribution and a marker forever, from the World War II period of 1960 to the present.

Up river, areas like Columbus, Mississippi, are contributing to the problem, not just sea side communities. Surprisingly, most of the world's population lives within 60 miles of the world's oceans. This is the most direct path for much of the plastic in the water.

Plastic trash gets blown in as shopping bags, high wind detritus, and debris from hurricanes and tsunamis. These natural forces have been bringing in massive amounts of materials. Most of the problem could be avoided if not for human laziness, like not placing plastics in recycle bins for recovery and littering.

At Columbus we have none of the "seaside excuses," or do we? While we don't have tsunamis, we do have tornados and high winds that can scatter plastic for miles.
Litter -- there is plenty and if not picked up, recycled or trapped in mud, it will eventually wash into streams, rivers and wind up in the Gulf of Mexico. It takes far less time than you might suppose as plastic water and soda bottles can make it to the Gulf in just a few weeks, and unfortunately thousands do.

Several communities have banned plastic shopping bags because of the eyesore they create. In oceans, sea turtles confuse them for jellyfish and eat them. The plastic has no nutritional value and may cause intestinal blockages or get tangled on the sea turtle's neck, fins and shell.

Many aquatic animals die at the expense of our carelessness. We are creating our own problem by not being responsible enough to recycle at the market bins or insisting on not using reusable baskets and bags.

So what can we do to help fix this? Volunteer for one of the road side clean-ups. They matter more than you think. Report littering as it is a crime. There is a nation-wide hotline, *47 on your cell phone will get the non-emergency dispatch for reporting littering you witness. They will want a description of the vehicle, plate number, location and other details. Be sure to pull over, please don't text or call while driving. In all other cases you can call the Mississippi department of Environmental Quality at 601-961-5171.

Recycling is one answer to the plastic issue and at the base we accept the most common plastics, numbers one and two. Basically, if you drink from it, we recycle it. We need the bottles to be empty as they are crushed for shipping and the contents make a sticky, smelly mess.  If we see material in the bottle it is thrown in the trash, not recycled. Lids on or off, doesn't matter, but loose lids are appreciated so the bottles crush better.

A better idea is to not buy bottled water or other drinks often. Use one of the bottle refill stations on base and at local colleges and get some value added to that expensive bottle of water. Please be responsible with plastics and make sure they are recycled or securely disposed of in a landfill, not our streets and water ways. It may be a permanent mark we leave on the planet.

One last thought: The Governor of Mississippi has made fighting litter and the related pollution a priority. Fines were raised in 2013 from $50 to $25,000 per incident of dumping any amount of litter, trash, or abandoning appliances or vehicles. If wildlife is injured, the fine can be the cost of the environmental cleanup as necessary to replenish such wildlife, as determined by the commission after consulting with the Mississippi Commission on Wildlife, Fisheries and Parks. That sounds expensive and it doesn't matter if it was intentional dumping or an accident. If squirrels ate your oil line, it is still your problem to clean it up. It gets worse; the fine is a maximum of $25,000 per day if left on the ground or water, and even one year imprisonment per day.

For more information on Project AWARE, visit online at projectaware.org.