It accounts for:

9% OF… Construction 

12,626 LBS OF… Building Materials

26,081 LBS OF…Packaging

Needless to say, plastic is fairly important to the modern world, with these figures, as presented by the AMERICAN CHEMISTRY COUNCIL (ACC), as of 2014. It provides us with wall coverings, cladding, flooring, pipping, wiring, and windows, just to say the least. 

“PLASTICS IN BUILDINGS” by the National Academy of Sciences National Research Council, copyrighted in 1954, dictated,

“While some plastic materials have been used for many years by the building industry, the tremendous development of the plastics industry since World War II have focused attention on its possibilities in the construction field.”

Although plastics do encompass a large part of the construction industry, and gear themselves toward an environmental outlook, it is inevitable to investigate further. This past month, NATIONAL PUBLIC RADIO (NPR) has spoken at great lengths over the harm plastics have been causing to the environment, and the alarming rate at which they are affecting oceans and marine wildlife. On June 6th, of 2018, it was reported that a whale was killed in Thailand by accidentally consuming almost 17 pounds of plastic. In its belly were over 80 wet black plastic bags, as reported to Reuters. The whale died after five days of attempted life-saving treatment. 

Connectedly, on May 31st, of 2018, just days before the tragic death of the Thai whale, plastic straws were broadcasted to have been officially banned from Miami Beach, following an evolution in policy from coast to coast. This is part of a movement, famously popularized by a video of a sea turtle found with straws stuck up its nose. 

With over the 33 million tons of plastics Americans threw away in only 2014, compounded with the nearly 270,000 metric tons of plastic in our oceans, this now is a debacle that all trades must come to realize. Although, we not all may be directly responsible for such an outrage, we are all part of the hopeful solution. We have to realize that although we are conscious, we need to be active and mindful. Regardless of the efforts made towards recycling, only 19% of plastic have be reused, according to SMARTWaste. With building and construction being the biggest use of plastic, next to packaging, it is a time we take careful measure and weight the costs, since the alternative may just cost too much. 

FOR FURTHER READING:

https://www.npr.org/sections/thesalt/2018/05/31/615580695/last-straw-for-plastic-straws-cities-restaurants-move-to-toss-these-sippers

https://www.npr.org/2018/05/31/615911045/companies-and-regulators-move-toward-full-ban-on-plastic-straws-to-help-alleviat

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/magazine/2018/06/plastic-planet-waste-pollution-trash-crisis/

https://www.npr.org/2018/06/06/617213676/in-thailand-17-pounds-of-plastic-kills-whale-highlighting-ocean-pollution