The informative newsletter created by 5 students of the University of the West Indies, St Augustine Campus, for the ENRM 1001 course. This newsletter focuses on the problems, solutions, recommendations and innovations to plastic pollution on land and sea.

1. Environmental Defense
“THE FUTURE IS IN OUR HANDS”
Environmental Defense
PLASTIC POLLUTION
GROUP 9
STEFAN RAMROOPSINGH ( 814000928 )
STEPHANIE POLLARD ( 813000525 )
TIANA ISSACS ( 814000
SAMANTHA SINGH ( 814000881 )
NARIK BHAGIRATH ( 814000

2. Plastic pollution is the accumulation in the environ- ment of man-made plastic products to the point where they create problems for wildlife and their habitats as well as for human populations.
Trinidad and Tobago is one of the most polluted small island states in the world due to the fact that we dump almost 50 million plastic bottles in our dumps per month. Consequently, when plastics are exposed to heat one of the deadliest toxins is created in which we breathe in.
Plastics have become a cause for concern as a result of our high consumer ism rate. Due to the fact that plas- tics are irresponsibly discarded, they do not degrade easily, floats on water and is not enthralled by the envi- ronment. This material can be given the title of poster child for pollution and is synonymous with all that is considered bad for the world we live in. Classic images of plastic land pollution are the clogging of drains with this material.
Plastic Pollution Problems: Land
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Volume 1, Issue 1
PLASTIC POLLUTION ON LAND
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BY: SAMANTHA SINGH

3. HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PLASTIC ON OUR LAND
 Plastics take approximately 500-1000 years to disintegrate and contain toxins such as Eth- ylene oxide, xylene, and benzene that can be released when heat is consistently being placed on the plastic materials and consequently as a result of exposure to these toxins, harmful diseases are caused in humans. Doctors suspect that the rise in the rate of cancer patients is due to the exposure to these harmful toxins.
 During the rainy season, the plastic rubbish that has fallen on the road gets washed away into the nearby water reservoirs, canals, and drains, leading to their choking up and over- flowing. Also, the water quality gets spoiled due to the addition of these synthetic materi- als.
 Wind carries and deposits plastic from one place to another and as a result this will In- crease land pollution. Plastic bags can be manipulated by the wind and get trapped on fenc- es, trees and buildings which may cause animals that come into this vicinity to get tangled and suffocated which may lead to their death.
 Blockage as a result of plastic accumulation may form breading grounds for mosquitoes and other harmful vectors insects, which might cause numerous diseases in humans.
 The quality of drinking water on our planet is deteriorating, as plastic releases some toxic chemicals such as Styrene Trimer, Bisphenol A, and a by-product of Polystyrene. These products are deteriorating the drinking water condition. Bisphenol A, a harmful toxin re- leased by plastics damages the reproductive system of animals and humans.
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4. PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE OCEANS
PLASTIC PROBLEM?
In contemporary society the problems related to pollution is becoming very severe, we live in a world where consumerism is at an all-time high and this if left unchecked has already been devastating the natural environment in a number of ways. If left unchecked it may cause further deleterious effects on the environment and result in many problems. One such major pollution takes place in the sea and is mainly due to plastics the following attempts to bring about the awareness of this issue, as to the negative effects of plastics in our oceans.
In recent studies done some very alarming results were obtained, according to OceanCrusaders.org 2014 shoppers worldwide use approximately 500 billion single use plas- tic bags per year, which translates to about a million bags every minute across the globe and 150 bags a year for every person on earth. They stated that if joined end on they would cir- cumnavigate the globe 4200 times! This is very alarming as such plastics end up in our water ways and make their way to our beloved oceans (Figure 1) leading to various deleterious ef- fects. They continued to state there is 46,000 pieces of plastic in every square mile of the ocean! Helium balloons, a single use item, which when released goes up into the atmosphere, when the helium becomes denatured the plastic balloon falls and may end up in the ocean.
Plastics are very resistive to decomposition and it can take from 20 years to 1000 years for a single piece of plastic to break up, not break down, but to break up into smaller pieces which still exists in the environment
Plastic Pollution Problems: Oceans
28/11/14
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BY: NARIK BHAGIRATH

5. HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PLASTICS IN OUR OCEANS
 ¨The death of marine creatures due to strangulation via entanglement, as they are stran- gled in the plastics, up to 100,000 marine creatures a year are killed
 ¨Sea turtles who feed on jelly fish, easily mistake denatured helium balloons floating on the surface of the water as the jelly fish as well as submerged floating plastic bags and try to consume them. When it enters their body it is unable to be digested and therefore kills them
 ¨Sea birds and Sea-lions become entangled in plastics and become suffocated as well as some birds try to consume plastic materials and it remains in their digestive system which ends fatally for them. Up to 1 million birds die a year from plastics
 ¨A single plastic bag can kill not only one, but many organisms as plastics are very resis- tive to decomposition (no known organism can decompose plastic) as a result when one animal is entangled in the plastic and they die, their body decomposed by the plastic re- mains, over time another animal may fall victim and have the same faith as the one prior to it
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6. HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PLASTICS IN OUR OCEANS
 ¨Acidification of the oceans occur due emissions of carbon dioxide, this can be related to plastics as seen in Australia where 582.9 million liters of bottled water was produced in 2009-2010 alone, producing and delivering a liter of bottled water can emit hundreds of times more green-house gases than tap water. These emissions when in contact with water ways lead to acidification of water ways, i.e lowering of their pH. Some marine organisms are very sensitive to changes pH such as calcifying plankton find it harder to create CaCO3 shells in acidic waters and so are unable to survive (Oceana.org 2014). This can have major effects on the ecosystem and cause food webs to collapse, that is because these planktons are what smaller fishes and whales eat, if no plankton are pre- sent, the food supply for the small fish will be lost. This will result in their population decreasing. As the smaller fish population decreases there is less food for fishes on the 2nd trophic level and so on, leading to increased competition and limited food supply which has detrimental effects on the organisms.
 ¨As acidification disrupts food webs of the ocean, eventually it will affect us humans as well, as we depend on fish as a source of food therefore we will need to find alternate means of replacing this large food source
 ¨Plastics that are broken up into small pieces are consumed by fish as well as chemicals from plastics (lead, cadmium and mercury) are released into the water and absorbed by fish. Humans use fish as a means of meeting their protein requirements and so by eating these fish we unknowingly consume all the chemicals and pieces of plastic as well, as it is present in the fish. This can have negative health ef- fects on our health
 ¨It can be very aesthetically displeasing, the ocean is such a divine beauty, and due to the increasing presence of plastics it is becoming a “plastic soup” which is very unap- pealing to look at.
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7. Let’s talk about REDUCE:
Living on this earth amongst all this plas- tic waste isn’t safe or healthy. What can we do? What is already being done? Can we follow from these ex- amples and have bet- ter lifestyles? Yes! Yes we can. Plastic products are so con- venient in this throw it “away” society. Where does it go? Away? We are living in a world where we consume more and
more plastic every year in every aspect of our lives. When the earth is over populat- ed by plastic waste build up what can are we going to do? Our options are to live amongst it or to uti- lize it. Have you ever heard about the 3R’s? REDUCE, REUSE AND RECYCLE
Reducing is the act of breaking down or us- ing less of a sub- stance in this case we want to reduce the use of plastic con-
sumption. Even though plastic seems convenient, there are many other alterna- tives that we can use instead of disposable
plastic items.
The 3 R’s
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Plastic Pollution Recommendations: Land
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PLASTIC POLLUTION ON LAND
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BY: STEPHANIE POLLARD

8. Plastic bags are a major
source of plastic waste pile up
which can be replaced by eco-friendly
bags or reusable bags
at the grocery store, in shop-ping
centres and sometimes
some items do not require
baggage. Countries such as
India has banned the use of
plastic bags in certain villag-es
and major stores such as
Price Mart shopping centre
do not offer
packaging of
items in
plastic wrap-ping
or bags.
-Water bottles and any other
plastic items that can hold
soil can be used as a planting
medium.
-Get creative! : Donate plastic
packaging such as egg crates
to schools or centres or create
Reuse is the act of using an
item that has already been
used for its main purpose.
Many everyday items can be
reused:
Plastic bags can be reused to
line garbage bins.
your own
home project
such as mak-ing
a piggy
bank or bird
seed holders.
Now Is The Time To REUSE:
as birds. A refill lighter can
make a major difference.
Intersecting with reduction
would be reuse where plastic
containers can be reused
which also reduces your con-sumption
of plastics.
Purchase item that can be re-filled
instead of buying indi-vidual
items such as laundry
detergent and buy in bulk
bins where you can buy items
loose and refill your goods. A
simple item such as a dispos-able
lighter over times accu-mulates
in landfills and may
be consumed by animals such
“India has banned the use of
plastic bags in certain villages
and major stores “
Reducing:
Don’t need it, replace it
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9. Recycling is more commonly associated with the process where old goods are re- manufactured, allowing them to be turned into new prod- ucts.
Recycling of plastics are al- ready being done worldwide. Plastic waste are collected and sorted and then manipu- lated to create new products.
This process may also be called down cycling.
Recycling and reuse are both interrelated and one can col- lect their plastic trash and carry it to recycling plants in their area.
In Texas, Henry Sullivan re- cycles plastic waste to make rail roads tiles and in India plastic bags are recycled to
make decorative handbags and jewelry.
Recycling, A New innovation:
Environmental
Defense
To learn more or ask questions
plastics.
-Help set up recycling plants and volunteer in the recycling process.
Other than the basic reduce, reuse, recycle, there are many more ways in which plastic pollution can be eliminated.
-Spread the word! Educating others about plastic pollution and ways to eradicate it.
-Countries can consider plac- ing a ban on certain types of
There is More YOU and Your Country Can Do To Make A Difference!
Did you know?:
Coca Cola cleans their plastic bottles which can be used up to 20times.
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10. PLASTIC POLLUTION IN THE OCEANS
Plastic Pollution Recommendations: Oceans
28/11/14
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Water covers over 70% of the Earth’s surface and is a very important resource for people and the environment. Water pollution is the contamination of water bodies (e.g. lakes, rivers, oceans, aquifers and groundwater). Water pollution occurs when pollutants are directly or in- directly discharged into water bodies without adequate treatment to remove harmful com- pounds.
One of the most serious threats to oceans is plastics pollution. Plastic make up about 90% of the total surface floating trash, with 46,000 pieces of plastic per square mile. Plastic unlike other types of materials does not biodegrade; instead, it photo-degrades with sunlight, break- ing down into smaller and smaller pieces. The physical wave action breaks up plastics over time, but only into smaller bits that remain in the water and they never really disappear.
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BY: TIANA ISSACS

11.  What are the solutions to this increasing threat? There is no one solution to the water plastic waste prob- lem. The most effective way to stop plastic pollution in our oceans is to make sure it never reaches the water in the first place. The first and most practical solution would be reduction. Reduction of plastic waste is possible with the use of alternative materials. The use of wood, paper and even glass can reduce the need for plastic. Society however has become very plastic dependent. They prefer plastic as opposed to other materials for the mere fact that it is light-weight, cheap, strong and ‘disposable’.
 In addition, legislations can be made and implemented to addresses this issue of plastic pollution. Legis- lations can include harsh penalties for dumping of refuse and taxes on industries that produce excessive plastics. Many states hold producers of materials like paint and carpet responsible for recovering and re- cycling their product after it is used. Producers of plastic packaging should be required to find innovative ways to design better packaging that can be more fully recovered for recycling or reuse, and they should help cover the costs required to keep plastic out of the environment.
 Innovation is another solution to the plastic waste problem in the ocean. Our capacity to come up with smarter approaches, ideas, and materials is limitless. Businesses must continue reinventing the way we make and consume our products, helping to forge a more sustainable world, and supporting communities that demand better alternatives. Responsible legislation creates opportunity for these alternatives. Steel water bottles and cloth grocery bags, biodegradable plastics and green chemistry, closed loop product lifecycles – these innovations and reinventions move us towards a more sustainable society.
 Furthermore recovery and recycling can have a great effect of helping alleviate this problem. Communi- ties manage waste with landfills and recovery centers and can recycle a lot of plastic waste. Many per- sons are becoming very innovative in their recycling of collected waste materials and are fashioning many items out of this durable material. Trevor Williams and his team at Recycling in Motion (RIM) recycles more than two million pounds of plastic per year. At the company's warehouse in Champs Fleurs, there are large cardboard boxes filled with recycled granulated plastic pieces that are then export- ed to begin their lives over as bags, container and even clothing. Unfortunately, recycling plastics has proven difficult. The biggest problem with plastic recycling is that it is difficult to automate the sorting of plastic waste, and so it is labor intensive.
 Lastly, the second most practical solution or recommendation is the physical action of removal of the waste. Although the degree of plastic pollution cur- rently in our oceans is so extensive, many NGO’s as well as government agencies has attempted to help remove some of this waste. It can be debated whether their actions have had any real impact on the issue but with the continuous production of plastic and the mere fact that it doesn’t degrade, they help slow down the rate at which plastic consumes the oceans. Some people however, believe that cleaning up plastic pollution from the world’s oceans is impractical.
 In all, just as plastics are a common material used in many aspects of our lives, plastics are also a com- mon component of marine debris. As plastic usage has increased over the years, so has the amount of plastic entering water bodies. Plastics are a pervasive environmental problem, but they are a material that can be managed and a resource that can be conserved. Reducing the plastic component of marine debris depends upon better management of this resource, legislations, recycling and innovations and the cleaning and removal of plastics from water bodies.
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12. PLASTIC POLLUTION
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Plastic Pollution Innovations: Land & Oceans
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The increasing use of plastics in our daily lives has led to mass pollution of plastics in our landfills, dumps, waterways, oceans and our surroundings. This is of great concern to Caribbean countries, where most of the island’s main economy is based on the Tourism sector, which plastics both in the land and oceans can have adverse effects on the country’s flora and fauna. While there are measures already being taken to combat this issue, more needs to be done too help combat this issue, as the rate of plastics being added to the environment is far greater than the rate at which persons are currently dealing with the issue. From laws and legislation, to collection and processing, the more that can be done to reduce, reuse and recycle plastics that enter the environment will greatly help in curbing the current issue.
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BY: STEFAN RAMROOPSINGH

13.  Firstly we can begin this change by raising public education and awareness on the harm- ful impacts of plastics, both when being used for food and drinks, as well as its pro- cessing and after disposal. The mass media, as well as schools and open forums are good mediums to highlight this issue, and also prompt persons to decrease the amount of plas- tic items they purchase, encourage proper disposal of plastic items, and also for persons to reuse plastics in instances where possible.
 Also, there needs to be more laws and stricter enforcement put in place, with regards to the type of plastics being used, with possible bans on plastics that may cause significant harm to persons or the environment when used or disposed. Enforcement of the laws is also critical to ensure that persons abide by the laws, and act as a deterrent to improper disposal of waste. The government can also provide incentives for persons bringing in items that can be alternatives to plastics, while imposing taxes on plastic items which can be substituted. This move by the government will only help persons change their mind set and approach to plastics.
 Additionally, persons should be encouraged to follow trends in Kenya and India, where they try to salvage and reuse as much plastic as they can, both as parts for electronics, or in Kenya, where villagers have made clothing, bags and decorations out of discarded plastic items. While reducing plastic waste, this system also provides jobs for unem- ployed persons and gives them a source of income to better themselves and move them out of poverty, increasing the country’s GDP and HDI. On a larger scale, companies can also use waste plastics for railroad tyres, and the production of ‘fluff’ which can be used as a growing medium for plants.
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14.  Finally, plastics are nearly in every part of our lives and cannot be easily replaced, how- ever plastic companies can look into producing more organic plastics, as done by Plantic Technologies Limited in Australia, where they are producing plastics which can be easily dissolved in water, and other companies which use organic products to produce plastics, thus reducing the need for fossil fuels as well as using creating plastics which can be used after as an alternative energy source, reducing the carbon footprint we make.
 In closing, there are numerous ways which we can use to tackle the issue of plastic pollu- tion in the environment, as well as more ways that we can implement. However, these measures can only work via the cooperation of the entire population, via education and awareness, changing habits, laws and legislation, proper collection and handling of plas- tic waste, and finally, new types of plastics which will have less harmful effects on hu- mans and the environment.
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15. References
 "What Is Ocean Acidification?" Oceana. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. http://oceana.org/en/our-work/ climate-energy/ocean-acidification/learn-act/what-is-ocean-acidification
 "Effects of Ocean Acidification on Marine Species & Ecosystems." Oceana. N.p., n.d. Web. 13 Nov. 2014. http://oceana.org/en/our-work/climate-energy/ocean-acidification/learn-act/effects-of-ocean- acidification-on-marine-species-ecosystems
 "Solutions to Plastic Pollution in Our Oceans." Plastic Pollution in Oceans. N.p., n.d. Web. 14 Nov. 2014. http://www.nrdc.org/oceans/plastic-ocean/
 "Plastic Statistics." Ocean Crusaders. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. http://oceancrusaders.org/crusades/plastic-crusades/plastic-statistics/
 "Plastic Contamination in the Atlantic Ocean." Earth Times. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. http://www.earthtimes.org/pollution/plastic-contamination-atlantic-ocean/377/
 "Plastic Pollution." Coastal Issues / Coastal Care. N.p., n.d. Web. 15 Nov. 2014. http://coastalcare.org/2009/11/plastic-pollution/
 Gaikwad, Amruta. "Effects of Plastic Pollution." Buzzle. Buzzle.com. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http:// www.buzzle.com/articles/effects-of-plastic-pollution.html>.
 "T&T among Most Polluted in World." The Trinidad Guardian Newspaper. Web. 24 Nov. 2014. <http://www.guardian.co.tt/news/2012-03-22/tt-among-most-polluted-world
 Kevin Byrne, Environmental Science, Nelson Thornes Ltd, 2001
 Daniel B. Botkin and Edward A. Keller, Environmental Science: Earth as a Living Planet, John Wiley & Sons Inc, 2011
>.
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