Michigan Pollution Prevention Week
Michigan’s Pollution Prevention Week is held annually every 3rd week in September! As a waste reduction and sustainability education nonprofit, we know a thing or two about pollution prevention and wanted to share information and resources with our community. Keep reading to find out what you can do to help prevent pollution!
Is recycling an effective way to reduce pollution?
Let’s look at the facts:
Recycling Diverts Waste from Landfills and Litter
According to a study from the EPA, in 2018, the most recent year with this large-scale data available, approximately 292 million tons of municipal solid waste was generated in the United States. Of that, approximately 69 million tons were mechanically recycled and 25 million tons were composted, accounting for 32.1% of all municipal solid waste.
These materials get processed into usable bits and sent to manufacturers, who turn them into new items.
Recycling Prevents Plastic Pollution
Based on a report from the Organization of Economic Cooperation and Development, it’s estimated that only 9% of plastic is sent to a recycling facility. That means 91% of plastic goes to landfills, gets burned, or is mismanaged and becomes litter. In each of those three scenarios, chemicals leech into water or are combusted into our air, and micro- and nanoplastics enter our ecosystems and bodies. Recycling plastics is the only waste stream that greatly reduces the harm of plastics-related pollution.
An article from the World Resources Institute that analyzes our plastic pollution problem explains that an estimated 5 billion metric tons (and growing!) of plastic is currently in landfills and our environment. This includes a 1.6 million square kilometer garbage patch in the Pacific Ocean. The good news? Recycling and limiting plastic productions can prevent further pollution!
Recycling Saves Energy
More energy is required to extract and process new materials than to process recycled materials. The less energy used, the less fossil fuels burned and pollution released. An individual waste reduction model tool made by the EPA states that . . .
Recycling 10 aluminum cans saves enough energy to power about 52 hours of laptop usage
Recycling 5 glass bottles saves enough energy to power about 40 hours of a 60W lightbulb
Recycling 24 plastic bottles saves enough energy to power 2 hours of a hairdryer
Because recycling saves energy, Project Drawdown estimates that recycling between 2020 and 2050 will prevent 5.5 to 6.02 gigatons of carbon dioxide from entering the atmosphere, the equivalent of taking over one billion cars off the road for a year.
So, yes, recycling helps prevent pollution! But it’s only one part of a larger solution . . .
What is a circular economy?
You’ve probably heard about zero waste goals and the call to move towards a circular economy. But what do we mean when we say that? Why would we want a circular economy?
Rooted in Ecology
Earth systems, like water and nutrient cycles, are inherently circular. Anything that’s used by plants or animals returns to the system. The laws of physics state that matter and energy can be neither created nor destroyed.
Ecosystems don’t get to transport new materials into the system if they run out, and they certainly don’t have landfills full of waste that’s non-biodegradable. So why is our current economy designed as if it exists outside of Earth’s systems? As if there are infinite resources and no consequences to our waste?
The Extraction Problem
At sites where resources are extracted, like oil fields and mines, pollution rates are incredibly high. Globally, 40% of airborne particulate matter comes from resource extraction and processing. Local ecosystems and communities can be harmed by toxins seeping into groundwater and/or particulate matter in the air.
Indeed, over 90% of water stress and land-use-related biodiversity loss is the result of material extraction and processing.
Exploitative business conduct and government corruption in these fields means that workers often do not have a lot of legal protections. Dangerous work in extraction and materials processing that exposes laborers to pollution and toxins is often done for little pay, and sometimes includes child labor. Marginalized communities, like BIPOC communities, are often put on the frontlines of this pollution and experience disproportionate rates of poor health, economic disadvantages, and displacement.
The Waste Problem
Landfills produce large amounts of greenhouse gases, like methane and carbon dioxide, which contribute to climate change. They also contribute to local air pollution as they release odors and particulates. When it rains near a landfill, runoff carries heavy metals, organic compounds, and other pollutants into our water system. On top of this, wherever landfills are built, they replace natural ecosystems like wetlands and forests, contributing to the global decline of habitat for wildlife.
Sometimes, waste is burned in incinerators instead of put in landfills, which release even more air pollution. Beyond widespread effects, communities living closest to landfills and incinerators experience the highest exposure to pollutants. Before the waste incinerator in Detroit was closed, it served as a prime example of environmental racism: 76% of people living nearby were people of color and 71% of families were low income. These communities faced the highest rates of asthma in the state.
Making a Circular Economy
In a circular economy, products are designed to be long-lasting, reused, or easily recycled or composted, meaning waste is diverted from landfills and put back into the system. This reduces the amount of new materials being extracted. The less new materials we extract, and the less waste we produce, the more chance we have to contribute positively to our local ecosystems instead of contributing to their degradation. While there are many things we can do as consumers to reduce our impact, this shift will require participation from large corporations and support from local, state, and federal governments.
The 7 Rs of waste management or the waste hierarchy are common frameworks used to think about how to start this shift. They include:
Rethink
Refuse
Reduce
Reuse
Repair
Recycle
Rot
A Note on PFAS
This week is also Michigan’s first PFAS Awareness Week. PFAS are a particular kind of pollution that come from manufacturing and consumer products like stain and water-resistant materials. The Awareness Week was first proposed by the Michigan PFAS Action Response Team (MPART)’s Citizen Advisory Working Group to raise awareness of per- and polyfluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) and provide recommendations for how to reduce PFAS exposure in Michigan residents.
PFAS are man-made chemicals that cannot be broken down easily once they are in the environment (you may have heard them referred to as “forever chemicals”), and they can sometimes build up in the human body. They can cause adverse health effects with exposure, such as:
High blood pressure or pre-eclampsia during pregnancy.
Thyroid disease.
Decreased immune system response to vaccines in children.
Reduced fertility.
Liver damage.
High cholesterol, especially total cholesterol and LDL cholesterol.
Small decreases in infant birth weight.
Development of certain types of cancer, particularly kidney and testicular cancers.
The Michigan Department of Health and Human Services (MDHHS) recommends reducing exposure to PFAS whenever and wherever possible. While eliminating all exposure to PFAS may be difficult, these are steps you can take to start limiting exposure today:
Learn if your drinking water is impacted by PFAS.
Consider certified PFAS-reducing water filters.
Follow fish consumption guidelines in your area to help choose fish low in PFAS. Follow deer consumption advisories to avoid eating venison with high levels of PFAS.
Avoid use of consumer products that may contain PFAS, such as stain or water-resistant products.
Avoid contact with foam on waterbodies. MDHHS recommends everyone avoid foam on waterbodies and rinse off after contact.
Prevent forever chemical pollution today and protect your waterways and health!
Success Stories and Making an Impact that Matters
Through Our Backyard Detroit, non-profit Detroit Heals Detroit was awarded one of our mini-grants! These mini-grants were created to help Detroiters have the resources they needed to lead clean-ups and beautification events in their neighborhoods. Detroit Heals Detroit hosted two events and picked up 102 POUNDS of litter!
Interested in hosting your own clean-up and beautification event? On Our Backyard Detroit’s website, we have free resources for you to download and use to make it happen! They include:
Planning a Beautification and Clean-Up Event Guide
Clean-Up and Beautification Event Promotion Guide
An Event Planning Checklist and
Resources for Detroit Residents For Clean-Up and Beautification Events
Comments