Do you know what PVC pipe is made out of? Polyvinyl Chloride. A colorless and odorless plastic that is often connected to reproductive and developmental health issues. The same material your faucet water runs through. Despite this, it stands to be the world’s third most produced synthetic plastic. This material does not stand alone in being one of the least sustainable and most toxic chemicals. The International Living Future Institute has produced a ‘Red List’ that mentions 21 more materials that need to be avoided by every manufacture today. Manufactures are resistant on labeling their products with the ingredients, primarily because of the illnesses, pollution, and resource depletion they are often associated with. These materials can be
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PVC pipes, for example, can be replaced with metal pipes or cross-linked polyethylene (PEX), a plastic that has been made more flexible to accommodate to its function. There are multiple ways to avoid using toxic materials; but manufactures have failed to explore these alternatives. Manufactures have the opportunity to reduce production costs by 50 percent if they begin to recycle and reuse. Further, it is important to understand that the end of a product’s use is not the end of the products life. If made from material excluded from the Red List, products can be repurposed easily by the same or another …show more content…
Some will even go as far to say that consumers are the sole reason for the poor treatment the earth is receiving. Manufactures can choose to make their products 100% recyclable, but whether or not it actually gets recycled is up to the consumer. A place that feels the impact of this un-recycled material most is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The reef exceeds the Great Wall of China and stands to be the only living thing that can be seen from space. Unfortunately, this biodiverse wonder of the world is in great danger of becoming nothing more than another body of water filled with toxic materials. The reefs are found to be eating tiny broken up pieces of plastic called micro-plastics. This is where consumers need to take action in partnering with manufactures in helping become a more sustainable world. Consumers are provided with recycling collection networks such as, RePlanet who collects your plastic and glass bottles in return for money. This is the most popular incentive for the consumer to recycle. However, not every consumer has that accessibility, or the incentive is simply not enough motivation. This is why a residential curbside recycling pickup needs to be installed everywhere. Most residences have waste and yard waste pickup, but it needs to be required that every residence have a recycling
PVC pipes, for example, can be replaced with metal pipes or cross-linked polyethylene (PEX), a plastic that has been made more flexible to accommodate to its function. There are multiple ways to avoid using toxic materials; but manufactures have failed to explore these alternatives. Manufactures have the opportunity to reduce production costs by 50 percent if they begin to recycle and reuse. Further, it is important to understand that the end of a product’s use is not the end of the products life. If made from material excluded from the Red List, products can be repurposed easily by the same or another …show more content…
Some will even go as far to say that consumers are the sole reason for the poor treatment the earth is receiving. Manufactures can choose to make their products 100% recyclable, but whether or not it actually gets recycled is up to the consumer. A place that feels the impact of this un-recycled material most is the Great Barrier Reef in Australia. The reef exceeds the Great Wall of China and stands to be the only living thing that can be seen from space. Unfortunately, this biodiverse wonder of the world is in great danger of becoming nothing more than another body of water filled with toxic materials. The reefs are found to be eating tiny broken up pieces of plastic called micro-plastics. This is where consumers need to take action in partnering with manufactures in helping become a more sustainable world. Consumers are provided with recycling collection networks such as, RePlanet who collects your plastic and glass bottles in return for money. This is the most popular incentive for the consumer to recycle. However, not every consumer has that accessibility, or the incentive is simply not enough motivation. This is why a residential curbside recycling pickup needs to be installed everywhere. Most residences have waste and yard waste pickup, but it needs to be required that every residence have a recycling