How many products in our day to day lives have remarkably short lifespans, are completely superfluous, and take years, decades and centuries to break down? Take a look:
Paper 2-4 weeks
Leaves 1-3 weeks
Orange Peels 6 months
Milk Carton (VOC) 5 years
Plastic Bag 10-20 years
Plastic Container 50-80 years
Aluminum Can 80 years
Tin Can 100 years
Plastic Soda Bottle 450 years
Glass Bottle 500 years
Styrofoam Never
Exhibit A: | Exhibit B: |
As a citizen of beautiful British Columbia I oppose the proposed Northern Gateway/Kinder Morgan/Enbridge pipeline projects, but I also understand that the best way to render these potentially devastating proposals from going through is to reduce our society's demand for oil and petroleum-based products.
References and Further Reading:
(1) How Long Does it Take Plastic to Degrade - http://www.cleanhouston.org/living/recycling/decomposition.htm
(2) Decomposition - http://www.cleanhouston.org/living/recycling/decomposition.htm
(3) http://bc.ctvnews.ca/new-rules-forcing-nestle-other-bottlers-to-pay-for-b-c-water-1.1503536
(4) http://www.upworthy.com/people-should-know-about-this-awful-thing-we-do-and-most-of-us-are-simply-unaware?c=reccon1
(5) http://castroller.com/podcasts/DeconstructingDinner/576519