How BP's Deepwater Horizon oil spill belongs to every consumer

Think crude oil, and most people make a logical leap to fuel for vehicles. What we forget, because it's not something we discuss every day, is that petroleum is used to manufacture plastic products.

Consumers don't have to purchase BP's gasoline or diesel to be participants in the Gulf of Mexico disaster. Chances are, unless you are radical, you unwittingly purchase products, likely on a near-daily basis, that are made of plastics, wrapped in plastics or somehow contain plastics. And that is your personal link to the oil spill, because plastics are made from petroleum. Admittedly consumers are far removed from the process of extracting and refining crude oil. But every day, with every dollar spent on plastics, means consumers are collaborating and colluding with petroleum giants like BP. After all, without consumption, those giant transnational corporations would have no earnings -- and thus would not operate. Plastics are not the only product made from petroleum. There's a reason petroleum is called "the building block of life." Foods, health care products, packaging and construction materials are just some of the items that contain petroleum. But it is plastics that are as pervasive as automobiles. The amount of plastics created by industry is massive. Plastics, such an integral part of modern life, were a revolutionary material, first created in 1869. The US alone pumps out 15 billion pounds of plastic a year. Until recently, plastic was not thought of once it hit the garbage can -- out of sight, out of mind. But all that plastic has to go somewhere, and eventually a large proportion of our plastic waste ends up stuck in what is called an ocean 'gyre.' Gyres are areas where the water moves in circles. There are five gyres, and all of them collect plastic garbage - and other garbage that floats. Writing in the Christian Science Monitor Daniella Russo said there is about 200 billion pounds of plastic in the world's oceans. This year, eco-warrior David de Rothschild took to the ocean in his boat made of recycled plastic to draw attention to plastic waste in the oceans. Rothschild is just wrapping up the final leg of his voyage aboard the Plastiki. Speaking to The Guardian, Rothschild said the plastic in the gyre consists mainly of particles of plastic that can be difficult to see.

"One of the difficulties in conveying it to people is that you can't photograph it, the flecks are too small. What perhaps makes it most relevant and real for individuals is the health aspect of it. These particles are ingested by marine life and pass into our food chain. We all do it: we throw this stuff, this packaging, what I call dumb plastic, into the bin, and we think it has gone. But it comes back to us one way or another. Some of it ends up on our dinner plates."

The dangers of plastic in the ocean are not entirely known. The immediate impacts are the deaths of marine creatures and those animals which rely on marine species. But there are other issues, not well understood, related to toxicity of the plastics as well as the chemicals the plastics readily absorb. The size of the problem only grows year by year. While some people are cowed by the enormous size of the problem, which now permeates the entire food chain, others have been inspired to use existing plastic to create useful items. Rothschild hardly set a precedent when he created his catamaran with recycled plastic. In 1997, Richie Sowa built a floating home/island using plastic drinking bottles. The ideas circulating the world for reusing plastics are endless, from greenhouses and new homes to furniture ... and, well, the list of what can be done with used plastic is only as short as one's imagination. But the problem with plastics is that, eventually, the stuff degrades into minute particles. Those particles have thus far have not degraded any further, so that all around the world, there are plastic fragments that originate with the first plastics ever made. The fragments readily absorb toxins like DDT and PCBs. Studies are ongoing to see if degraded plastics leach chemicals like Bisphenol A into the environment. Because plastics are made from petroleum, people like musician Jackson Browne are beginning to connect the Deepwater Horizon oil spill to the production of plastics. Writing in the Daily mail, Browne said

"... According to the scientists' and activists' estimate, the amount of oil used to produce plastic every day is the same amount as the oil that is spilling into the Gulf of Mexico every day from the damaged Deepwater Horizon drilling rig."

And there lies the heart of the issue. The oceans continue to receive plastic waste because industry continues to make plastic products that consumers continue to buy. There are alternatives to plastics, but dependence on petroleum does not encourage alternatives writes Jan Lunberg in the Atlantic Free Press. Although Lundberg was writing about how the Deepwater Horizon oil spill, she makes an excellent point. A casual browse of the shelves in an average grocery store will demonstrate the truth in what Lundberg says. The average grocery store does not provide alternatives to plastics. For that, savvy consumers have to go to specialty stores, or shop on-line. It is the average consumer who is not 'in the know' who perpeptuates the cycle. In the meanwhile, there are people who are trying to find ways to clean up the plastics in the oceans. One 2009 experiment, Project Kaisei, sought to remove larger pieces of plastic from the Pacific gyre and recycle them. A second, similar expedition for Project Kaisei will soon be setting sail this summer.