Why Plastic Free Pursuit’s strides are so impactful - an interview

Written by Beatrice Bos

Aimee Singh is the founder of Plastic Free Pursuit, a business that aims to “greatly reduce the amount of waste we produce as consumers.” Plastic can seem great; it’s easy to use and dispose of, and usually comes in handy. It’s become part of our ordinary lives, so much that as of today, we have globally produced seven billion tons of plastic. Of that plastic, only roughly 10% has ever been recycled, which has caused a huge problem: plastic waste.

We know how easy it is to dispose of plastic, but where does it go once we get rid of it? In 2014, Americans discarded about 33.6 million tons of plastic. Of that, only 9.5% was recycled. The rest was either combusted to create electricity or heat (15%), releasing dangerous gases into our atmosphere, or ended up in landfills, bound to sit there for years, if not hundreds of years. That’s right, plastic can take up to 500 years to decompose! With our current plastic production rates, which are expected to rise to 34 billion tonnes (of just primary plastics) by 2050, plastic waste is becoming a bigger problem everyday.

Unfortunately, many times plastic doesn’t even stay in landfills or in proper disposing facilities. It is estimated that 75-199 million tons of plastic are currently found in our oceans. These buildups of waste are a huge issue to our ecosystems, damaging the environment and harming animals. Nearly 700 species of marine animals, and almost all seabirds, are known to have been negatively affected by plastics. Land animals also face the same issue, as the consumption of plastic can end up killing an animal.

Disposing appropriately of plastic is not the only issue that comes with plastic production. 99% of plastic comes from fossil fuels, meaning that plastic production is also a contributor to the increase of harmful emissions that threaten the health of our planet: both of our ecosystems and of our people.

Both plastic production and waste are extremely harmful, so what can we do about it? Surprisingly, recycling isn’t enough. Only a small percent of plastic gets recycled and most of the time plastic that is meant to be recycled will go to a landfill anyway, as recycling is an extremely costly procedure.

That’s where Aimee comes in. She was “terrified of what the planet will look like in the near future if we do nothing to help,” so she decided to found Plastic Free Pursuit with a mission to help tackle plastic waste. Her business is meant to help others lead a more sustainable lifestyle, and she says that she sees herself “having more sustainable businesses to create change, to change the way we consume, and show big corporations how it's done!” Together we can face the obstacles that plastic production and usage bring, and put an end to them once and for all.

Sources:

https://news.climate.columbia.edu/2012/01/31/what-happens-to-all-that-plastic/

https://www.wwf.org.au/news/blogs/the-lifecycle-of-plastics

https://www.nationalgeographic.com/environment/article/plastic-pollution