[et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.91″ custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” next_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|0px|0px” _builder_version=”3.0.47″ background_size=”initial” background_position=”top_left” background_repeat=”repeat”][et_pb_column type=”4_4″][\/et_pb_column][\/et_pb_row][\/et_pb_section][et_pb_section bb_built=”1″ _builder_version=”3.0.92″ custom_padding=”2px|0px|37.9062px|0px” prev_background_color=”#000000″][et_pb_row custom_padding=”0px|0px|18.9531px|0px” custom_margin=”10px|||” _builder_version=”3.0.92″][et_pb_column type=”2_3″][et_pb_text admin_label=”News Story” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”0px||0px|”]<\/p>\n
Nearly 300 million tons of plastic are used across the nation each year. According to the South Carolina Aquarium, it is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.<\/p>\n
University of South Carolina students are taking initiative to spread awareness on plastic pollution in the community, including the discovery of micro plastics in Columbia’s drinking water.<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is a public health concern. They’re finding microplastics that are so small you can\u2019t even see them in our drinking water.\u201d said Peyton Moore, a student advocating on behalf of Sustainable Carolina. \u201cIt\u2019s across the U.S. and even in Columbia specifically.\u201d<\/p>\n
On Saturday, students from Sustainable Carolina gathered on the patio of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications to put together a plastic footprint. The display included plastics from the campus recycling center and Sonoco Recycling in Columbia.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Of the plastics used daily, 91 percent are not recyclable. According to the Coastal Conservation League, a plastic bag is used for 12 minutes on average, and only between one and five percent are recycled.<\/p>\n
By making people aware of how serious plastic pollution is, Moore hopes to see an impact and change on campus and in the community.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe wanted to represent all of the different types of plastics that students are probably interacting with in their daily lives and that we are producing as a campus,\u201d Moore said.<\/p>\n
South Carolina municipalities have taken\u00a0steps to reduce their plastic footprint by banning single-use plastics. The list includes Charleston, Beaufort County, James Island, Sullivan\u2019s Island, Arcadia Lakes, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach and Surfside Beach.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe pollution caused by plastics is an ever-increasing threat to the environment all around the world in every ecosystem you can imagine plastics are effecting the animals that live there and the people\u201d said Timothy Mousseau, a biological science professor at the University of South Carolina.<\/p>\n
Grocery stores like Aldi have taken steps towards eliminating single-use plastic by using carboard boxes to carry items out of the store and making customers bring their own reusable bags.<\/p>\n
\u201cI think we are taking a really good step in the right direction with getting rid of single use plastics\u201d said Caroline Stanton, an environmental science major at USC.<\/p>\n
Here are some ways students say you can reduce your every day plastic footprint:<\/p>\n
* Carry a reusable mug<\/p>\n
* Say no to straws<\/p>\n
* Bring your own shopping bag<\/p>\n
* Stop buying bottled water<\/p>\n
* Skip the disposable razor<\/p>\n
* Reusable containers and cutlery<\/p>\n
[\/et_pb_text][\/et_pb_column][et_pb_column type=”1_3″][et_pb_image admin_label=”Image 1″ show_in_lightbox=”on” show_bottom_space=”off” _builder_version=”3.20.1″ custom_margin=”||2px|” custom_padding=”|||” animation_style=”slide” box_shadow_style=”preset2″ box_shadow_horizontal=”4px” box_shadow_vertical=”4px” src=”http:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-content\/uploads\/2019\/03\/PlasticP2W_HF.jpg”]<\/p>\n
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USC students from Sustainable Carolina reminded fellow students that plastic straws and other plastic products often end up in landfills and take years to break down.\u00a0<\/p>\n
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University of South Carolina students are raising awareness about microplastics in drinking water. <\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":149,"featured_media":19833,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_et_pb_use_builder":"on","_et_pb_old_content":"
Across the nation, we use nearly 300 billion tons of plastic each year. According to the South Carolina Aquarium, it is estimated that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish.<\/p>
In South Carolina alone, traces of microplastics have been found in drinking water right in Columbia. University of South Carolina students are taking initiative to spread awareness on plastic pollution in the community.<\/p>
\u201cThis is a public health concern, they\u2019re finding microplastics that are so small you can\u2019t even see them in our drinking water.\u201d said Peyton Moore, a student advocating on behalf of Sustainable Carolina. \u201cIt\u2019s across the U.S. and even in Columbia specifically.\u201d<\/p>
On Saturday, students from Sustainable Carolina gathered on the patio of the School of Journalism and Mass Communications to put together a plastic footprint. The display includes plastics from the campus recycling center and the Columbia Sonoco.<\/p>
91% of plastics that are used daily are not recyclable, according to the Coastal Conservation league a plastic bag is used for 12 minutes on average and between 1-5% are recycled.<\/p>
By making people aware of how serious plastic pollution is, Moore hopes to see an impact and change on campus and in the community.<\/p>
\u201cWe wanted to represent all of the different types of plastics that students are probably interacting with in their daily lives and that we are producing as a campus\u201d Said Moore.<\/p>
South Carolina municipalities have taken individual steps to reduce their plastic footprint by banning single-use plastics. The list includes Charleston, Beaufort County, James Island, Sullivan\u2019s Island, Arcadia Lakes, Mount Pleasant, Isle of Palms, Folly Beach and Surfside Beach.<\/p>
\u201cThe pollution caused by plastics is an ever-increasing threat to the environment all around the world in every ecosystem you can imagine plastics are effecting the animals that live there and the people\u201d said Timothy Mousseau, a Biological Science Professor at the University of South Carolina.<\/p>
Grocery stores like Aldi have taken steps towards eliminating single-use plastic by using carboard boxes to carry items out of the store and making customers bring their own reusable bags.<\/p>
\u201cI think we are taking a really good step in the right direction with getting rid of single use plastics\u201d said Caroline Stanton, an Environmental Science major at USC.<\/p>
Here are some ways you can reduce your every day plastic footprint:<\/p>
* Carry a reusable mug<\/p>
* Say no to straws<\/p>
* Bring your own shopping bag<\/p>
* Stop buying bottled water<\/p>
* Skip the disposable razor<\/p>
* Reusable containers and cutlery<\/p>","_et_gb_content_width":""},"categories":[39,1],"tags":[709,708,707,190],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19637"}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/149"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=19637"}],"version-history":[{"count":12,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19637\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":19855,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/19637\/revisions\/19855"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/19833"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=19637"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=19637"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/carolinanewsandreporter.cic.sc.edu\/test\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=19637"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}