Hi,
Petroleum-based plastics are a major global problem, and along with
increasing concerns about impacts of plastics on global health, we are
seeing devastating effects on wildlife and humanity. That’s
why EARTHDAY.ORG is committed to the global theme of Planet vs.
Plastics for Earth Day 2024.
On September 9, a male black bear in Telluride, Colorado had to be
humanely euthanized by Colorado Parks and Wildlife (CPW).1
Why? CPW received a report about the distressed and sick bear near a
river trail. Recognizing that the bear was in severe pain, the
authorities decided that euthanizing the animal would be the most
ethical action. A necropsy of the bear revealed that its intestines
were packed with plastic waste.
As CPW Area Wildlife Manager Rachel Sralla stated, we need to be
better neighbors to wildlife to prevent incidents like this one. We
cannot stand idly by as our environment, wildlife, and humans are
ravaged by the prevalence of plastics. It
is essential we face the plastics crisis head on and we need your
support.
The black bear was found with a mixture of various types of waste
in his intestinal tract including disinfectant wipes, napkins, plastic
sacks, food wrappers, and more. The plastic clogged the bear's small
and large intestines. Its intestines were inflamed with infection and
completely empty of actual food.
This is far from the first time that plastics have wreaked
havoc on living beings. Food packaging has been found in the
scat of endangered eastern quoll and Tasmanian devils.2
Microplastics have been discovered in the intestines of
fish.3 Young seabirds dying with 30 to 200 pieces of
plastic in their stomachs.4 Blue whales are estimated to
swallow 95 pounds of plastic in a single day.5
Increasingly, effects of plastics on human health are being uncovered
too.6 This bear’s suffering was not an isolated
incident.
The pain and agony this bear endured — all because of human
negligence and our disposable culture — serves as a heartbreaking
reminder that our actions can have real and fatal consequences to
other living beings and devastating impacts on the health of our
planet. It is vital that we make effective changes to curb the
harm caused by plastics.
For Earth Day 2024, EARTHDAY.ORG is focusing on ending plastics
for the sake of human and planetary health, demanding a 60% reduction
in the production of ALL plastics by 2040.
But we can’t do it alone. We need your help.
Show
your support for our fight to reduce plastics and limit the harm they
cause to us and other living creatures.
In solidarity,
Kathleen Rogers President
Footnotes:
1. Los Angeles Times: https://www.latimes.com/world-nation/story/2023-09-18/a-black-bear-was-euthanized-in-colorado-a-necropsy-showed-its-intestines-were-plugged-with-human-garbage
2. Australian Broadcasting Corporation: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2019-01-23/plastic-waste-found-in-quoll-scats-in-tasmania/10731452
3. Society of Environmental Toxicology and Chemistry: https://setac.onlinelibrary.wiley.com/doi/abs/10.1002/ieam.1913
4. The Guardian: https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2023/mar/03/plasticosis-new-disease-caused-by-plastics-discovered-in-seabirds
5. YaleEnvironment360: https://e360.yale.edu/digest/blue-humpback-fin-whales-microplastics
6. EARTHDAY.ORG: https://www.earthday.org/planet-vs-plastics/
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