Polymers

I was really blown away by the facts in this article, but at the same time I have to admit I wasn't so surprised. It seems like everyday something new is found that harms the environment and will ultimately be the bane of our existence. It's pretty startling that there is that much plastic floating around the ocean with the potential of harming so much. At the same time however, what happens to all the walnut shells in exfoliating soaps? Walnut shell is practically wood. I know wood softens up and eventually breaks down but at the same time, if it were floating around in the ocean and birds were eating a ratio consistent with what 5 pounds would be to us, i'm sure that would kill them too. Short of us spending our days making only a point of the environments safety and tippy toeing around everything we do, we will never be in a position that's 100% satisfactory. While I do think efforts should be made to curb the amount of plastic we use that gets broken down, I think there are much bigger environmental problems we can invest our time, research, and money into.