Skip to main content

Visualising the world’s addiction to plastic bottles

Plastic bottle garbage constitutes a significant and escalating environmental crisis on a global scale. The widespread use and disposal of plastic bottles have led to a host of ecological and social challenges, making it a pressing concern for individuals, communities, and governments worldwide.

Plastic bottles, commonly crafted from materials like polyethylene terephthalate (PET), have become emblematic of our modern convenience-driven culture. The proliferation of single-use plastic bottles, used to contain water, beverages, and other liquids, has spurred a linear economy model where products are manufactured, used briefly, and then discarded. This culture of disposability is at the heart of the plastic bottle garbage issue.

As consumption patterns have intensified, so has the production of plastic bottles. Mass production of these bottles has not only contributed to immense amounts of waste but has also put a strain on natural resources, particularly the fossil fuels required to manufacture plastic. Once these bottles have served their immediate purpose, they are often discarded haphazardly, ending up in landfills, rivers, and oceans.

Reuters Graphics puts into view the gigantic scale of plastic bottle garbage by comparing it to recognizable world landmarks.

Every hour, close to 54.5 million bottles is dumped in the world. When accumulated, the heap would be higher than the Brazilian statue Jesus Christ.

Plastic Bottles and statue of Jesus Christ


In a day, over 1.3 billion bottles are discarded. If you were to take the lift up the Eiffel Tower, you’d reach the top of this heap about midway up.

Plastic bottles and Eiffel Tower


In a month about 40 billion bottles are dumped.

Plastic bottles and Eiffel Tower


481.6 billion plastic bottles were sold in 2018. These bottles gathered in a heap, it would be higher than the Burj Khalifa in Dubai - the tallest building in the world.

Plastic bottles and Burj Khalifa

The last ten years 4 trillion bottles were sold. If all plastic bottle waste were piled up, New Yorkers would see a plastic mountain every time they watched out their window rising to over half the elevation of the top of the Rocky Mountains.

Plastic bottles and New York


To learn more about plastic garbage have a look at the following books:
Labels:

This post may contain affiliate links. As an Amazon Associate, I earn from qualifying purchases.


Popular posts from this blog

Find cities with similar climate

This map has been created using The Global environmental stratification. The Global environmental stratification (GEnS), based on statistical clustering of bioclimate data (WorldClim). GEnS, consists of 125 strata, which have been aggregated into 18 global environmental zones (labeled A to R) based on the dendrogram. Interactive map >> Via www.vividmaps.com Related posts: -  Find cities with similar climate 2050 -  How global warming will impact 6000+ cities around the world?
Read more

The Appalachian Mountains, the Scottish Highlands, and the Atlas Mounts in Africa were the same mountain range

The Central Pangean Mountains was a prominent mountain ridge in the central part of the supercontinent Pangaea that extends across the continent from northeast to southwest through the Carboniferous , Permian Triassic periods. The mountains were formed due to a collision within the supercontinents Gondwana and Laurussia during the creation of Pangaea. It was comparable to the present Himalayas at its highest peak during the start of the Permian period. It isn’t easy to assume now that once upon a time that the Scottish Highlands, The Appalachian Mountains, the Ouachita Mountain Range, and the Atlas Mountains in northwestern Africa are the same mountains , once connected as the Central Pangean Mountains.
Post a Comment
Read more

Human Emotions Visualized

Despite significant diversity in the culture around the globe, humanity's DNA is 99.9 percent alike. There are some characteristics more primary and typical to the human experience than our emotions. Of course, the large spectrum of emotions we can feel can be challenging to verbalize. That's where this splendid visualization by the Junto Institute comes in. This visualization is the newest in an ongoing attempt to categorize the full range of emotions logically. Our knowledge has come a long route since William James suggested 4 primary emotions: fear, grief, love, and rage. These kernel emotions yet form much of the basis for current frameworks. The Junto Institute's visualization above classifies 6 basic emotions: fear, anger, sadness, surprise, joy, love More nuanced descriptions begin from these 6 primary emotions, such as jealousy as a subset of anger and awe-struck as a subset of surprise. As a result, there are 102 second-and third-order emotions placed on this emo
Post a Comment
Read more