Is the designer solely to blame for the mass production of single use plastic? Essay

When we look at the world we live in today. It is very hard to imagine a life without plastic. When did we become so dependent on the use of plastic? Plastic surrounds us every day, it is everywhere, from buying something in the supermarket to using a chair in an office or school. ‘300 million tons of plastic is produced each year’ (Wassener, 2011). Half of that figure is used to make single use products. This is anything from water bottles to packaging. Despite significate effort, recycling alone is just not enough to make a positive impact on helping the reduce the amount of waste/plastic that is in our environment. As there is no real encouragement to recycle. The damage has already been done way before any real solution was introduced to stop it from getting worse. One of the main problems we face in the world we live in is that people do not feel guilty for the amount of plastic that is used in everyday life. We go to the supermarket and everything is wrapped in plastic, even looking at the equipment that is being used by the staff at the supermarkets normally have plastic on. As a consumer, we expect everything to be packaged properly for hygiene reasons or this will lead to a reduction in sales. Which leads me to question is it the designer’s job to educate their consumers when buying products that have been made from plastic or have any plastic on? When looking into the responsibility, designer have a very strong part to play. Why is plastic used? Single use plastic is the problem. In this study, the discussion of tax will be spoken about in this essay. Tax’s that have already been implemented such as the plastic bag charge that has been widely introduced into supermarkets across the country. Also, whether a tax should be brought in to hinder the choice of using plastic to a designer. Plastic should defiantly not be the only option. Alternative material will also be discussed in this study. How can a disposable product be made out of a material that is in-disposable? However, humans are the ones that are destroying our planet. Plastic is everywhere. Plastic is used because it is durable and can be produced very thin. It is also very light and can be easily transport all across the world. Plastic is also very readily available. Plastic bags are a big issue in supermarkets all over the world, which is why a charge was introduced, which I will discuss. Most plastic bags will end up in landfills or even worse an increasingly worse problem, they can be found in the ocean or inside the sea creatures such as casually thrown away toilet wipes and ear buds. It should be obvious that this causes a lot of harm to the environment and living creatures. If plastics is in animal’s food chain it is also in our food chain. Throughout this essay, I will be looking into current projects and alternate materials to plastic. What effects recycling has on the environment. How the plastic we use pose a great risk to wild life specifically sea life. During this essay, I am going to talk more about exactly what harm plastic causes, and where the responsibility lies.