-Quantitative Reasoning- Term Paper Can Adjusting Water Bottle Consumption Have a Significant Impact On Ocean Pollution?

By 2060, there will be 3,586,031, 746 plastic bottles floating on the coast of the Artic ocean. This is equivalent to 44,825.4 Km2! 44,825.40

In this term paper I would like to look at different questions focusing specifically at western/developed countries in relation to how much plastic we waste. With this information there will be results from my assumptions on the affects of ocean pollution. When referring to plastic, I predominantly suggest plastic bottles, as they play a key role in headlines, articles and other forms of social media as the material to harm the environment. We all share some similar questions when it comes to this world and its environment, therefore, I would like to use my estimations along with neutral data to find some answers. Introduction

Mean and Median average. Using an average would be difficult to rely on in this case as range of figures is large. China= 3.53 as for U.S= Countries Million Metric Tonnes How much is wasted currently? These graphs show the quantity of plastic marine debris this year. I displayed this using a bar graph.

Year Quantity of Marine Debris MMt Country China Indonesia Philippines Vietnam Sri Lanka Total Mean Median From the other 15 countries Total Mean Median Other 172 countries Future Estimations Based on previous data Focused data on the top 5 countries to cut down the numbers. Results are displayed on a line graph. To estimate the further years I added on what was produced in one year (2015) The line graph clearly shows the results as opposed to using other graphs, this is because line graphs depict time effectively as opposed to a pie chart or bar graph.

Country *Quantity of Marine debris (Million Metric Tonnes) % of total Marine Debris* estimated %plastic bottles (3%) plastic bottles in Million Metric TonnesIn grams No. of bottles in cubic meter square China Indonesia Philippines Vietnam Sri Lanka Total Quantity of Plastic Bottles Year Graph behind shows the mean number of bottles thrown in the ocean using the 3% estimation. The graph indicates the increase over time of the level of waste The data is my assumption on the number of bottles (out of total marine waste) is produced. I found the number was by estimating a %age and applying it to the ‘total marine debris’.

Country 6% plastic bottles (MMT)In GramsNo. of BottlesIn cubic metres China Indonesia Philippines Vietnam Sri Lanka Sourced from Ocean Conservancy. They gather thousands of volunteers around the world to collect trash found on the surface of the ocean and on the shore. From the information they create these statistics/index’s. Has the potential to be biased as they are an environmentally centered organization The 6% of plastic bottles This information was not sourced through the library but through searching through Google.

How many Bottles? This is the average weight and size of an empty bottle. This is an average so it is not accurate but an approximation.

worldwide rank of debrispercentage of total cigarettes/filters28% plastic bags12% food wrappers/containers8% caps, lids8% beverage bottles6% bags (paper)5% straws, stirrers4% plastic cutlery4% beverage bottles (glass)4% beverage cans4% others17% total100% This table/data is sourced from the OC. I wanted to use this data to create other graphs and charts. Plastic Bottles!

Further Questions Why so are so many plastic bottles produced? Especially, as many people know the negative impacts. What affects to the solutions have on a gloabal scale? Are the solutions sustainable? What other assumptions are there to the number in plastic bottle waste? Over production? Other alternatives actually worse?