Chemistry-Week 2-Class Discussion

I am replying about our break-out group's discussion on the ingestion of plastic particles. I find it disturbing how much plastic is in the world. As much as I try to avoid the stuff, it finds its way into our home in the form of packaging, bags, to-go containers, and toys. We have a whole section under our kitchen sink donated to reused plastic bags, and we reuse plastic bags for kitty litter. We wash used plastic bags (unless they have raw meat then we throw those in the garbage). We reuse bags as much as possible, but they accumulate so fast. We also try to reuse plastic bags as garbage bags. If we order out and plastic containers are used, we wash them and reuse them as well. We try to do a little to make a difference, but I don't know if it does anything because there is so much plastic it seems like we are drowning in it even when we try to make a difference.
The thing that disturbs me in addition to humans ingesting plastic is the animals that ingest it and suffer or die. They are having to succumb to our poor choices and have no choice but to ingest plastic. Unless, we make drastic changes to omit plastic as much as possible, we will continue to poison the earth and everything in it. On the other hand, I don't think it's too late to make a difference but we need to act and make changes. The fact is that plastic needs to not be an option. The companies who produce it and make billions need to find other ways to use packaging that is not destructive to the planet. This sounds ideal and an easy fix, but in reality it is not.