Legos Take a Long Time to Break Down in the Ocean , by Steven Solomon
Photo Credit: https://www.austinwilliams.com/blog/legos-like-public-relations/
Summary:
Legos have been around since 1949 and were instantly a hit. People loved them, but like all your favorite childhood toys they end up being thrown away. The sad thing is that almost all of that trash gets dumped into the ocean and legos can take a long time to break down. Scientists have been able to determine how long it takes for legos to break down using an X-ray fluorescence spectrometer, to measure the chemical makeup of the legos. This works because in the 1970 lego used a chemical called cadmium, which was used to make bright yellows and reds. The chemical was then replaced in the 1980s because it was toxic.
Because of this chemical, they have been able to date the trashed legos back to that time period. They suggest that the legos were out to sea for about 30 to 40 years. The researchers used their X-ray measurements to pair up the weathered Legos with very well kept versions of the same bricks kept in collections since the 1970s. What they found was that the weathered legos only had 3 to 40 percent less mass than their well-kept counterparts. With this conclusion, they were able to determine that it would take legos 100 to 1300 years to completely disintegrate in the ocean. That's a long time!
Source:https://www.sciencenews.org/article/legos-may-take-hundreds-years-break-down-ocean
Questions:
Why is this important?
What do you think is a possible solution?
Do you like playing with legos?
This is important because plastic is, predictably, terrible for the health of the wildlife and for anyone who eats said wildlife. A possible solution is to stop producing legos.
ReplyDeleteThis is important because the chemicals in the old legos could be potentially dangerous as they are toxic. Also this is important because animals in the ocean could be harmed. I think just informing people about the harms of the legos in the oceans is a possible solution. I used to like playing legos when I was younger. -Kevin Gu
ReplyDeleteThis is important to know because this greatly affects our environment. Knowing that it takes this long for legos to completely compose is concerning. We are continuing to produce more plastic products each year and our trash continues to end up in the ocean each year. This large amount of trash ending up in the ocean causes serious harm to wildlife.
ReplyDeleteI agree our environment is at risk and we need to know the problem before we can know the solution. - Steven Solomon
DeleteThis is important because more and more plastic is being dumped into the ocean faster than the plastic can break down. This issue is very harmful for animal life because they ingest plastic by accident.
ReplyDeleteCharles Poe
I like to play with legos
ReplyDeleteDiego Cruz
DeleteThis is important because if the legos really take this long to degrade then it could very harmful to the environment. I think a possible solution is for the Lego company to try and make those biodegradable legos so in the future these legos won't be such a big problem. I never like playing with legos. -Joe Panthalani
ReplyDeleteIt's honestly sad that legos are ending up in the ocean. I think that doing your best to clean up your space and keep animals away from them will help. I loved playing with legos as a kid. -Campbell Marino
ReplyDeleteI think that a possible solution would be to recycle all old toys, not just legos, rather than throwing them out like many people do. Maybe research organizations that recycle old toys like legos and send your old things there. kendall d
ReplyDeletei never really played with legos but I remember as a kid some of the other moms would bring a whole bag of them to the park to let their kids play with in the grass. I can see now how that is not the best idea because they probably leave them there a lot and its bad for the parks. -Maddie Silk
ReplyDeleteI think a good solution would be able to make a better plastic that could be used in making the legos that would break down sooner. I also think that maybe having a place you can return old legos that the company could use again would benefit the environment. The company would also still make a profit, very few legos break, and less legos would go to waste. I did play with legos when I was younger.
ReplyDeleteSophia Becklenberg
I've heard that lego is trying to make some biodegradable plastics for legos, so it's good that they are making an effort to help the environemt especially since they are super popular so there are likely a lot of legos made. -Erik E
ReplyDeletePlastic in the ocean is a very big problem and take a very long time to break up. Even after they break up it still exists in the form of microplastics. The microplastics are in all water at this point including our drinking water, so reducing plastic in water is very important to our health and the oceans. - sarah lachance
ReplyDeleteThis is just an example of many of how damaging litter can be. we sometimes dont know what some trash items can be made of and putting them into the environment can be very harmful to animals or plant life
ReplyDelete-Ryan Smith
Yeah legos are fun
ReplyDeleteA solution could be to make legos out of a biodegradable material -sophia
ReplyDeleteI personally didn't really like playing with legos. So I think a solution could be to stop producing legos or make them into a different material.
ReplyDeleteI think that if people thought more about the environment, we wouldn't have legos in the ocean and the earth would be cleaner. I didn't really like legos either because they hurt when you step on them accidently and it's a lot to clean up. -Takia
ReplyDeleteI think an easy solution to would be to not throw them away. What Lego is doing trying to make them biodegradable is really interesting but legos by nature are really durable. I think that legos are such a universal toy that they will stand the test of time and that our kids will probably play with them too. If a person can they should just put them in a box and save them and if they can't donate them instead of throwing them away. -Nicole Conger
ReplyDeleteI loved playing with legos as a kid, i hate thousands, sure they are easy to accumulate, but it was my accomplishment, so what. I gave them all to my cousin. One way we can cut down plastic could be to just melt down the plastic again and reform it, recycling of sorts
ReplyDelete-Kornell Smith
This is important because the legos are plastic and and possibly killing the ocean animals they aren't good for the environment either. I never liked playing with legos but my cousins were always playing with them. Also I think a solution could be for the Lego company to start making them biodegradable if possible. Lannah Parker
ReplyDeleteNo i do not enjoy playing with loges. even when i was a child i didn't enjoy playing with Lagos. somethings about them seem rigid and unimaginative.
ReplyDeleteElla Clemens
Make Legos biodegradable and more environmental friendly
ReplyDeleteCaleb Rodriguez
yes i like playing with legos but i didnt play with the as much as a kid
ReplyDeleteRyan Carter
Legos are harmful to marine life, I used to like playing with legos, they can make legos more eco friendly.
ReplyDelete-John Ellis