How long will Tiger Woods last? Hopefully he will last for many years to come. Unfortunately for his children and his children’s children, his Nike TW sports apparel will last between 500-1,000 years. That is each one of his polyester ‘plastic’ polo shirts he has ever worn. Long after Tiger has moved on to next season colours, what happens to his old Nike polyester apparel? Polyester ‘plastic’ does not biodegrade, instead, it photo-degrades with sunlight, breaking down into smaller and smaller pieces, but they never really disappear. These plastic pieces can be eaten by marine life or washed up on beaches. It sounds far fetched, but Tiger could be reacquainted with pieces of his old Nike apparel when lying on the beach or swimming in the ocean.
Plastic in the ocean breaks down into such small segments that pieces of polyester from one of Tiger’s polo shirts could end up on every mile of beach throughout the world.
Even if we stopped using plastics today, they will remain with us for many generations, threatening both human and ocean health.
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designers and manufacturers must consider the end of life for their products
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