Plastic the 'Demon'
Ms. Nikita
Freelancer, Dwarka
(Published on: 26 May, 2020 @10 PM)
Plastic is considered as an essential domestic need of every household. It is extensively used in the industries and can be found all around us directly or indirectly, in the form of buckets, containers for storage, packaging, disposables, RO, bags, etc. and so many other varieties of products.
We are well aware that plastics harm our environment, yet plastic use has been ever growing and no concrete steps seems to be working, be it campaigns or government run alternative schemes.
The usage of plastics has been ever increasing and its effect is more visible today than ever before.Today, it has become evident in every life on our planet from plants to animals and the overall environment.
Such effects are increasing gradually are now substantially visible all around us. It is important that we become aware of the effects of plastics ASAP to save our ‘Mother Earth’from its harmful effects. ‘Better Late than Never’ should be our motto today to make the world aware and save it from the harmful effects of plastics.
SOME HARMFUL EFFECTS OF PLASTICS ARE LISTED BELOW:
- It causes harm to the flora and fauna: Many animals die by eating food thrown by the people in plastic bags. Many plants are destroyed as plastics get dumped into land. Moreover,humans are dying due to the long term carcinogenic effect of plastic. Plastics are affecting the entire flora and fauna of our ecosystem.
- Plastic bags are non-biodegradable: Plastics are a long chain of ethane polymer and its degradation takes a lot of time, and by lot we are looking at millions of years of degradation, which by then would have polluted water, land and every other thing that it comes in contact with.
- Plastic food storage packaging is toxic: Plastic contains toxic chemicals, which cause cancer. Everyday plastics in use release chemicals like BPA or PVC (phthalates) that affects our body overtime and even disrupts hormone levels in the blood.
- Toxic chemicals released from industry during plastic manufacturing: As manufacturing industries grow due to demand of public for plastic products, its manufacturing is always on increase. It causes harmful impact on the environment, as the production releases toxic fumes and byproducts which are released in air, water or are dumped in land. This pollutes our rivers, air and land fills immensely.
- Massive accumulation of plastic bags block drainage system: Plastic bags are well known to block local drainage systems. People generally ignore clean behavior and litter plastics everywhere. Every single piece counts and going by the number of people in our country it increases several folds before we know it. Innumerable accumulation blocks the drainage systems and makes it difficult for the sewage to flow, thus reducing efficiency of the system.
- Air, Land and Water pollution: Plastic slows down decomposition rate of other objects around it,as it acts as a barrier which becomes a major obstacle for land filling area across the world. Burning plastic and other wastes releases dangerous substances such as heavy metals, persistent organic pollutants (POP), and other toxic chemicals into the air including ash waste particles. These chemicals raise health issues like asthma, endocrine disruption and cancer. Plastic industry dumps chemicals in rivers and causes irreversible effect on consumable water sources.
- It is expensive: One might wonder, being the cheap thing plastic is how can it be listed as being expensive? Well Plastic might be cheap to produce and use but if the total cost of ownership of plastic is calculated, it is an extremely expensive compound to be dealt with once it is used and rejected. It has an unprecedented impact on the environment and on the health of living beings. It is known to cause cancer and various other diseases, and mind you medical bills are never cheap.
With this let us join hands and take a pledge that we shall reduce our dependence on plastic and its products. Let us help the eco-system by working on and developing environmental friendly alternatives to save our dying planet.
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