Plastic is one of the best inventions by human being in recent century. It is basically boon for human being as it is light weight, cheap, easy to create and we can give any shape to this, waterproof and much more which is very useful for common people. It is basically polymer with high molecular mass and you can take it synthetic or semi-synthetic organic amorphous solid. After completion of process of making plastic it is less toxic so does not create bad effect on animals even if they mistakenly take it is as food.
But with all this benefits it is also truth that it is practically indestructible and this thing create it curse for environment and human life. It is not affected by water, sunlight, fire, wind or any chemical-mechanical process and after this processes it will produces toxic effect. Billions of tons of plastic is present on earth and we can’t destroy it in any practical way even we can’t burn it because after burning it create a lot of toxic fume and chemical pollutant which is also indestructible. We cannot bury it in ground because it become a waterproof layer in ground so eco system will get affected and land will become desert and even this plastic is still here, In similar way we can’t drop it ocean or throw it in universe because it simply follow us and it’s bad effect surely come to earth. Moreover, it takes about 430,000 gallons of oil to produce 100 million nondegradable plastic bags. We use 4 trillion to 5 trillion plastic bags worldwide annually. That's using up oil sources without recycling them.
All developed countries massively used plastic recycling process and some developing countries are also trying their level best but this is not the remedy to this problem. The main problem in this system is with the collection of plastic waste which needs a lot of manual work. It is very slow and expensive process. There they will remain for thousands of years! Or they fly and float out into drains, creeks and rivers, costing money to clean up, blocking drains and ending up in the marine environment, killing marine life.
And one more thing is that if we recycle x amount of plastic meanwhile we produce 100x plastic in that time and even more. It takes 250 bags to make 1 kilo of plastic - making recycling economically tough. The world have enough plastic for human being so it’s basically need that we should go for recycling process, Generation of new plastic should be banned and it should only be allowed for research and development, Medicine and special purposes. Government should give more support in R & D of plastic , give emphasis on bio –degradable plastic and also starts aware it’s people toward this.
Facts and Figure 1. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. and 2 million tons per annum in India in 2000/2001
2. The current growth rate in Indian polymer consumption (16% p.a.) is clearly higher than that in China (10% p.a.) and many other key Asian countries
3. According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)
4. According to news agency , Over 100,000 birds, whales, seals and turtles worldwide are killed by plastic rubbish every year
5. According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone "from being rare in the late 80s and early 90s to being almost everywhere from Spitsbergen 78° North [latitude] to Falklands 51° South [latitude].
6. We are collectively using about 12 million barrels of oil to produce the plastic bags that are used each year.... 12,000,000!
We all know merit and demerit of plastic and we know that we cannot remove it from world because if it is curse then it is boon also. What we can do in our part that when we going to use any plastic at that time we should use our intelligence that either we have other choice and we also give knowledge about this to needy people.
Last but not least, Precautions • Reduce or STOP Altogether using plastic bags
• Just say NO THANKS when you are offered a bag
• Tell the shopkeeper every single time NOT to give out plastic bags unless it's asked for
• Bring your OWN cloth bag; everywhere
• Donate old news papers and magazines to small scale institutes that cut these old papers in to paper bags and packets
• Reuse or recycle, DON'T let it end up in a landfill
• Start your OWN ADVOCACY and convince your family first, friends then strangers to also take up a similar stand
Courtesy: Different website and online material
Note:1. Sorry for my bad English, if you find any correction here please update me, I am highly obliged you
2. I am not taking guarantee of all above fact, don’t take it as accurate data
3. This is only used for giving social message regarding environment not to insulting any living or non living thing
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