Toxic Plastics --Fact or Myth?
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FACT OR MYTH?
When you eat or drink things stored in plastic, is plastic
incorporated into you?
MYTH
 Plastic does not seem to affect human health; HOWEVER, it
can dangerously effect other animal life and alter the
environmental (air, water, and soil) causing hazardous pollution
when it is dumped into the environment.
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Can Plastics Kill?
• Birds and turtles are killed every
year from plastic bag litter in the
aquatic environment as they often
mistake plastic bags for food.
• Plastic bags, once ingested,
cannot be digested or passed by an
animal so it stays in the gut.
•
Plastic in an animal’s gut can
prevent food digestion and can lead
to a very slow and painful death.
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Plastics: Friend or Foe?
Plastic is ubiquitous in our lives because it is convenient and
Relatively inexpensive. It is convenience comes from being
lightweight and its ability to absorb impact shock without breaking,
which on its own merit, is hard to argue with.
Plastics are so versatile in use that their impacts the
environment are extremely wide ranging, posing serious challenge for
disposal
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When Can It Become a Problem?
Careless disposal of plastic bags chokes drains, blocks
the porosity of the soil, and causes problems for groundwater
recharge.. Due to its non-biodegradable nature,
littering of plastics causes irreversible damage to the
environment.
Municipalities routinely receive reports
of death of cows and other animals from
ingesting plastic bags.
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ALTERNATIVES
Plastic bags take between 15 to 1000 years to degrade.
The chemical pollutants released from them are a Serious Threat
to be Tackled.
Designing eco-friendly, biodegradable plastics is the need of
the hour. Though partially biodegradable plastics have been
developed and used, completely biodegradable plastics based on
renewable starch rather than petrochemicals have only recently
been developed and are in the early stages of commercialization.
Paper , Cloth, Jute, Cane, etc.,
are the most preferable but still
controversial
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To save your environment and thereby
your self --Say NO to plastic check-out bags whilst
shopping and buy reusable bags or bring
your own for your shopping instead
•Use of Glass / Ceramic instead of
plastic in Microwave.
• Replace plastic travel mugs with stainless
steel for hot beverages.
• When you can’t avoid plastic, check container bottoms for recycling
codes (in triangle with chasing arrows). Choose those easily recycled.
OUR RESPONSIBILITY
It's impossible to eliminate most plastic from
daily life, but it's prudent for our health and
that of our environment to curb the use of
some.
Overall reduction in plastic usage, proper
management for disposal and public awareness
would bring a great difference in present
situation.
•Separate, Store. and hand over for proper
recycling or disposal.
•Do not let plastic litter the environment.
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SAVE EARTH
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