E-Weekly-2/40
Green Earth Movement
An E-Newsletter for the cause of Environment, Peace, Harmony and Justice
Remember - “you and I can decide the future”
PLASTIC – A BOON OR A BANE?
PLASTIC is one of the best inventions of the 18th
century. Plastic is light-weight, durable, low- cost,
and has a wide variety of applications ranging
from…
a pen, waste paper
basket, bottles,
shopping bags, kids’
toys, household
utensils, storage items,
Electrical & electronic goods, industrial &
agricultural equipments, medical items,
automobile & aircraft parts and so on.
Invention of plastic undoubtedly has been
the one of the greatest achievements by
man.
HOWEVER
The PLASTIC THE BEST INVENTION
OF MAN has become
CURSE for environment
In the modern times. Why?
Every year about 300 billion pounds of plastic is produced
in the world and not even 5% of it is recycled. So where
does the remaining 95% goes? Well most of it finds safe
haven in landfills and the remaining is thrown in the
oceans. It's a known fact that plastic takes almost 100
years to decompose, but when it's thrown in the water; the
action of the sun, water and temperature breaks it into
small pieces which helps the spreading of plastic even
more. This is very strange but true, in the middle of the
Pacific ocean a circular pattern of water currents have
accumulated enormous amounts of floating garbage. This
huge amount is often referred as the 'Eastern Pacific
Garbage Patch'. It was discovered by Captain Charles
Moore in the early 1990's and is still growing.
SEE NEXT THE CURSE OF PLASTIC
1. HUGE POLLUTION PROBLEM
Plastics are used because they are easy and cheap to
make and they can last a long time. Unfortunately
these same useful qualities can make plastic a huge
pollution problem. Because the plastic is cheap it gets
discarded easily and can do great harm to the
environment.
2. POLLUTION DUE TO
BURNING PLASTIC
When plastic is burnt,
The harmful fumes enter
into the atmosphere and
has direct effects upon
someone who breathes it. And so, NO!
we cannot eliminate plastic by
burning it.
3. SOIL FERTILITY IS LOST
Most of the solid wastes,
Like paper, plastic
containers, bottles, cans,
and even used cars and
electronic goods are not biodegradable,
which means they do not get broken
down through inorganic or organic
processes. Thus, when they integrate in the
soil, the soil loses its fertility.
4. CHOKING OF DRAINS
CAUSING FLOODS
Urbanization has added
to the plastic pollution,
especially in cities.
Plastic thrown on land can enter into
drainage lines and choke them resulting
into floods, especially in cities as
experienced in Mumbai, many times in the
past.
5. DEATH OF LIVESTOCK
It was claimed in one of
The programmes on TV
Channel that eating plastic
bags results in death of 100 cattle per day in
U.P. in India. In stomach of one dead cow, as
much as 35 kg of plastic was found. Because
plastic does not decompose/digest, and
requires high energy ultra-violet light to
break down.
5. POLLUTION OF SEA BEACHES
The amount of plastic waste in our oceans is steadily
increasing. More than 90% of the articles found on
the sea beaches are made up of plastics. The plastic
rubbish found on beaches near urban areas tend to
originate from use on land like packaging materials.
6. PLASTIC BAGS KILLS
ANIMALS
About 100,000 animals such
as dolphins, turtles, whales,
penguins are killed every
year due to plastic bags. Many animals ingest
plastic bags, mistaking them for food, and
therefore die. And worse, the ingested plastic bag
remains intact even after the death and
decomposition of the animal. Thus, it lies around
in the landscape where another victim may ingest
it.
7. DANGER TO KIDS
Thin plastic bags,
Especially dry cleaning
bags, have the potential
for causing suffocation.
About 25 children in the
United States suffocate each year due
to plastic bags, most under the age of one.
This has led to voluntary warning labels on
some bags which may pose a hazard to
small children.
8. DANGER TO PUBLIC HEALTH
The major chemicals used to make
plastic resins pose serious risks to public
health and safety. Many of the
chemicals used in large volumes to
produce plastics are highly toxic. Some
chemicals, are known to cause cancer in humans; many tend
to be gases and liquid hydrocarbons, which readily vaporize
and pollute the air. Many are flammable and explosive.
Even the plastic resins themselves are flammable and have
contributed to numerous chemical accidents. The
production of plastic emits substantial amounts of toxic
chemicals to air and water, and cause serious damage to
ecosystems.
SOLUTIONS
WHAT INDIVIDUALS CAN DO?
1. Avoid accepting plastic bags when you
finish shopping. Instead, carry a paper or a
jute bag with you when you go shopping.
2. Avoid disposing of plastic along with organic wastes. Do not throw
waste food in plastic bags or containers. You might just save a life.
3. Avoid using plastic chairs or tables, you could use eco friendly items
instead.
4. Plastic is made from crude oil. So lesser usage of plastic also means
lesser demand for crude oil products.
5. Keep plastic articles and toys (with small parts) away from the reach
of little children. Always supervise kids when they are working with
such potential plastic articles.
6. Do not dispose plastic which can be recycled. That’s another means
to reduce production of more plastic.
WHAT GOVERNMENT SHOULD DO
The more hazardous variant of plastic, the non-recyclable poses a
greater threat to our environment. The trouble arises because we have
no definitive way of disposing this plastic and hence it lives on in nature
forever. A few steps that could be taken to tackle this problem are:
Governments should ban production of
non-recyclable plastic and also the
manufacture of products that use them.
Non-recyclable plastic can be used for
asphalting roads, as supplementary building
materials, and as supportive structures.
Extensive research must take place in
finding better methods of disposing
non-recyclable plastic.
People must be educated about the benefits of recycling and
must be taught to avoid the usage of non-recyclable plastic.
In conclusion, everyone of us know that plastic
is here to stay. But how we let it stay is left to
us. Let us make better use of what nature has
given us.
This PowerPoint Presentation is prepared by GEM (Green Earth Movement) Team.
Other GEM PowerPoint Presentations are: Zero Garbage, Solar Energy, Junk Food
and Twenty Tips To Save Nature. These PPP CDs may be downloaded from our
website: www.stfrancisxavierpanvel.in – refer GEM section
Or contact : gemenewsletter@gmail.com, panvelchurch@gmail.com