Is Plastic Really That
Fantastic?
Most pollution in the atmosphere is caused by
fossil fuels. The atmosphere is important for many things and therefore it is an enormous
problem when it gets polluted. Gases drift up from chimneys and exhaust pipes into the sky
which causes the earth of polluting the atmosphere. Worldwide, is estimated that about
four billion plastic bags end up as litter each year. Tied together, that number would circle
earth sixty-three times. Pollution comes in many forms, some more visible than others. An
apparently harmless gas like carbon dioxide, which is everywhere in the air we breathe,
becomes a problem if there is too much of it.
150 years ago plastic was invented. Most plastic was made from oil, gas and coal. We now
use plastic from bottles to toys, credit cards, computers, mobile phones, window frames,
and doors. All over the world, people are littering on the ground and polluting the earth and
making animals eat plastic everywhere. When plastics are dumped on landfill sites, they stay
there for hundreds of years because they do not rot away.
Bags and other plastic litter, kill around a million sea creatures every year. Up to 100,000
marine animals, mostly whales, seals, and turtles, die each year around the world after
eating or becoming tangled in plastic bags. Plastic garbage can also harm wildlife if they eat
or get caught up in it, and swallow the junk or else choke.
About 80% of plastic bottles end up in United Kingdom in landfill. Plastics make up about
11% of our household rubbish, almost half of which is plastic bottles. Some plastics are
recycled or burned to make energy. The rest are dumped and dropped off at the landfill
sites. 24% of plastic packaging is now being diverted through private and public recycling
operations. The recycling typically ends up in the landfill in New Zealand.
Solutions to plastic pollution?
1. Clean up the pollution when you see.
2. Pick up the litter if on the ground.
3. Tell people to stop littering.