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Plastic Pollution: Polluting Planet Earth
Yesterday night I was thinking to write something on environmental sustainability so that I can contribute something to save our planet Earth.
There are many topics on which we can talk about such as Global warming, Ozone Depletion, Deforestation, Climate Change etc. But there is one more topic that can bring the change in our environment, that is: plastic polution. Yes, plastic Polution, we heard noise polution, air polution, water polution but we are hardly aware about the plastic polution.
God has created this wonderful earth; green trees & flowered garden, awesome blue coloured sky, river reflecting colour of sky, pure & clean air, calm environment and pure organic food. Natural world around us is beautiful, isn’t it?
We humans are not only using environment but we are also abusing it. Yes, We want everything fast; hifi lifestyle, home delivery of food items, Fast Food etc. Means we want everything better and faster.
Society and science are interlinked. When society demands something, scientists will divert their work towards it to meet the societal needs. Plastic invention was one of those inventions made to meet societal needs.
Plastic in the form of synthetic polymer was invented by Leo Baekeland in 1907, which was first mass produced synthetic polymeric plastic (Bakelite). Plastic is used in many forms. It is used for making carry bags, water bottles, dining plates, spoons, food containers, mobile covers, raincoats, etc. After using plastic, one should not throw it everywhere. It should be disposed in a recycling dustbin or it should kept separately and send it to recycling companies. If plastic is not recycled then it is disposed of and used in landfilling, where a large area of land is used for burying plastic. Once earth is contaminated with plastic, plants will not get nutrients required for their growth in that area & ultimately earth’s ecosystem will get affected.
Plastic which is thrown on earth and not being recycled is called as plastic pollution. If plastic pollution is not controlled in a systematic way, our earth will be full of plastic and we see plastic more than plants, animals and humans! We cannot completely avoid using plastic as it is cheaper than metals and easy to manufacture and used for many applications but what we can contribute is, try to avoid using plastic as much possible, look for other alternatives like biodegradable bags, cloth bags, paper bags etc, always throw plastic in a non biodegradable designated dustbins (blue dustbins) after usage & follow local government laws on plastic disposals. This way we can save our planet earth from plastic pollution.
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