Plastics, particularly the ubiquitous plastic bags, owing to their non-biodegradable characteristic, have long been considered as a pestilence that needs to be done away with. At last legislation has been passed, banning the manufacture of bags of thickness 2 microns or less. It is a definite and encouraging beginning even though there is much more plastic in use.
The onus is now on the individual to see how the use and disposal of plastic goods can be reduced.
What is life full of care, when there is no time to stand and stare? These words were said by an eminent English poet and aptly suit today’s situation though they were penned before the dawn of the 21st century. Today, people are totally unaware of the nature around them. Gone are the days when we used to admire the rain bearing clouds that enveloped the earth in its darkness, the sweet smell of jasmine that floated in the early morning air, the cool breeze that blew gently on a full moon day or the sweet, haunting and the melodious call of the koel in the hot summer.
Rather than observing and paying attention to nature, people are more observant of what our ancestors called, materialistic needs. One is bent on finding out everything about the new car bought by a neighbour and how much was spent on buying it. What one learns is solely compete with so called rivals, to earn more and buy more luxuries that would make our lives more comfortable.
Life is becoming extremely busy and monotonous. Getting up early, rushing to work, coming home late in the evening, an occasional social get-together and then finally retiring to bed. In this busy schedule there is no time even to think of Mother Nature or the environment. It is not that we are unaware of the serious threat that we are posing to the environment and how our life is in danger because of the degradation of the environment. We are aware of all the scientific terms pertaining to the environment. Yes! We know what is global warming, acid rain, pollution, water scarcity, accumulation of garbage especially plastic poaching, wildlife trade and so on. In fact it is the in thing to talk about and discuss or debate the several environmental issues. But, the sad part is that people finally blame the government and everybody else and defend themselves.
Let us for instance divert our attention to the recent ban on plastic carry bags. Everywhere this was implemented for a short period of time and then? Back to the pavilion. I still remember it was a hot topic in Mumbai and is now picking up heat in Chennai too. Be it in a local train or a bus stop, school, college, office there are heated discussions about the same. The result…? Just discussions, “Arre yaar, this government of ours should ban plastic, otherwise how does it expect the people to stop using plastics? The public would obviously use plastics. A few others were of the opinion, If you really want to ban plastics then why don’t you ban plastic ball pens, eatables like chips and wafers that come in plastic wrappings, what would you do about them? One should not hype about anything unnecessarily”. Some others are of the opinion that plastic is indeed bad and therefore it has to be banned.
The result of these discussions? Empty. Instead of passing on the blame, one should see what can be done at an individual level. For instance, let us consider that in every house a minimum of 5 plastic carry bags are collected over a period of one week. If it is an apartment containing 20 flats, then the plastic garbage is about 100 plastic bags per day. If it is a colony containing 10 buildings then the load multiplies to about 1000! An area may contain at least about 50 buildings and then the count reaches to about 50,000 carry bags per day! Thus every single individual is responsible for this increasing plastic menace.
Plastic, as we know, is a non-biodegradable product whose manufacture or incineration releases a chemical called dioxin, which is 50,000 times more poisonous than cyanide, and causes cancer and birth defects on all living things. Heavy metals like lead, mercury and cadmium used in the manufacture of plastic are carcinogenic. Dioxin is a poisonous gas which can cause diseases like lung cancer, asthma, bronchitis and several other disorders both in children as well as adults.
Being non-biodegradable, it can remain in the soil for hundreds of years polluting the soil, hampering the penetration of the roots deep into the soil, obstructing the absorption of water by the plants and thereby interfering with the proper nutrition and proper fixation of the plant or tree. The throwaway plastics used for wrapping food contain a poisonous chemical vinyl chloride that contaminates warm food. Plastic can be recycled, but into yet another plastic bag which is more harmful. If plastic is disposed off in water it would clog the drains and block sewage disposal lines besides getting entangled in the gills and bodies of aquatic animals, leading to a slow and painful death.
A common but unsafe practice is the act of feeding the cow which most of us consider as a holy animal. While offering it food in a plastic bag, the poor animal unknowingly gulps down the plastic bag also causing severe health problems!! Last year in Mumbai, about 40 kg of plastic were found in a cow’s stomach!! Sickening, isn’t it?.
By using improper methods of disposing of plastics, we are poisoning ourselves. Would you drink a bottle of poison? No!! Of course not!! You value your LIFE more than anything else in the world. Plastic too is a poison a slow poison. Though aware, we are really not doing anything to solve this problem.
Ways to minimize the use and disposal of plastic
Whenever you see plastic remember the 5 R’s
· Reduce: As far as possible, reduce the use of plastic bags and goods packed in plastic. Carry a cloth bag while shopping and insist that the shopkeeper packs the items you have bought in it. Remember, people may laugh at you at the beginning but somewhere down the line they know that they are wrong and soon their conscience would start pricking them and they will follow your good example.
· Recycle: Using recycled paper can save our forests to a great extent. Dry wrappers, glass bottles, tins can be sent back to the factories for reuse.
· Reuse: Reuse plastic bags that you have at home instead of going in for new ones. Also reuse paper (envelopes, paper bags, newspapers), plastic and glass containers.
· Refuse: This is the second-last stage. After you have successfully gone through the first 3 R’s the fourth one is pretty easy. You yourself stop using plastic bags. And believe me, you would be much more comfortable than you would be while using a plastic bag.
o Pack your food in a newspaper or a banana leaf.
o Say no to canned and tetra packed food
o Use long lasting products.
· Remember: Remember the above.
Do these small things and see the difference for yourself. The amount of satisfaction derived out of having done something very important, a very vital step of not using plastic carry bags is overwhelming. It is a wonderful gesture to Mother Nature, to say that.
WE CARE YES … WE DO CARE!!
Anuradha
Vinodh
CPREEC
Source: Eco News, Vol.7, No.2 (July – September), 2001.
