Plastic is extremely bad for the environment. It is one of man’s worst inventions. Plastic is non-biodegradable. This means that waste plastic cannot be turned into any other substance that is eco-friendly. Although tonnes and tonnes of plastic are burned down in the most advanced incinerators, all that remains is plastic. It doesn’t change into anything else, as many other materials do. Hence plastic waste is dangerous to the environment.
Plastic carry bags reach the drainage systems and causes clogging especially during the rains. If too much plastic ends up in a lake or a pond, it creates a layer that denies oxygen to everything below so that no plant or animal life can survive in that water body. If animals eat plastic bags thrown in rubbish dumps, it knots up their intestines and they die a painful death. If plastic lies on land, it can choke it to the extent that nothing will grow there again. Hence, plastics must be done away with completely.
There are many alternatives to plastic and we should use them. For shopping we can use cloth. jute or paper carry-bags. We can get milk in bottles or cardboard cartons. We can use metal containers to store things that are now stored in plastic containers. Many things now made of plastic can have better and eco-friendly alternatives. So the earlier we say good bye to plastic, the safer will be the future of our planet earth.
Plastic is widely used in our day to day life. Starting from a pen to a polythene bag in which we carry fruits and books are forms of plastic. Though convenient in our day to day use, it has posed an alarming threat to the environment.
(The views expressed by the author in the article are his/her own.)
