Say No To Plastics

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Plastic and Its harmful Effects

Mother Nature has the power to create and destroy. When the self-life of the product created by nature is completed, the same get biodegraded and are absorbed by nature. But the same does not hold true for the man-made products as it is nonbiodegradable. One product that is creating havoc on earth is Plastic.

It's true that plastic is helpful for us in our daily life for carrying vegetables, fruits, groceries to the market. You can find plastic everywhere, be it your kitchen, bathroom, office, park, house, restaurants, market, street. The main challenge is to dispose of those plastics which we are not using anymore like discarded electronics, single-use plastic bags, water bottles.

There are many varieties of plastic available in the market like Polyethylene Terephthalate (PET or PETE or Polyester), High-Density Polyethylene (HDPE), Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC), Low-Density Polyethylene (LDPE), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS), others.

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Study claims that every single-use plastic can be a threat to our body as well as nature. According to the statistics in the United States alone produces 25,000,000 tonnes of plastic that forms the landfill which is alarming. The plastic used in bags can take around 10 to 1000 years to decompose. The plastic used in bottles can take 450 years to decompose.

So the landfills will always remain as landfills.

On Sea Life

Microplastics are a big threat to our marine life. They are formed when big pieces of plastic get decomposed over time and get separated into small pieces. Around 15 to 51 trillion microplastic particles are floating in our oceans. The marine animals sometimes feed on those particles that are highly toxic. As a result, they get sick and die. Many marine species have become extinct by now.

On Soil

Huge acres of land become a dump yard for plastic waste. When this plastic comes in contact with the water, they release a toxic chemical that affects the fertility of the soil. The same water when sweeps through the ground, it pollutes the groundwater and those who drink this polluted water it enters their body too.

How to Avoid Plastic Bags

Cloth bag

Over a period of 50 years, plastic was a darling for the buyer and the seller. As it is cost-effective, light, durable, stops the air from damaging the product. But if you seriously consider its damage in our food chain system then you will surely opt for the cloth bags.

Cloth bags of different varieties are available in the surrounding market. You can also consider using the jute bags as its very strong, highly durable a good absorber of CO2. So they cleanse the surrounding environment. More usage of jute will give a boost to the jute farmers to cultivate more and the jute plant can do its job by either by giving jute or by cleansing the air.

Hosting a plastic-free party

Now a days there are several options available to us to host a plastic-free party.

Plates, cup, spoon, decor and cups are available in several options like Banana Leaf Plate, Areca Leaf Plate, Paper plates. If you find these weak to carry your meal, then you can opt-out for veneerware. These plates are made from bamboo, it looks exotic and classy.

Even you have an interesting option for your spoon, we call these the eatable spoon.

They make these spoons of millets, rice, and wheat. The self-life of those spoons is 3 years.

Strict rules by the Govt. authority and public awareness.

The municipal organization of each city has started imposing high fines on those who are using plastic bags. Even the Govt have started several programs to create public awareness. Reward and punishment policy can help to create public awareness.

One such reward winning job was done by Afroz Shah. The man responsible for clearing around 9,000 tonnes of plastic waste in Versova beach, Mumbai. Three years ago Versova beach was only a dump yard. But today with the effort of Afroz and many volunteers the dump yard has again turned into a beautiful beach.

Reusing the plastic more innovatively.

Plastic has several disadvantages but still can’t deny that plastic has made our life simpler.

If we consciously and judiciously use plastic, then definitely we can turn plastic waste into something useful.

The plastic can make tiles, planters and several decorative items in our house.

Entrepreneur Sandeep Nagpal has started his own venture where he converts plastic waste into tiles. These tiles have passed an all kind of test. It is super durable, heat resistant has a high load-bearing capacity.