Plastics: We Made Them, We Use Them And Now We Drown In Them
photo: Manan Vastsyayana
Around the world, today plastic pollution is one of the greatest challenges the environment is facing. On a daily basis, we use plastics but we forget that its poor management is drowning our planet.
Plastics are important items in our lives and economy. Humans have become much attached to plastic so much so that modern daily life becomes unbearable and unthinkable without them. The truth is it makes life easy but at the same time, however; they pose a serious problem on the environment and health.
Plastics have become the perfect materials for use in packaging goods. Research has revealed that of the 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic that have been produced and in circulation, 6.3 billion metric tons has become plastic waste. Worse still of this 6.3 billion metric tons, only 9% has been recycled and the greater part of it (79%) is scattered off in the environment as litter. This implies that much of it ends up in streams, rivers and some of them even find their way to the oceans, their final “destination”.
photo: AFP/Getty Images
When plastics enter into water bodies they cause the death of many aquatic species. Tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals, and turtles are killed every year from plastic pollution. A good example was the death of a whale in Cameroon in 2010. Postmortem says the whale died as a result of suffocation of plastics it ingested. It happened in Cameroon and it is happening in my other countries in the world today. The plastic we created is now drowning us.
photo: Tedxgp2
Scientists have warned that if current trends continue, by 2050, there will be 12 billion metric tons of plastic in our environment. To reverse these devastating trends, Cameroonians and other nations of the world must become conscious of plastic pollution and cultivates environmental friendly habitats and put the R’s to use that is if you cannot Refuse it Reduce or Reuses it and if still you cannot reduce or reuse it Recycle it. If you put this R’s to use then you are doing a great job to solve one of the earth's problems.
Links:
• https://news.nationalgeographic.com/2017/07/plastic-produced-recycling-waste-ocean-trash-debris-environment/
• EcoWatch: https://www.ecowatch.com/22-facts-about-plastic-pollution-and-10-things-we-can-do-about-it-1881885971.html
There are some alternatives to plastics and specially for single use ones. Here in Costa Rica they are trying to be free of single plastic use by 2021
Yeah, the issue of plastics is really dangerous and yet we are still far less concern. Policies regarding this need to be put into full time action or go for alternatives, thanks
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