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Nature reflects our nature
The World Is Dying
We Are Drowning In Plastic
Worldwide, about 2 million plastic bags are used every
minute. This might seem like an unbelievable number
but according to Ecowatch, between 500 billion and 1
trillion plastic bags are used worldwide annually. With
the largest population, China produced the largest
quantity, nearly 60 million tonnes. China was followed
by The United States at 38 million tonnes, Germany
at 14.5 million tones and Brazil at 12 million tonnes.
According to The United Nations, ingestion of plastic
kills an estimated 1 million marine birds and 100,000
marine animals each year. Additionally, more than
90% of all birds and fishes are believed to have plas-
tic particles broken up into tiny sizes in the ocean
and consumed by these fishes, birds and aquatic life
forms. Research conducted by Plymouth University
suggests that close to 700 species of marine life are
facing extinction due to the increase in plastic pollution.
Everybody uses plastics; things made up of plastics
as well as the things wrapped up in plastic. There are
many types of plastic and they are all light and low
cost and can be used in all weather. And they last
long, really long. But the funny thing is we don’t usu-
ally use plastic that long. We throw away plastic cups,
bottles, chips, wrappers, straws, etc. and that too im-
mediately after their single use. Plastics are made up
of chemicals that don’t easily decompose. If anything,
plastics take a really long time to degrade and within
that time it causes a lot of damage. These things have
led to a high prominence of plastic pollution in the
environment. Plastic pollution can afflict land, water-
ways, and oceans. It is estimated that 1.1 to 8.8 mil-
lion metric tons of plastic waste enter the ocean from
the coastal community each year. Living organisms,
especially marine animals are harmed by this be it
mechanical effects such as entanglement in plastics,
or through exposure to chemicals, or ingestion of
plastics. Humans are also affected by plastic pollu-
tion such as disruption of the hormonal mechanism.
composition has slowed down. It is estimated that
the decomposition of a foam plastic cup will take 50
years, a plastic beverage holder will take 400 years,
a disposable nappy will take 450 years and a fishing
line will take 600 years. Plastic pollution has been
described as being highly detrimental to large marine
mammals. Some marine species such as sea turtles
have been found to contain large proportions of plas-
tics in their stomach. When this occurs, the animal
typically starves because the plastic blocks the ani-
mal’s digestive tract. Sometimes, marine animals get
trapped in plastics and nets and die there.
Chlorinated plastic can release harmful chemicals
into the surrounding soil which can then seep into
groundwater or surrounding water sources and also
the ecosystem. This can cause serious harm to the
species that drink the water. Landfill areas contain
microorganisms, nylon-eating bacteria, and flavor
bacteria. These bacteria break down nylon through
the activity of the nylonase enzyme. Breakdown of
biodegradable plastics releases methane, a very
powerful greenhouse gas that contributes significant-
ly to global warming.
What can you do to end plastic pollution?
• Reduce your use of single-use plastics.
• Make sure to recycle plastic.
• Participating in or organizing a cleanup of your local
beach or waterway.
• Avoid products containing microbeads.
Prabesh Baniya
B.Pharmacy
1st year ( Batch-2018)
Plastics themselves contribute to approximately 10%
of discarded waste. Many kinds of plastics exist de-
pending on their precursors and the method of their
polymerization. Recent studies have shown that
plastics in the ocean decompose faster than was
once through, due to exposure to sun, rain and other
environmental conditions, resulting in the release of
toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A. However, due
to the increased volume of plastics in the ocean, de-
Nature and Social Concern Society
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