Question

‘Avoid plastics as far as possible’. Comment on this advice.

Answer 1

Hint: Plastics is a man made material that is used for a variety of functions right from use as a moulding material to being a construction additive. The issue with the majority of plastic is that they are non-biodegradable.

Complete Step by Step solution:
We have always been using Plastic. Gone are the days when our grandparents used to carry jute or a cloth bag while going to a vegetable market. Why is Plastic so handy and enticing that consumption of it has been on a constant rise and there is no end to it?
● Plastics are non-biodegradable, which essentially means that they cannot be broken down or digested by the various microbes that are present in our earth’s ecosystem, mainly the soil. For this reason, they always stay in our atmosphere, biosphere and ecosystem. Well, if they can’t be broken down and biodegraded, then why do we use them so much? Because, the ease with which they could be synthesized is very basic. And the durability of the material is so robust that we cannot avoid them in our day to day use.
● Well, the issue is that this plastic which we use daily when thrown out, gets deposited at the earth’s bottom surface such as the sea bed. Due to this settling down, it wreaks havoc to marine life killing thousands and thousands of marine life who unknowingly consume that plastic.
● For the synthetic production of plastic, a huge amount of water is required. The same water which could be utilised for domestic purposes and for the purposes of agriculture. It is a shame that the plastic industry is ever increasing even though we have better eco friendly alternatives such as biodegradable plastics, paper made, jute based and hemp based material.
● In conclusion, when we avoid using plastic, we are promoting other alternatives indirectly such as jute bags and cloth bags. These materials are biodegradable and cause little to no harm to the environment, and hence they form the part of our sustainable planet mission.

Note: Each year, about 13 billion plastic bottles are disposed of. Plastic waste and other related garbage kill around 1 million sea creatures every year. This could cause significant imbalance in the ecosystem and could lead to devastating consequences for the human race.