Plastic pollution: a global catastrophe

Plastic debris causes the deaths of more than a million seabirds every year, as well as more than 100,000 marine mammals, says a UNESCO report. According to this global body, over 380 million tons of plastic is produced every year, and some reports indicate that up to 50% of that is for single-use purposes. More than 10 million tons of plastic is dumped into our oceans yearly, the lion’s share of which is formed by single-use plastics.  

Single-use plastics started being used as a substitute for cloth and reusable bags in 1965 but it was a couple decades later, in 1997, that the Great Pacific Garbage Patch was discovered. It is the largest of several gyres in the world’s oceans where immense quantity of plastic waste has accumulated. Single-use plastic particles have even been found 35,849 feet below the ocean’s surface in the Marinara Trench. The durability that made plastic so useful is the exact reason why it has become a threat to our environment. Yet, to this day, plastic bags are manufactured tirelessly and thrown away without proper segregation practices which contributes to mounting non-decomposable heaps of garbage in landfills and water bodies. 

Impact on the environment 
The reason plastic bags are such major pollutants is because they take years and years to decompose. The toxic substances they are made up of get released into the soil as the bags are exposed to sunlight. If the plastic is burnt, they cause an intense amount of air pollution. Some estimates suggest that only 9% of all plastic waste ever produced has been recycled, about 12% has been incinerated, while the rest 79% has accumulated in landfills, dumps or the natural environment. 

They pose a threat to marine life as a good amount of the plastic that gets discarded ends up in the ocean where marine animals mistake them for food and ingest them. Turtles can’t distinguish between a plastic bag and a jellyfish and are rapidly dying from eating plastic.  

The debris made up of wastes, including plastic, is also a serious problem. Animals get entangled and can’t escape, leading to starvation, choking, laceration, infection and death. 

Unfortunately, plastics are now ubiquitous in marine environments and has been a known problem since the 1970s. This presence even poses as a hindrance to economic development as it affects shipping infrastructure, energy production, fishing and aquaculture industries, and even tourism. It is a global pollution epidemic of our own making. 

Plastic bags have also shown a negative impact on agricultural land. Plastic pollution causes dilapidation of atmosphere and their presence in the fields are detrimental to farming and extremely harmful.  

By clogging sewers and providing breeding grounds for mosquitoes and pests, plastic waste - especially plastic bags - can increase the transmission of vector-borne diseases like malaria. 

What can we do? 
While the best solution to plastic pollution would be to tackle the problem at its source, that is reducing manufacturing, there are quite a few steps we can take at an individual level: 

• Stop buying bottled water. Instead, carry a refillable container that doesn’t need to be disposed after every use. 
• Cook at home instead of ordering from restaurants. The take-out containers are almost always made of plastic that get discarded right away. 
• Recycle. Since plastic doesn’t decompose, the cycle of its life can be brought back to the beginning through recycling. 
• Use cloth bags instead of plastic bags. Every trip you take to the grocery store, bring a cloth bag with you instead of using the store-provided plastic bags. 
• Explore eco-friendly start-ups. There are many start-up companies that are working to provide sustainable alternatives to every day products. Find out such small companies that provide services in your locality and switch to eco-friendly products.