Essay on plastic wast free lndia in 500 words
Answers
Answer:
The more we manufacture and use plastic the more it gets dumped, resulting in accumulation of plastic waste in our environment, adversely affecting human life, wild life and plants. Plastic acts as a pollutant afflicting land, rivers and oceans. The number of species of marine life like Dolphins, Whales and turtles are found to be depleting because of the entanglement to or ingestion of plastic. Plastic also affects the life of humans and animals as the domestic or wild animals tend to eat plastic while foraging through garbage for food.
As of 2018, 380 Million tons of plastic is produced worldwide out of which only 9% is recycled, 12% is incinerated and the rest goes to the landfills, polluting the environment. Manufacturing of plastic in such a large scale results in production of harmful greenhouse gases which adversely affect the environment.
Causes of Plastic Pollution
Excessive Usage
Plastic has become an integral part of our life and is used excessively in all the places be it schools, colleges, houses, offices or hospitals. Everything that we use, such as buckets, bottles, brushes; disposable syringes, medical equipments etc are largely made of plastic. Such excessive use of plastic has resulted in large scale dumping of waste plastic materials, resulting in environmental pollution. The accumulation of plastic results in release of toxic gases harmful to humans and animals.
Littering
Plastic is used excessively in the packaging industry and everything that we buy today is wrapped in thin plastic sheets, or comes in boxes made of plastic. The food or confectionaries that we buy today are all packaged in plastic. Even the bags that we use to handle supplies from the nearby grocery store or vegetable market are made of plastic. Littering of plastic is one of the main causes for plastic pollution. The bags that we throw after use, the plastic products we dump in our locality, all find its way to the landfill polluting the environment and posing a health hazard to humans.
Even the places visited by small or big groups of tourists are seen having plastic of all shapes and forms (cups, plates, wrappings, etc) strewn all over the place, degrading the environment.
Fishing Net
One of the major threats to the eco system is from the abandoned plastic fishing nets. Every year thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine animals get trapped in abandoned fishing nets and die prematurely. Such nets get settled down in the ocean beds and can remain there for centuries, harming the marine life.
Poor implementation of Laws
Though many Governments have banned the manufacture or sale of plastic bags and other products made of plastic, there seem to be no immediate respite as these laws are poorly implemented. Despite being banned, products such as plastic bags, cups, plates etc are still sold and purchased indiscriminately. According to a study many States in India have not implemented the Plastic Waste Management Rule of 2011 which mandates the proper disposal and segregation of plastic waste along with a crack down on illegally running plastic manufacturing units.
Absence of an effective waste disposal mechanism
There is a need for a clear and effective waste disposal mechanism to be implemented for the disposal as well as segregation of plastic waste. Plastic waste should be segregated and then recycled to curb environmental pollution. Plastic waste should be collected from every house, office, hospitals etc and separated based on its quality or color and then recycled by the units authorized by the government. Care must be taken to not burn plastic waste as it releases very toxic gases into the atmosphere.
Effects of Plastic Pollution
Plastic pollution has a widespread effect on number of environmental and natural factors. Some of the effects of plastic pollution are explained below.
1) Effect on the Environment.
With 380 Million Tonns of plastic produced each year worldwide, only 9% of it getting recycled and 12% incinerated rest going to the landfills, plastic poses a much bigger threat to the environment. The large scale manufacturing of plastic results in the emission of harmful greenhouse gases into the atmosphere including CO2, having an adverse effect on it. Plastic find its way into the water bodies and soil resulting into an imbalanced eco system.
Explanation:
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Any substance that cannot be decomposed by microorganisms are harmful for nature and ecosystem. Since plastic is made of polymer it is nowadays one of the most harmful non biodegradable or non decomposable matter causing an imbalance in the ecosystem. Plastic bags are made of polymers that contains harmful toxins and burning of such toxins causes air pollution.
Not only the terrestrial animals, but marine life is also suffering due to the increase in number of plastic wastes per year. Plastic gets drained in the water bodies causing a lot of problems to the aquatic animals.
Plastic pollution is caused due to the accumulation of the waste material in the environment. Plastic is a non bio-degradable substance. It doesn’t get disposed off in the soil or water and its effect is worse when burnt. It is thus a challenge to dispose it off. It remains in the environment for hundreds of years and causes air, water and land pollution. It is hazardous for the humans, animals as well as the plants. Several animals, birds and marine creatures die due to plastic pollution each year.
Plastic plates, bags, spoons, glasses and other material are readily available in the market. These are economical and easy to use. People prefer using these use-and-throw utensils during gatherings and parties as it shuns the hassle of clearing and cleaning the utensils later. All they need to do is to gather these and throw them away. However, little do they realize that this waste is not disposed off so easily. It continues to remain in the environment and harm us adversely.
Use of plastic bags should be banned and it should be replaced by bags made of natural biodegradable compounds such as jute bag. In Mumbai or Chennai most of the beaches are polluted and garbages are loaded with plastic which clogs the sewage system. Every year Mumbai gets flooded in the rainy season, where one of the most important issue is clogged drain due to excessive plastic use.
Not just plastic utensils and carry bags, furniture and various other things made out of plastic are also used extensively world over. It is high time we must realize the harmful effects of plastic pollution and contribute our bit towards bringing it down.
For all these reasons Indian government has taken stern measures against plastic use and has banned it for a better environment. Anyone seen using or selling plastic should be fined with huge amount of money and necessary lawsuit must be filed against that person.
Even Prime Minister Narendra Modi urged people to kickstart a new revolution against plastic from 2 October, 150th birth anniversary of Mahatma Gandhi.
Many social awareness campaign like "Swatch Bharat" are aimed to spread cleanliness and reduce pollution.
Hope this helps :)