We did see what plastic does to our body from inside. Now, we need to understand what role does plastic plays while being out there in open. From the moment it is produced to the time it is thrown away, it affects our environment on each and every step. Plastic is made from raw materials which includes crude oil. The process of extracting these raw materials and creating plastic releases immense amount of greenhouse gases in the atmosphere. The world now produces more than 380 million tonnes of plastic every year. Just try to visualize the amount of greenhouse gases produced in the process.
This is just the first step we are taking about, that is, production. When the plastic is made into a product and enters the market, it passes through various temperature differences and atmosphere where it releases few more gases like methane and ethylene. This goes on till the plastic lives on the planet which is ‘forever’. So how are these gases harm our environment?
We do not need to dive too deep to understand the effect of greenhouse gases. Recently we all witnessed the major change in our seasons, increased amount of forest fires, floods and earthquakes and draught at many places. People have been talking a lot about ‘climate change’ that we are experiencing. This change has happened majorly due to the increase of greenhouse gases in earth’s atmosphere. These gases increase the global temperature which dries up our water bodies, give rise to hot and dry winds causing massive forest fires, deplete ozone layer, melt polar ice sheets giving rise to sea levels and make our earth too hot to survive. These events endanger biodiversity and also humanity. So, it is not just from inside but it is a global affair which needs to be dealt with.
Apart from this, the problem of non-biodegradable plastic has now become the problem of space. Where does it all go? Our lands are getting filled with plastic waste and also our oceans. You might ask why not to recycle plastic. Well, we have hit the road block over there too as 90% of the plastic is not recycled. The plastic that ends up in landfills and later on incinerated, releases even more harmful gases, giving rise to plastic pollution. Even if you recycle plastic, it is still going to be a plastic. Do you see where all this is going? There is literally no end to this material, if only we find an alternative to save ourselves.