Keep Plastic Out of the Pacific

Keep Plastic Out of the Pacific

Introduction

Every day we use plastic bags to carry our purchases. We get these bags from the vegetable vendor to the most expensive designer store. These bags are very popular and welcomed by both, retailers and the customers because of their characteristics of being light weight, cheap, convenient and hygienic way of carrying our goods. But what we forget is that this modern convenience is harming our environment at an alarming rate, killing the marine live and using our planet's important resources. Numbers tell that 500 billion of these bags are being used worldwide every year which means more than one million bags are being used every minute. In United States s only hundred billion plastic bags are used every year and the number keeps increasing for the other parts of the world especially the huge and growing economies like India and China.

Discussion

The major concern and the worst part of this ever increasing environmental harm is that some scientists say that maybe these plastic bags never biodegrade. Others say that these bags are very hard and costly to recycle and most of the waste which results from these bags might take 300 years to photodegrade. The photo degradation is not a good news for our planet either. In fact, this degradation is a problem itself since the small particles that result from the process are toxic in nature. These toxic particles will contaminate the soil and waterways, and when the animals consume the food produced in such soil and by the use of this contaminated water, the particles will enter their food chain which will eventually result in entering our food chain.

The possible biodegradation which is expected to take after 300, the photo degradation, which is also,just an expectation is harmful but let's talk about the immediate effects that the use of these easily discarded bags are bringing and the problems that this waste has started long before the photo degradation. The bin liners, the advertising logos which are being carried on these plastic bags and the various forms of this plastic are all polluting our environment. One thing that is to be taken in consideration is that this environment harming product is just three decades old and has gained huge popularity in such less time. In 60's and 70's, there were hardly any plastic bags, it was in 80's that they started gaining popularity. Whereas today what we see is plastic bags all around, hanging in the trees, caught up in the bushes, flying in the air and most commonly floating in the waters that are in the rivers, seas and oceans. These bags clog up our drains and gutters and cause the sewage to overflow and become the breeding ground for germs that cause diseases.

What we consider a cheap and easy way for our daily lives is causing more harm than good for the mankind. We are unaware or say we ignorant of the fact that these single use plastic ...