Plastic pollution has been confirmed as one of the major threats to the environment today, and with good reason. Disposal methods intended to deal with plastic waste are inadequate, which is why most of them end up in the sea. Plastic causes damage to marine life and releases toxic chemicals into their bloodstream. These chemicals end up in the human diet. Even on land, plastic creates a host of social ills, such as closing canals, creating stagnant pools of water that are fertile breeding grounds for animal-borne diseases.
Even plastics that end up with “proper” disposal systems create problems. Plastic recycling systems do not work well, so the process cannot be economically viable. Waste is often recycled in a heat exchanger, which contributes significantly to air pollution due to the use of substandard machinery. on the ground and in the water.
According to the United Nations Environment Program (UNEP), plastic waste costs the tourism, transportation, and fishing industries in the Asia-pacific region only $ 1.3 billion a year. It also causes an estimated $ 13 billion in damage to the world’s marine ecosystem every year. The most disturbing metric on all is that only 9% of all plastics ever produced have been recycled.
Not surprisingly, plastic pollution is devastating to the planet – and it is happening faster than many expected. In just 31 years, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. About 513 million tons of plastic find their way to the ocean. At that weight, 20 countries in the world account for 80% of waste.
Although China plays a major role in the loss of plastic waste, followed by Indonesia and the Philippines according to the World Atlas, other nations are focused on their efforts to clean up the huge damage. Australia alone uses 6.9 billion plastic bags every year. If you tied 6.9 billion plastic bags together at the end, they could travel the world 42.5 times.
If every family in Australia used a small plastic bag a week, it would save 253 million bags from getting into the rivers. But it’s not just about plastic bags. Garbage often finds its way to the water; Mostly, an offshore island is formed between the waters of Hawaii and California, US. In 31 years, there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. More than 1.8 trillion pieces of plastic form a floating tropical island called the Great Pacific Garbage. Covering an estimated 1.6 million square miles [1.6 million sq km], sewage disposal is one of the largest piles of marine plastics in the world.
US artist Barry Rosenthal explicitly exposes what is being washed off the beach in his series ‘Discovery in Nature’. The award-winning photographer collected thousands of pieces of debris scattered off the coast of New York and then assembled them to show the level of pollution. As a way to reduce our negative impact on the environment. “Recycling can do a lot more,” said Flannerys Organic & Wholefood Market naturopath Caroline Robertson. “Avoiding plastic and hazardous waste is the best option and there are many alternatives and products that are easy to replace.”
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