Plastic Menace: Call for a Moral Awakening

I recently came across an article about a sperm whale dying of gastric shock after eating enormous amounts of plastic and could not help but wonder why it did not deserve as much attention as Salman Khan spending a night in prison did. The only reason I could think of was that we are only fed information that we seek and since the world is largely still unaware of the impending disaster, no one is seeking any information about it. That is what environmentalists aim to achieve with days like today (Earth Day), generate awareness, move masses, create that sense of urgency that is required to save the planet. Only if we are aware of what implications our actions have on not just the people around us but society at large, our future generations, will we be able to take steps in the right direction. 

We live in the times when we are surrounded by plastics. To comprehend the extent to which plastics have penetrated our lives, look around yourself and list down the items around you and what material they are made of. The laptop that you are using to read this article, your spectacles, the buttons on your t-shirt, your phone cover, your toothbrush, your comb, even the liquid soap that you use to wash your face has plastic in it. Most of the items that are made of plastic are meant for single use, i.e. they are meant to be thrown away after using just once. The most commonly single use plastics that come to mind are packaged water bottles and disposable cups. Every time I see people using disposable cups or packaged water bottle to drink water at offices or airports or malls, I cannot help but wonder how difficult could they possible find carrying a water bottle and reusing it. I, myself, have been guilty of the charge many a time. I like to believe that nobody intentionally wants to do harm to the environment but they end up doing it largely because they are not conscious of the huge implications that their small actions may have on it.

Have you ever wondered how plastic became such an essential part of our lives? It wasn’t very long ago when the term “plastic” only meant to refer to materials that can be easily shaped or moulded. It’s funny how synthetic polymer (or plastics, as we know them today), which were introduced to the world in order to prevent mass scale slaughtering of elephants for the want of ivory have become a major threat to life on the planet.

It was only during World War II that plastics gained the popularity that they most certainly deserved at the time for they were easy to manufacture, could be transformed into any shape and form, were durable and did not require any natural resources for their production. Soon Americans and Europeans were surrounded by plastics. It did not take the world very long to see the flip side of the pretty picture - plastics did not decompose, which should have been obvious in the very beginning since they were completely synthetic. But the sad part is despite the growing concerns, plastic production grew exponentially in second half of the 20th century.

The world produced almost the same amount of plastic between 2003 and 2015 as it did before 2003.

Did you know except for the small amount of plastic incinerated, almost all of it ever produced is still around and will be for centuries to come? A paper published in July 2017 in Science Advances stated that out of 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic produced since 1950, 75% was thrown out, 12% incinerated and merely 9% recycled. We never really wonder what happens to those disposable water bottles once we throw them away. More often than not, they end up in our oceans. A whopping 8 million metric tonnes of plastic ended up in our oceans in 2010 alone according to a study published in Science in 2015. Plastic ending up in oceans not only kills the marine life but also enters our food chain.

Plastic water bottles contain toxic chemicals such as bisphenol A, or BPA as it is commonly known, which exposes humans to several endocrine disorders including infertility, early onset of puberty, hormone dependent tumours such as breast and prostate cancer and several metabolic disorders including polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS). PVC (Poly Vinyl Chloride), the most commonly used material in children’s toys and cheesy teethers, is converted from hard plastic to soft plastic using phthalate esters which are linked to increased insulin resistance causing diabetes, decreased levels of sex hormones causing infertility and adiposity. And since infants and children have immature metabolic system and developing endocrine and reproductive system, they are more prone to these diseases. Polyester used in disposable diapers, clothing, bedding can cause eye and respiratory infection and acute rashes. Foam used in cushions and pillows can cause severe lung problems.

Ironically, the very reason for which plastic gained popularity - its durability and longevity, has turned it into a nuisance for the world. This End-Plastic-Pollution themed Earth Day, let’s take a pledge to at least be conscious of the amount of plastic that we are feeding to the world because as they say, “Only if you measure, can you manage.”