Why we need to Rethink Plastic and adopt Eco-Friendly Products.
Living in safe, clean and a healthy environment is everyone’s wish and hence taking ‘eco’ care should be everybody’s business. We only have one Earth to live in and if we do not take care of it, no one will.
Expecting our representatives or corporations to fix the environment or do something about the air, land, and water bodies is akin to daydreaming. Many lawmakers are too busy serving the interests of corporates while lack of genuine green education and political goodwill to protect the environment.
To put things in perspective, here are the hard, cold facts about plastic pollution. It is estimated that nearly 24 billion pounds of waste end up in our oceans every year, with majority of it being plastics. And to add salt to the injury, nine in 10 birds have ingested plastic and carry it in their stomachs.
Researchers record that plastic bottles take up to 450 years to decompose while the nearly indestructible PET containers will never decompose. For a plastic carrier plastic bag, it takes nearly 100 years to biodegrade and less than 1% of the plastic bags we take home from stores is recycled and end up at landfills or end up in the ocean.
After plastic is (finally) decomposed it morphs into toxic microplastics. The world recycles just 9% of the plastics it produces. Plastic bottle production requires 1.5 million barrels of oil every year; more oil is used to transport them around. Interestingly, it takes 500 years for a single-use diaper to biodegrade.
With all the evidence highlighting the magnitude of damage plastic is to our environment, we really need to rethink plastics and shift to eco-friendly products as soon as possible as that is the only way we can save our mother nature.
An eco-friendly product is a product that is less harmful for the environment than their regular counterparts. If more people started buying eco-friendly products, pollution would not be so rampant, our plant would have a timeout to breathe and regenerate, and our families and communities would be healthier in the long term.
Plus, eco-friendly products are not only great for the environment; they are also beneficial for the human health.
Eco-friendly products can make a real difference by enabling us to reduce our environmental footprint, namely the impact our lifestyle and activities have on the environment and global natural resources.
These products help reduce plastic waste; steering clear of single-use packaging and looking for environmentally friendly alternatives is one good place to start.
Research records that eco-friendly products are not resource-intensive and they are made to last. A durable product means that it will be used many times, possibly by multiple users before it gives up the ghost and ends up in a landfill.
Whenever you go to the supermarket store or your local mall, remember to take a reusable shopping bag with you. The environment will thank you for it. Plastic bag pollution is one of mankind’s ever ballooning problems.
Globally, 1 trillion plastic bags are used every year. It is harmful to the environment to produce a plastic bag and it is harmful to the environment to discard and not recycle a plastic bag. Some plastic bags can linger in the environment for hundreds of years.
As the negative impact of plastic pollution continues, manufacturers have the responsibility to switch to sustainable products to protect both their consumers and the environment.
With eco-friendly products, we cannot go wrong. Using these products will not only help protect the environment and the health and well-being of our loved ones but also the future of our kids. It is a win-win situation.
The Author is a Communication and Media Professional, with a keen interest on environmental conservation matters and has successfully carried out Plastic Pollution Campaign.
Twitter Handle: @Benogeh
