‘These days plastic is not drowning in the ocean, the ocean is drowning in plastic.’
We regard plastic the way we often regard water. When we throw it, we just assume it will go away. But there is no such thing as away. It must go somewhere, and so it does. That somewhere being oceans, forests, dumping grounds, underground, water bodies and animals’ stomachs. We are aware of this, yet we do nothing to stop it. Throwing away plastic has become as instinctual as breathing, the only difference being; it’s harmful. Not just to animals, plants or nature but to us as well.
Throwing away plastic or wasting it sends it into an endless loop which eventually leads back to us in some way or the other. This will continue unless we put a stop to it. What we don’t realize is that our Earth is gradually deteriorating because of it. Every hour a truckload of plastic products is thrown into the ocean. Most of the baby turtles born have plastic in their stomachs because of this! 80 million tons of plastic end up in the ocean every year and on an average, 1,00,000 million marine life, 1 million seabirds and thousands of animals die due to plastic each year.
Plastic waste will not go away until we stop using it. We can't wait for someone to come and make a big change for us; we just need everyone to make a small changes for themselves. And that change starts right at our homes. Plastic is in every corner of our house, our office and our lives. This may sound like a far-fetched fact but really- take a look around for a moment and notice how plastic is the only thing you can see. It’s time to change that.
Instead of plastic jars, use glass jars, instead of plastic bags, use ones made up of jute or cloth. In place of your normal toothbrushes, use bamboo or wooden ones. Rather than storing water in plastic bottles, use glass ones or ones made up of steel. Use compostable garbage bags as an alternative for the black plastic ones. Rather than taking plastic bags every time you shop, carry reusable, eco-friendly cotton or jute bags. In substitution for plastic plates, use paper ones or eco-friendly cutlery and instead of plastic straws use paper or steel straws. Instead of throwing away plastic-cling film that you use to wrap your food, use beeswax food wrap. Likewise, rather than buying plastic that you will use only for a small period, buy the same products made of other materials.
Plastic is a permanent stain on the face of the earth. We create billions of plastic products that we use for a very short time, but they stick around for centuries. Factories and industries will stop manufacturing plastic only when we stop using it.
These are just a handful of the things we can do to create a small difference. And if all 7 billion people in the world make take a step to create that one small difference; we can together create a big change in the world. As Mahatma Gandhi rightly said; we should be the change we wish to see!
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