Essay on Single-use Plactic Ban for Descriptive Paper

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Introduction

Many companies produce tons of single-use plastics every year and most of them can't be recycled. They are used once and then thrown away in the garbage which is harmful to the life of humans, animals, and plants.

Let's understand what single-use plastic is. It simply means disposable plastics that can't be reused. For example - plastic bags/polythene, plastic cups, glass, plates, water bottles, and food packaging items.

All these items are used only once. They are produced at a very low cost. That's why they are available everywhere and used widely which is harmful to the ecology.

 

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Plastics - a boon or a bane?

Plastic bags are lightweight and can be easily carried anywhere. Being lightweight also makes them carried away by the wind as well as water to pollute both land and water.

Plastic bags are made by using Polypropylene which makes them so durable to use. But this polypropylene is non-biodegradable as well.

Although they are considered one of the most convenient bags to carry loads of products, they are harmful to both human and animal health.

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Reasons to ban

There are many reasons to ban or limit the use of plastic bags. Some of them are:

• Plastic bags have become a threat to the life of animals living on earth as well as in water.
• Waste plastic bags are polluting the land and water immensely.
• When burnt, it releases toxic gases and pollutes the air as well.
• Chemicals released by waste plastic bags enter the soil and make it infertile.
• Plastic bags lead to blockage/drainage problems.
• Pollution due to single-use plastics has become an environmental challenge for all countries.

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Harmful effects on human and animal

Plastic bags are widely used for food packaging. Researchers claim that some toxic substances from plastics enter the foodstuff in them. Eating this type of food can cause food poisoning, intestinal problems, and other health hazards.

These waste materials enter the water bodies and deteriorate the quality of drinking water. Drinking water quality has declined drastically over the past few decades and has also given way to various water-borne diseases.

It causes serious illness in animals too. These plastic bags become a large part of the waste areas where innocent animals go in search of food. They often eat small plastic materials, sometimes whole plastic bags, with their food. Later, these plastics cause health problems in them.                                               

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Awareness - RRR formula

The most important thing to reduce the usage of single-use plastics is to spread awareness among the people. When they change their mindsets and behaviours, then only the 3R formula will work.

1R – reduce the use of plastics: We should a habit of carrying reusable shopping bags and avoid bottled water. Also, we should drink tea from a reusable cup. The main idea is to avoid plastics when there are alternatives.

2R – reuse of plastics: Many plastics can be reused for different purposes e.g. in art and craft, etc. So before throwing it into the garbage, just think of its re-usage.

3R – recycle of plastics: This is the last stage that can’t be skipped. We should go for recycling the used plastics so they can be reprocessed into new products.

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Alternatives / suggestions

We should also try the following ways to eliminate single-use plastics.

• Avoid separately packaged goods like snack packets, etc., and buy them in bulk.
• Glass, steel, and aluminum containers should be promoted as cutlery items.
• Restaurants, dhabas, etc. should use reusable cups and plates.
• Carry your own water bottle while going out and fill it when needed instead of buying plastic water bottles.
• Not only retailers should be fined for selling plastic bags but customers seen carrying plastic bags should also be fined.
• Government should promote alternatives like cotton, khadi bags, and biodegradable/compostable plastics.

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New Rules

• As per Plastic Waste Management Amendment Rules, 2021, single-use plastics have been prohibited with effect from the 1st July, 2022.
• The ban will not apply to commodities made of compostable plastic.
• For banning other plastic commodities in the future, the government has given the industry ten years from the date of notification for compliance.
• The Central Pollution Control Board, along with state pollution bodies, will monitor the ban, identify violations, and impose penalties already prescribed under the Environmental Protection Act, 1986.

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Conclusion

Although single-use plastics are prohibited by the government, people are still using them in their everyday life and contributing to land, water, and air pollution.

We do not look at the long-term effect of these small, easy-to-carry plastic bags, bottled water, cups to drink, etc. These are a serious threat to the environment.

Hence, we all have to bring behavioural change and contribute by not littering, but helping in waste segregation and waste management for our beautiful planet.