We all know that usage of plastic is severely harming the earth.
But, what are we doing to rectify those intentional mistakes which we tend to make unintentionally…??
Are we reusing it..? Are we recycling it..?
We are neither reusing nor recycling the plastic.
Rather we are creating plastic pollution affecting human health as well as marine ecosystem and species which ultimately affect the livelihood of people depending upon healthy ocean.
Some of the data’s for plastic pollution at global level is shocking.
Plastic pollution can be found in almost every beach and landfills of the world.
In 1950, the world population of 2.5 billion produced approximately 1.5 million tons of plastic, in 2016; a global population of 7 billion plus people produced over 320 million tons of plastic which is set to double by 2034.
Everyday approximately 8 million pieces of plastic pollution find their way into our oceans.
Plastics make up 60 to 90 % of all marine debris studied.
Recent studies reveal marine plastic pollution: 100 % in marine turtles, 59% of whales, 36% of seals and 40% of seabird species examined.
A Plastic bag is only used for an average of about 15 minutes, yet they take up to thousands of years to completely decompose.
Drink companies produce over 500 billion single-use plastic bottles annually.
If plastic production isn’t curbed, plastic pollution will outweigh fish pound for pound by 2050.
And for the first time, the impact of plastic pollution on human health has been quantified. As per report published by Fauna & Flora International, Tearfund, WasteAid and Institute of Development Studies finds that 400,000 to one million people in the developing world are dying every year as a result of mismanaged waste including plastic.
How does all these data and facts relate to us and affect us? How can we contribute in making no usage or minimal usage of plastics…?
The plastic pollution crisis impacts the lives of billions of people around the world, as well as precious marine ecosystem and animals.
There is no quick and easy solution, but it is critical that citizens, companies and governments act together to solve the crisis.
We citizen as individual play a key role in pressuring government and company to take necessary actions and we at the same time adopt recycled and natural products such as jute bag, leaves cutlery, etc. At the same time try to recycle and manage the plastic waste.
More info: yourviews.mindstick.com
the impact of plastic pollution on human health
