Plastic products have become a part of our modern life. With time, their usage has increased immensely. We can see plastic products everywhere. People never considered their harmful effects much until the recent past. Keeping in mind their adverse effects, it is time to understand the reasons to reconsider the use of plastic.
Plastic products are damaging our earth, which is also affecting our health. After considering its dangerous effects, plastic products have been banned in many states. If you are still wondering what a small plastic bag or a bottle can do, read this article.
Why should we think twice before using plastic products?
There are numerous harmful effects of plastic on nature. Now, if we visit sea beaches, we will see nothing but piled-up plastic bags and bottles. Plastic is causing damage to our earth at an alarming rate. Some of the reasons are given here that will justify why we should stop using plastic as soon as possible.
1. Causes pollution
Plastic is the main cause of water, air, and soil pollution. It is very light, so it gets carried by wind and covers a long distance. Plastic wastage can clog the drainage system of an entire area and cause flooding.
These can easily get stuck in your sewer system and block the water passage. Because of them, during monsoon, streets of any urban area could get filled with water. Plastic products also mix with the ocean water and pollute it. Many sea animals die due to excessive plastic wastage. Even if we burn plastic, it will cause air pollution.
2. Source for production
Whenever we use any plastic product, we are wasting our non-renewable energy sources. Polyethylene is used to make plastic. This substance is made from natural gas and oil. Both of them are non-renewable resources.
Moreover, during the production of plastic products, greenhouse gas gets emitted. This causes significant climate changes.
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3. Non-breakable element
Plastic is made of non-breakable synthetic polymers. This means it does not get decomposed. A plastic bag can stay intact for 1,000 years underground. So, the more plastic products we use, the more the amount of wastage.
These non-degradable elements get mixed in the soil and water, causing irreparable damages. There is no way to destruct plastic products completely. Even if we reuse plastic materials, they end up as plastic waste eventually. So, it is high time to reconsider the use of plastic.
4. Dangerous for sea and forest animals
Plastic products can break into small pieces and get mixed with seawater. This has caused serious life threats to sea animals. Many sea turtles have died because of plastic straws in the past years. The straws get stuck in the mouth of sea turtles, and they die eventually.
Apart from straws, plastic bags floating under the water look like jellyfish. Many sea animals end up consuming plastic and suffer a slow death. Many crocodiles, turtles, and pelicans have been found dead with their stomach filled with plastic.
Plastic is not only deadly for sea animals. It is equally dangerous for wild animals. Many dogs, cats, monkeys, and birds get seriously wounded as they get stuck in plastic. They strangle themselves to death as they try to get out of it. Plastic products are already destroying our coral reefs one after another.
5. Harmful to our health
Plastic particles get mixed with everything. From tap water to soft drinks, from seafood to vegetables, traces of plastic can be found everywhere. As a result, we are consuming those regularly. This is affecting our health seriously. Plastic particles can damage our liver, decrease our nutrient absorption capacity, and cause hormonal imbalance.
Colorful plastic products have more harmful chemicals, which can damage our digestive system. Apart from direct effects, plastic products also harm us indirectly. They can clog our drainage system and increase water-borne diseases.
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6. Tough to recycle
Recycling plastic products is very tough. It needs some special equipment. The plastic recycling cost is quite high. That is why most recyclers avoid plastic products. Only 5% to 10% of the produced plastic gets recycled every year.
Most of the plastic products get caught in the recycling machine, so they get discarded. The machines do not have the capacity to recycle such an element.
7. The cost
Apart from its harmful effects, if you think deeply, we are paying for these products. Nothing comes for free, not even the plastic products. So, we are paying to risk our environment and ourselves.
Conclusion
These are some of the major reasons to stop using plastic products. We can easily replace plastic with other eco-friendly products. For example, we can use bags made of paper or fabric. Fabric bags are very durable and reusable.
Gradually, people are becoming aware of the dangerous effects of plastic and trying their level best to reduce the use of plastic. On 17th June, Plastic Free Beauty Day is going to be held, calling for the need to bring change. This is a shout out to customers, brands, and retailers to reconsider the plastic usage. It is only then that we can save our Mother Earth and give our future generation a better world.
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Yes! I am a huge fan of using alternatives to plastic. Thanks for bringing attention to this!
It’s our pleasure!
I have been working on cutting down plastic items in the household. We look for items that have been made with recyclable plastic more and more now. There is far too much plastic in the environment.
Certainly! Thank you 🙂
I try to cut plastic as much as possible from my life. I can’t even remember when was the last time I bought a bottle of water. I do struggle with vegetables wrapped in plastic at the supermarket, I don’t understand why they need all that wrapping.
Seriously! 😞
This is such an important post and makes very sad reading. Great that you are flagging it up as something we really need to think about.
Thank you 🙂
Over the last few years, we’ve made significant changes to what we buy and use in our home. It’s definitely become a global issue.
It sure is! Thank you 🙂
I hate how much plastic we use, it’s something we’ve been trying to cut down on for a while
Same here! Thank you 🙂
It is scary what plastic is doing to the planet, I am trying to make as many plastic free swaps as possible.
Same here! Thank you 🙂
Yes, I am trying to make changes so we don’t use as much plastic. We rarely use bottled water and we recycle.
That’s great! Thank you 🙂
I am really trying to get better at not using plastic as much as I have been in my life and swapping as much as possible. After all what we are doing to the earth with plastic is awful.
True that! Thank you 🙂
I am trying to buy less plastic. The big place that I am making a change is buying food in glass jars.
Amazing! Thank you 🙂
I totally agree with you the use of plastic is so bad for the environment. I have been changing my lifestyle and now try to only buy products sold in glass and have stopped using one-time use plastic. But more people need to join in to make the change
True that! Thank you 🙂
We are trying to reduce the amount of plastic we buy and use and we recycle the plastic we do have come into our home. But people can always do more.
Agreed! Thank you 🙂
This post is very informative, I try my best to reduce my plastic use.
Thank you 🙂
I try to use the reusable bottles when I can. Trying to do our part.
That’s great! Thank you 🙂
We’ve got to do something. It’s ridiculous the amount of trash we generate on a daily basis.
Thank you 🙂
I am always looking for ways to reduce the use of plastic. It is important to try to reduce how much we use and how we use it.
Thank you 🙂
These are all fantastic points! One of the ways I’ve tried to reduce our plastic use is I use re-usable grocery bags and we have re-usable straws/water bottles in the house instead of buying new bottles all the time.
Thank you 🙂
We have been cutting out plastic products in our daily live and it’s really good. A great way to help the environment. Thanks for sharing.
You’re welcome 🙂
I couldn’t agree more.. That’s why I support eco friendly products.
Thank you 🙂
Fantastic and informative post, it really is scary how many issues plastic can cause in our world. Reducing our plastic is something we have been trying to do as a family by making little switches such as using smol for laundry tabs rather than the plastic tubs and reusing where we can etc. If we all made little changes it would make such a huge difference.
Thank you 🙂
Those photos are so alarming, I hope more people cooperate with reducing plastic usage.
Thank you 🙂
This is fab and I could not agree with you more. Anything that promotes not using plastic gets a big thumbs up from me and my family for sure xx
Thank you 🙂
These are all great points, plastic is something we should all be phasing out the use of. We try and use as many reuseable things as we can so we don’t have to recycle a load of plastic x
Thank you 🙂
I’m always looking for ways to use a greener lifestyle. Recycling plastic or completely removing it from our lives should be a priority for all!
Absolutely! Thank you 🙂
It’s so important to recycle and consume less waste for a plethora of reasons. Thank you for sharing and encouraging your readers!
You’re so welcome 🙂
I try to cut plastic as much as possible. This is an important post.
Thank you 🙂
I think most people in the US have reduced their plastic use. Thanks for the awareness
You’re welcome 🙂
I have been trying to reduce my use of plastic but I could definitely be doing more. This is a really helpful post with many great reasons why we should reconsider using plastic.
Thank you 🙂
Yes plastic makes this earth more toxic. I try to recycle everything and also reduce the use of plastic as much as possible.
That’s great! Thank you 🙂
Seeing pollution caused by plastic is sad. We recycle and we only use reusable water bottles.
That’s great! Thank you 🙂
We have been cutting down on our use of plastics, but it all feels so hard! Most of the waste in the ocean is actually from fishing ships and big companies – if only there was more we could do.
Seriously! Thank you 🙂
Single-used plastics should be eliminated. Let’s help save mother Earth!
Such an important topic to discuss.
Absolutely! Thank you 🙂
It’s awful when you think of the damage that plastic can do to our beautiful planet. We have been a lot more eco friendly over the last few years. Every little helps.
Indeed! Thank you 🙂