“Say No to Plastic”
You must have read this before. You must have also made collages and posters on the harmful effects of plastics on many Earth Days and World Environment Days. Do you know why plastic is bad for the environment?

While you are reading this, 1 million plastic bottles and 2 million plastic bags are being used worldwide. Do you know that one plastic bag takes around 500 years to decompose? Let us understand how plastics affect the environment and figure out the best solutions to plastic pollution.

How do plastics affect the environment?
Plastics cause air pollution. Harmful fumes are released in the air when plastics are burned.
When we throw away plastics, they seep into groundwater. Plastic also finds its way into lakes, rivers and oceans, thus causing water pollution.

They also cause soil pollution by mixing with soil and harming crops.
Plastics are made of toxic chemicals like BPA and Phthalates, that cause asthma, allergies, and cancer.
The chemicals used in making plastics also lead to global warming. This causes climate change.
Plastics block the roadside drains and stop the flow of rainwater.

Cows, birds, fish, and marine animals eat the plastics littered in streets and oceans. It either suffocates them or enters their stomach causing their death.
Plastics are not environment-friendly because they are non-biodegradable. It is difficult to dispose of them. Biodegradable waste can be broken down by bacteria whereas non-biodegradable waste like plastics cannot be decomposed naturally.

How To Stop Plastic Pollution?
You must have realized how deadly plastic is for the environment. This is what you can do to minimize plastic waste and pollution:

Avoid using plastic bags and polyethene. Choose its environmentally-safe alternatives like jute, paper, and cotton bags.
Eat ice cream in cones instead of plastic cups and wrappers.
Don’t use plastic straws and disposables. Switch to paper straws and disposable plates.

Avoid single-use plastics like plastic bottles. Carry a reusable steel bottle and refill it when necessary.
Follow the 5-Rs principle.

Use separate dustbins at home for biodegradable waste (vegetable peels, fruits, leftover food, paper) and non-biodegradable waste (plastic bags, cans, plastic bottles).

Don’t litter plastic waste on roads, beaches and rivers.

So, carry a steel spoon and lunch box to your school and avoid your plastic lunch box. Do your share in reducing plastic waste from the environment.

Do you know that this is also a topic in your Class 8 Science Chemistry NCERT chapter ‘Synthetic Fibres and Plastics’? and you have just learnt this important Class 8 Science topic in a few minutes.

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