Plastic Bags and Their Harms to
Environment
One
trillion of single used
plastic bags are consumed every year, which is equivalent to two million per
minute. This stunning statistical figure might shock you but it’s true. Plastic
bags have been used for a long time because of their convenience. They are
seen everywhere from a huge supermarket to some small vendor stores on the street.
The problem is that not all of them are collected and recycled entirely. As a result, plastic bags which are thrown at wrong places causing harms to the ecosystem in different ways: polluting the soil, killing wildlife, and even
affecting our health.
Plastic bags are poisoning the soil. Their toxic chemicals
pollute the soil and plants. A piece of paper towel or a piece of plywood
degrades in approximately a month, but it takes decades or even centuries for plastic
bags to decompose. In this degradation process, plastics bags obstruct the flow
of minerals and nutrients which plants and trees take from the soil. As a result,
the growth of the plants and trees will be affected. Subsequently, the
stability of the soil is broken, making it easy to erode. That phenomenon is
called soil erosion. The erosion is the key factor causing landslide which is
one of the deadly calamities in the world. Generally, plastic bags are
dangerous to the environment. The longer they remain the more harmful they
cause to our ecosystem.
Wild lives are probably the most directive victims that are
affected terribly by plastic bags. Many animals have suffered a great deal with plastic bags and their remains. Fishes die from accidentally eating those
toxic remains and choking to death. Cows are sick when they pasture on the land
in which those small plastic particles lay. Out in the ocean, the creatures are
suffering like terrestrial animals, too. According to greenerideal.com, 100.000 marine animals are killed each year as a result
of plastic bags pollution, which is caused by 46.000 plastic pieces found in every
square mile of ocean. As we are discussing this issue right now, wild lives are
dying from plastic pollution.
Human coexists with nature and environment. Therefore,
when our environment is hurt, so are we. As the animals are directly killed by
plastic bags, we are affected by eating those animals from our food chain
indirectly. That toxic debris and remains are eaten by animals, such as fishes
or cows, will not be digested in their bodies completely. Then, as we eat those
fishes or cows by chances, the toxic substances are absorbed into our bodies
naturally, and we get sick. Moreover, this “poison eating” routine keeps
occurring again and again without our awareness. As a result, our health is
affected badly. In short, we can’t live without nature and the surrounding
environment.
Many protecting environment activists say that one of the
easy and convenient ways to destroy our planet is keeping using plastic bags. They
are not only destroying the ecosystem but also are downgrading our living
quality. Although many developed countries are banning or reducing the using of
plastic bags, that is not enough. They should help those poor and developing
countries to establish or to perfect their recycling systems with financial
packages, technology, and human resource. To conclude, protecting our planet is
a collaborative work, everyone in every country should have the responsibility
to save our planet.
