A plastic planet: the cost of convenience

From single celled organisms to complex creatures, all living beings sign an unwritten pact to respect and preserve their environment. Their existence depends on syncing with the rules of nature such that they have to help maintain that which has provided their survival. As they draw from nature’s resources to thrive, they also give back to protect the world around them.

All living beings respect this rule through intuitive understanding; in this sense, every living creature on this planet is a conservationist in its own right, leaving no footprints. Although these rules are also applicable to humans - the most evolved and supremely capable of creatures - sadly, we are deviating from the agreement and are challenging nature in endless ways.

Our digression is causing untold harm to the well-being of the planet and threatening to bring a catastrophic end to existence itself. Human greed, in the name of convenience, is exploiting the surroundings to such an extent that one by one, life forms are succumbing to our atrocities.

Every invention comes with a moral burden: when misused, a useful tool soon turns into a destructive weapon. One such human-made weapon is plastics. Are we not witnessing the death of innocent animals who are unwittingly chewing through plastic, foraging for food? Plastics are reaching the deep seas as well. All these are a testimony to our negligence.

We are living in a plastic world: from paper clips to aeroplanes, food to fashion, cups to computers and cars; jackets to jets, toys to towering structures, plastics have permeated the world. There is no area in present day industry which does not use plastic in some form or the other.

“Humans have turned earth into a plastic planet,” reported a recent study. The demand for plastics is huge and ever increasing. According to this survey, globally, polymer production has grown exponentially in the last half century. Another study reports that the quantity of plastic produced in the first 10 years of this century has surpassed the quantum manufactured for the whole of last century!

A significant chunk of this pollution is occurring in the consumer sector: plastic cutlery, takeaway containers, food wraps, shopping bags, and disposable items. All these are mostly for one-time use and contribute to litter, clogging landfills within a year or two, and increasing the burden on the planet.

Plastics remain in the environment adding harmful chemicals for thousands of years; they may break-up but will not breakdown. Is it not ghastly to know that the first plastic manufactured, more than a century ago, remains intact in the environment?

Remedial measures

We are causing massive destruction in the name of convenience and science is frantically searching for alternatives to control the damage. Options such as paper, corn starch products and other plant derivatives are hopeful substitutes. However, given the enormity of the demand, these are unable to fill in the huge gap.

First and foremost, as a consumer, we can contribute to the change, by refusing, avoiding and replacing plastics in many areas of our daily routine. ‘No demand, no production’ should be the dictum to follow.

We need to take it upon ourselves as a collective responsibility; even small changes can take us a long way in repairing and recovering. Why should we wait for a ban or a law to be passed to refuse the use of plastics? Can we not inculcate personal discipline and prevent a catastrophic end? If we care to look around, there are always better and eco-friendly alternatives to every plastic item that we impulsively grab for convenience.

“A true conservationist is one who knows that the world is not given by his fathers, but borrowed from his children,” observed John Audubon, a famous American ornithologist. Essentially, we have to develop the wisdom and realise that our survival today in this world is by borrowing our children’s tomorrow. Hence, we should exercise caution every single day to take care that we leave this place worthy and habitable for our children. Moreover, aren’t we taught from childhood the ethics to use with care anything that is borrowed and also return it in a good condition?

To quote Jane Goodall, the famous primatologist, “You cannot get through a single day without having an impact on the world around you. What you do makes a difference, and you have to decide what kind of difference you want to make.” It is time to take serious measures.