As drink bottles, candy wrappers, tape, toys, and a plethora of other items, plastic is a flexible and highly ubiquitous material. It truly is everywhere in both positive and negative means. Versatility and durability are definite merits; two features of plastic that explain its heavy usage worldwide for various needs. Safety is also an overlooked quality; like Ziploc bags, it securely protects contents, especially food from contamination. Its safety is further proved when compared with glass. Due to its fragile nature, glass can easily shatter even when dropped from low heights, which later causes difficulty in cleaning as well as possible injuries by the shards. In addition to preventing contamination, it can be shaped into virtually any kind of form: rolled out thin like cellophane or molded into blocks as Lego bricks.
All these great values come with a heavy toll on the environment and people. Its durability, a blessing for everyday uses, is a nuisance to nature; it takes more than 400 years to degrade. The sea is arguably one of the most obvious indicators of this menace. Beaches scattered with plastic trash have become a familiar sight. Depressing photographs of marine life choked by and entangled in litter are ever frequently featured on the news. Unable to decompose quickly, this plastic trash drifts along and are mistakenly devoured by unfortunate sea creatures. The damage goes beyond the micro level. Microplastc is a severe issue that insidiously plagues both animal and human lives. Broken down into small particles, microplastic finds its ways into marine organisms and even in groundwater, where drinking water is obtained. Thus, carried along by the marine food chain, the plastic waste we have produced ends up on our own plates.
Image: Plastic trash, like these scattered on a beach, will gradually become grounded into microplastics by the elements – end eventually within our bodies through seafood.
In spite of attempts to eliminate plastic from everyday life, trash cans are unavoidably filled by the end of the day. Every day, plastic is tossed away automatically through daily tasks. Almost every aspect of our activities and products utilizes plastic in some form. When buying a cup of coffee, there is always the cap that seals its warmth and prevents spillage. The pens that are quintessential in offices. Bottles housing shampoo and conditioner. Tubes for lip balm. The following items are needed for a typical party: disposable cutlery, cling wrap, Tupperware, and of course, the garbage bags that will later carry the aftermath of the merriment. Plastic also permeates areas that are not seen, such as engine components and other inner parts of automobiles. Even in unlikely cases such as menstruation, it comes into action as the wrapping for pads and tampons – must-needs for women. Plastic-free pads and tampons, eco-friendly and ideal they may seem, are rendered unrealistic by the lack of protection to both: securely wrap the item and importantly, prevent leakage after use.
Image: A grim reminder of the consequences of plastic pollution: a dead seabird with innards riddled with plastic items
“But there is recycling!” – a typical answer to a dilemma like this one. While the saying would have stood true in the past or in a small developed country with adequate recycling systems, it is no more than outdated.
Current systems are not designed to effectively process the increasing amount of plastic waste. Rather, they are failing to catch up to such heavy loads, leading to frantic searches for foreign grounds willing to process waste made by others. The cry for new directions was made clear by Cambodia in 2019, in a move to send back dozens of containers full of waste to developed nations such as Australia. Developing nations such as Cambodia are often destinations for plastic waste sent by developed ones; stacking up on domestic burdens. After all, only 9% of global plastic was actually recycled in 2018. On top of inefficient recycling systems hindered by shutdowns and hazards during processing, the ever-growing amount of plastic waste never ceases; putting processing plants at the end of their limits. With China, a former center for global recycling, shutting its doors in 2017, recycling is undergoing serious scrutiny. No more the green answer to the world’s plastic problems.
Image: Containers of foreign plastic waste waiting at a Cambodian port to be sent back to western nations
One way or another, our plastic comes back to us. There is no simple escape from our problems. Even further, the waste produced by one area can cause problems for another, drifting to faraway places by water.
Present manufacturing systems and consumer patterns must undergo fundamental changes. The old adage, “every step counts,” is no longer viable as it used to be. Though everyone, to some degree, is responsible, the biggest perpetrators are the corporations that heavily deal with plastic usage and production. Their inflexibility to cleaner alternatives or calls for waste reduction needs urgent reform. While certain areas can be alleviated through public action, usually by charity events and volunteering, the source of the problem will never be resolved as long as corporations and governments continue with existing conditions.
Image: Assembled by artist Steven McPherson, the work “Solar. Returns.” (2019) comprises of marine plastic found on the UK coast – a testimony to plastic’s pervasiveness.
This does not mean one’s contribution is insignificant. Many hands are needed altogether to push for big, lasting changes. Awareness is crucial; more need be alerted of the situation at hand. Even the aforesaid grassroots activities are nevertheless needed. Picking plastic bags on a beach can reduce the deaths of multiple sea creatures, particularly large animals such as marine turtles, seals, and whales.
In order to make profound effects, the root of the problems must be tackled. Changes must be applied to today’s linear consumption pattern. Exchanging plastic straws for greener options may be a small step, but it amounts to no more than a tiny fraction of the entire masterplan. Movements need to come from below.