These days, use of
Polythene has become a habit. Nobody takes a carry bag while going for shopping and they want the shop keeper to provide a
Polythene (or other plastic carry bag) for carrying the products.
Polythene is very dangerous in the long run. That's why
Supreme Court of India said "
Plastic bag threat is more serious than atom bomb".
Here are some serious problem created by excessive use of Polythene and plastic carry bags:
1. Excessive use of plastic bags and their unregulated disposal has been
choking lakes, ponds and urban sewerage systems.
2. Because of irresponsible disposal of plastic bags and defunct municipal waste collection system,
cows, bulls, dogs etc ingest polythene into their stomach causing severe pain to them and
choking their stomach and even causes death to them.
3. Plastic residues enter the
human food chain through dairy and animal products.
4. Plastic bags are increasingly posing a grave threat to
wildlife too. Along India's rivers and coastline, plastic waste and garbage is dumped from thousands of villages and towns into the water along with untreated sewage. The garbage including plastic waste is found by wild animals and is ingested by them.
5. Polythene moves to Sea through rivers.
Coloured Polythene reacts with Salt water in Sea and pollutes the sea water posing threat to
Dolphin, Tortoises and other water animals.
6. As these Polythene bags are not bio-degradable, they stay un-decomposed for hundred of years in the soil. Because of this:
a) The rain water and flowing water cannot go inside the soil lowering the water level
b) After a long time, pollutants like Cadmium and Lead are released from polythene which pollutes the undergroud water and reduces the fertility of soil.
7. Even burning Polythene is dangerous as it releases Carbon Monoxide to the air which is hazardous.
Here are some statistics about Production and usage of Polythene:
1. Every year more than 500 Billion polythene bags are used in the entire world
2. A person uses around 500 polythene bags in a year for his family.
3. By using other alternatives like Cloth Bags, Paper Bags, a person can save around 10 Polythene bags in a week and 33264 polythene bags in his lifetime.
How to Avoid/Reduce Polythene Bags:
1. First and foremost - Say NO to Polythene.
2. Use Jute, Cloth or Paper Bags always.
3. Reuse the Bags, don't throw.
4. Make your near and dear ones aware of the Consequences of use of Polythene Bags
5. Spread the word
