By Bapynskhem Shelton Lyngdoh
Several articles in The Shillong Times in these past few days by various thinkers and environmentalists have made me believe that we humans create garbage which nature cannot digest. An environmentalist at heart I shudder at the fact that every day around 10,000 people pass by Marten,the dumping ground in Mawiong where 120 to 130 tonnes of waste is being dumped daily. Adults, babies and the aged who pass by that place every day are inhaling the foul and putrid smell of waste. Of all the waste in Marten Mawiong , the most disgusting is plastic waste which causes plastic pollution. Plastic waste constitutes the maximum waste in Marten Mawiong. It is the same in other parts of Meghalaya too and in India as a whole.
Zac Goldsmith said, “Of all the waste we generate, plastic bags are perhaps the greatest symbol of our throwaway society. They are used, and then forgotten, and they leave a terrible legacy.”
Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them. Plastic pollution is most visible in developing Asian and African nations, where garbage collection systems are often inefficient or nonexistent.
Production and development of thousands of new plastic products accelerated after World War II, thereby transforming the modern age to a point where life without plastics seems unliveable today. Plastic revolutionized medicine with life-saving devices, made space travel possible, lightened cars and jets—saving fuel and pollution—and saved lives with helmets, incubators, and equipment for clean drinking water.
The conveniences plastics offer, however, led to a throw-away culture that reveals the material’s dark side: today, single-use plastics account for 40 percent of the plastic produced every year. Many of these products, such as plastic bags and food wrappers, have a lifespan of mere minutes to hours, yet they may persist in the environment for hundreds of years.
The first synthetic plastic — Bakelite — was produced in 1907, and is said to mark the beginning of the global plastics industry. However, rapid growth in global plastic production was not realised until the 1950s. Over the next 65 years, annual production of plastics increased nearly 200-fold to 381 million tonnes in 2015. For context, this is roughly equivalent to the mass of two-thirds of the world population. This is assuming a mass of 75 kg per person [(381,000,000*1,000kg)/75kg per person=5,080,000,000 people]
Plastic has become a ubiquitous material and something that mother earth cannot digest. The human dependency on single-use or disposable plastics has become so high that it has resulted in severe plastic pollution threatening ecosystem and life on this planet. Plastic has so many negative impacts on human health and environment. As of 2015, approximately 6300 MT of plastic waste had been generated, around 9% of which had been recycled, 12% was incinerated, and 79% was accumulated in landfills or the natural environment. Around the world, five trillion single-use plastic bags are used every year which is 1,60,000 plastic bags per second. In India, 80 % of total plastic consumption is discarded as waste and official statistics say the country generates 25, 940 tonnes of plastic waste daily.
Plastic pollution is caused due to the accumulation of the waste plastic material in the environment. Plastic is a non bio-degradable substance. It doesn’t get disposed off in the soil or water and its effect is worse when burnt. It is thus a challenge to dispose it off. It remains in the environment for hundreds of years and causes air, water and land pollution. It is hazardous for humans, animals as well as the plants. Several animals, birds and marine creatures die due to plastic pollution each year.
Plastic plates, bags, spoons, glasses, plastic water bottles and other material are readily available in the market. These are economical and easy to use. People prefer using these use-and-throw utensils during gatherings and parties as it shuns the hassle of clearing and cleaning the utensils later. All they need to do is to gather these and throw them away. However, little do they realize that this waste is not disposed off so easily. It continues to remain in the environment and harm us adversely.
Not just plastic utensils and carry bags but furniture and various other things made out of plastic are also used extensively the world over. It is high time we realize the harmful effects of plastic pollution and contribute our bit towards bringing it down.
If we keep discussing about plastic pollution we can come up with many problems and solutions.
Personally I urge everyone to let us stop using all kinds of plastic bags, cups and other plastic materials. As it is plastic bags make up more than 70% of plastic waste in Meghalaya.
To stop using plastic is not for us to switch to Oxo-Biodegradable products which are not compostable or organic, or paper bags where more trees are being deforested to get more paper and where ink is inorganic. I take this opportunity to urge everyone to support the use of SE Organic bags for a good cause as it is the best alternative to plastics provided by Saindur Enviro Pvt Ltd. This is a local based initiative which I have seen on Meghamart.com and which I have ordered for my personal use. As a citizen of this State I really congratulate our most eco- friendly leader- Hon’ble Chief Minister Conrad Sangma for launching this bag on World Environment Day 2019.
I wish my best to the team of Saindur Enviro Pvt Ltd for coming up with this brilliant idea and initiative and above all an alternative to plastic bags which I had been looking for from a long time. The producers of Saindur Enviro Organic Bags have promised us that these bags are 100% compostable carry bags made up of PLA (Polylactic acid) based material extracted from renewable resources and that they are environmentally safe and will get composted under composting conditions in between 90 to 180 days leaving no toxic residue. Instead, the end product is nutrient rich and can be used as manure to enrich soil’s fertility. Their organic bag is really organic and are comparable to plastic, Oxo-plastic, bio-degradable plastic bag (which are plastic in nature) and paper bags which demand more trees to be deforested. And the good thing about SE organic bags by Saindur Enviro is that the dye they are using is organic and not synthetic which has negative impacts on the environment.
I urge our Chief Minister and State Government to come out with more positive Environmental Policies to save our environment. I also urge all the Deputy Commissioners of all districts of Meghalaya to enforce a ban on plastics under Section 144 of the Code of Criminal Procedure and 12 (4) of the Plastic Waste Management Rules 2016, which prohibit the use of polythene with a thickness of less than 50 microns including plastic cups, plates, thermocol etc. Any person found violating the order should be liable to be penalized under section 15 of the Environment Protection Act (EPA), 1986 with imprisonment of up-to 5 years and a fine which may extend to Rs one lakh or with both and in case of failure or contravention continues, additional fine of Rs 5000 everyday which may be extended. Personally I urge all the readers to join hands to fight against this global and environmental issue and say no to plastic.
Let me conclude with this quote:
“It is the worst of times but it is the best of times because we still have a chance.”
— Sylvia Earle, marine biologist.
The writer is from Tata Institute of Social Sciences (TISS) Mumbai.