By Maitphang Syiem
The Earth is 4.6 billion years old and we humans have existed million of years as well and we have traversed through different era from the ice age, Stone Age, Iron Age and now we are in the era of information blitzkrieg where all of us are engrossed with the virtual world of gadgets. The digital world has taken us by storm and all of us are happy with the transition and we have to adapt to the transitions accordingly. We will be doing so in the future years to come. On the other hand we should also not forget that we are also living in the so called plastic age. We humans have ourselves invented plastics and the plastic products indeed have in a way revolutionized the entire aspects of human needs and wants. They are flexible, robust, handy to use and easy to transport. There are wide varieties of plastic products ranging from bags to heavy plastics used for various purposes. We all know plastic are a very important much used commodity. But what actually is plastic? How did it come into existence?
Ironically plastic was discovered by fluke 75 years ago in the late 1930’s when scientists who were working for a chemical based company ICI in the UK back then had heated chemical compounds ethylene and benzaldehyde which unknowingly led to the formation of a waxy solid which is malleable and which can be molded into any desired shape. Just as we humans have transited through many ages, plastics too have undergone changes from time to time and in due course of evolution a German Scientist by the name Karl Ziegler found a way to polymerize ethylene by using a catalytic substance to enhance the process which also led to the improvement and production of better plastic products such as the ones that are commonly used today which are known as LDPE or low density polyethylene. So plastics are technically chemical products with Polyethylene (PE) as the main component and from this component numerous products have come up. One of them is the polyethylene bags the most common commodity that we humans cannot avoid and have perhaps become an inevitable part of our existence.
Even as we speak there are more polyethylene bags being produced and also used by humans to meet their requirements but these are irresponsibly and recklessly dumped everywhere – in public places, rivers, drains, streams and thereby pollute the environment as a whole. Before we proceed further let us go back and ask who invented the most robust and easy to use commodity called “Polyethylene bags”. In the 1960’s a Swedish Engineer Sten Gustaf Thulin invented the most popular shopping bag that we all use and the purpose was for ease of packaging. In recent times, we cannot deny the fact that plastic bags are of great use as carry bags and have become part and parcel of our daily lives but are we using them with a clear conscience and with proper management of their disposal? Let us ethically answer this question ourselves. When we go by the narrative that we are people who love cleanliness (ka jingkhuid ka jing suba) where is our ethics of cleanliness when we still have the concept of, “not in my backyard,” meaning that we can throw and dump plastic waste into the environment because its free and open but not in our own premises because we only care about ourselves. Isn’t the environment our home as well? Can’t we love and care for the environment just as we do our homes? Let us not be hypocritical with our ethics in this aspect. The, “not in my backyard”mindset needs a serious change. So let us start by taking small measures individually.
It is estimated that 8.3 billion metric tonnes of plastic have been produced and the amount of plastic that had been produced in the recent past has surpassed the amount that was in the entire last century. Now we can understand that we are indeed living in the Plastic age. And the rate at which plastic waste is being produced is 300 million metric tonnes yearly which is equivalently to the total weight of the human population. Is this not frightening? Let us answer and introspect on this matter. Above all, the major crises of plastic pollution are with the one-time use plastic commodities or single-use disposable plastics which we have become addictive to. Ironically the biggest chunk of plastics is designed to be used only once. Researchers have estimated that out of the total percentage of plastics produced 60% of them are mostly disposed off and land up in our landfills or the environment. To be specific most of the plastic waste makes it way to the rivers, streams, oceans etc. We can see the bitter truth in our own homeland waters, Umshyrpi, Wah Umkhrah and in particular the recent episode of Wah Umiam which is a major catchment area.
According to rough estimates by researchers about 8 million tonnes of plastics wastes make their way into water bodies every year and in particular into the oceans. From this we can conclude that the rivers and streams are the major carriers of plastic wastes and we humans are their major contributors. For decades our homeland waters have been carrying all the garbage and plastic wastes. We forget that these water bodies do have a life too and are supporting other important lives as well. In fact as we speak these once pristine waters are dying slowly but the plastics wastes they are carrying will perhaps remain for centuries and will not degrade. We certainly understand that plastics products are a boon and a bane as well but what are we actually doing to reduce the harmful side of plastics? It is time that we start introspecting our own ethics of using plastics. The need of the hour is to beat plastic pollution.
Going by the famous quote of Gandhi “Be the change you want to see in the world,” we can beat the menace of plastic if we work as a community but this should start at the individual level. It is time that we ponder on our ethics and start to imbibe the spirit of earth stewardship. This is what we need to do in order to stop polluting our environment by the way in which we use plastics. No doubt the controlling authorities are working hard and have begun to act eventually and are driving in the right direction, however there is a need on their part to also drive with a spirit of earth stewardship. Policies on such matters should incorporate principles of earth stewardship by making the public aware so that process of reducing plastics use becomes participatory. The Government alone cannot bring the change. They will need the support of all of us. As a matter of fact environmental pollution itself is a subject of concern of every human being in existence. Let the authorities do their part and we the common public should by and large focus on our individual roles in curbing this menace. To curb plastic pollution we need to reduce the flow of plastics wastes at source. We need to ethically improve on the aspects of managing our plastic wastes.
The recent quick initiative taken up by the controlling authorities to look into the matter of the Wah Umiam pollution is laudable. This time there should be a shift in the approach of tackling the burning issue of plastic pollution. The approach should be a participatory one. It may be suggested that point-source pollution or the point at which the plastic wastes enters the water bodies be identified. There will be many places which will be the point source. Environmental laws may also be invoked to declare such zones as ‘no plastic zones.’ Perhaps this will cut down the reckless dumping of wastes.
To conclude, the environment today has become a case of, “Water water everywhere and plastics in water everywhere.” Let us ask ourselves if we really want to enjoy the value of water bodies dumped and filled with dirty plastics? Everything rests on us and our intuitions to take the best decision. Let us participate and collaborate to defeat and beat plastic pollution and of course let us take a different path and not follow “the not in my backyard “mindset.
(The writer is a Geospatial expert)