Essay On Plastic in 250 Words
Plastic is a synthetic material, which means that it does not occur naturally and is made by humans. Plastic has many uses in daily life and is highly convenient, which is why it can be found almost anywhere. However, we humans do not manage our plastic carefully.
A lot of substances found in nature are biodegradable. That means that they can be dumped on land and they will naturally degrade over time without harming the environment.
Plastic is non-biodegradable, which means that it does the opposite. It degrades very slowly and is capable of causing significant damage to the surroundings and hence to the Earth as a whole.
Around the world, many people are very careless with their disposal of plastic items. Sometimes people create massive landfills, thinking that if all the plastic is dumped far away from people’s homes, it won’t cause a problem.
This is false because it makes the surroundings toxic and can harm the surrounding animal and plant life. Moreover, some people burn plastic, which creates a poisonous gas.
Some people even go as far as to dump plastic in the sea. This is dangerous because to an innocent turtle; a plastic bag looks like a jellyfish. They end up accidentally consuming the plastic, which chokes and kills them. Some fish also get stuck in the plastic and end up dying because of being trapped.
Therefore we must spread awareness about the dangerous effects of plastic pollution. To prevent contributing to this dangerous phenomenon, one can start finding ways to reduce the use of plastic, reuse plastic goods and also recycle them.
Instead of using plastic bags, we can use bags made of cloth or natural fibre, and even use only stainless steel containers for storing food.
500+ Words Essay on Plastic
The word plastic refers to an entire range of synthetic organic compounds. An essential property of plastic that makes it such a popular material is that it is malleable.
This means it can be easily moulded into different shapes, like clay but with more stability. As a result, it has many uses and is very convenient in day to day life. However, we humans are also responsible for its disposal once out of use, and we do not manage that carefully enough.
A majority of plastics are classified as non-biodegradable. Biodegradable substances are those that can be dumped on land and can organically degrade without causing damage to the environment.
This doesn’t mean plastic doesn’t degrade at all- it does so very slowly, taking thousands of years. In the meantime, it can cause significant damage to the environment and becomes a pollutant, harming our planet Earth.
Effects of Plastic Pollution
Unfortunately, we are far too careless with the way we dispose of our plastic goods. Some people opt for land disposal, which means we dump plastic in trash cans and they get taken to garbage dumps.
Landfills are created as a result, which is dangerously high and can pollute the soil, harming surrounding plant and animal life. Sometimes people resort to burning plastic items, which is a significant threat to human health because it creates a toxic gas that results in breathing difficulties.
On other occasions, plastic is dumped in water bodies like rivers and oceans. This causes a great deal to damage to aquatic creatures and is playing a significant role currently in their endangerment.
To an innocent turtle, a floating plastic bag simply looks like a tasty jellyfish. Many aquatic animals accidentally consume the plastic, which gets trapped in their digestive system and either chokes them to death or kills them from starvation.
Sometimes the fish get tangled up in the plastic and can’t move, eventually dying a painful death from being trapped and starved.
Sadly, it doesn’t end there. Marine animals aren’t the only one who pays the price for human disregard- it also includes land and air animals. Land animals mistake plastic lying around as food to eat, and die the same way as aquatic animals.
Birds can accidentally feed plastic to their chicks, who are unable to eject the plastic by coughing and die from choking. As for humans, our irresponsible behaviour towards plastic waste disposal results in several health risks.
Because of the sheer number of animals accidentally consuming plastic, there is always a chance that humans can indirectly consume plastic from them. This can cause many dangerous diseases, such as cancer.
Conclusion
Therefore, we must all spread a vital message about the dangerous effects of improper plastic disposal. We must follow the principle of reducing, reuse and recycle- reduce plastic use, find ways to reuse plastic products such as old water bottles and recycle plastic goods by turning them into something new and creative.
If we all stay proactive in our efforts to combat plastic pollution, we can individually have a fantastic impact on our planet Earth.
Leave a Reply