Introduction

Plastic pollution is increasing by the day. Research shows that the use of plastic has
increased drastically in the last two decades. Plastic is convenient to use and costs less.
This is the reason why people are more inclined towards purchasing various products
made of plastic. To meet the growing demands of the people, the number of factories
manufacturing plastic products has increased rapidly. The more plastic is used, the more
plastic waste gets accumulated on our planet and causes the hazardous plastic pollution.
This is becoming a threat to life as it is giving way to various illnesses.

Plastic Production: Consuming Useful Resources

Not only is disposing of plastic a serious concern but the production of this substance is
equally devastating for us. The production of plastic involves valuable fossil fuels such as
oil and petroleum. These fossil fuels are non-renewable and hard to extract. A lot is
invested in fetching these fossil fuels and these are required for various other purposes.
If we continue to use these valuable fuels for the production of plastic, we shall run out of
them and would not be able to employ them for producing or running other more
important things.

Marine Life: Worst Effected by Plastic Pollution

Plastic bags and other plastic particles are carried by wind and water into the seas,
oceans and other water bodies. People who go for picnics and camping also litter plastic
bottles and packets of chips that add to plastic pollution. All this goes into the rivers and
seas and effects the marine creatures adversely. These poor creatures mistake plastic
for food and eat it. This results in serious illness in fishes, turtles and other marine
creatures. Many of them die because of plastic pollution each year. Researchers claim
the number of deaths and illnesses caused due to plastic pollution will increase in the
coming years.

Plastic Pollution: A Threat to Humans and Animals

Just like the marine creatures, animals also consume plastic lying in the garbage
mistaking it for food. At times, they gulp the entire plastic bag by mistake. This gets stuck
in their intestines and suffocates them to death. Plastic waste keeps deteriorating with
time and becomes a breeding ground for mosquitoes, flies and other insects. Large
chunk of mosquitoes penetrate here and give way to various diseases each year.
Plastic waste is also polluting the rivers that are a source of drinking water for us. The
quality of drinking water is getting worse day by day due to plastic pollution and this is
resulting in various water borne diseases.

Collective Effort to Fight Plastic Pollution

It is difficult to dispose plastic products. It is dangerous when plastic waste goes to the
landfills and even more dangerous when it goes into the water bodies. Unlike, wood and
paper we cannot even dispose it of by burning it. This is because burning plastic
produces harmful gases that are dangerous for the environment and life on earth. Plastic
thus causes air, water and land pollution.

No matter, how hard we try we cannot do away with the plastic products completely.
However, we can certainly restrict our plastic usage. A number of plastic products such
as plastic bags, containers, glasses, bottles, etc can easily be replaced by eco-friendly
alternatives such as cloth/ paper bags, steel utensils and so on.

Controlling plastic pollution is not solely the government’s responsibility. In fact, the
government alone cannot do anything. We need to act responsibly and do our bit to bring
down the plastic pollution.

Conclusion
Plastic pollution is rising at a rapid speed and has become a cause of major concern. We
can bring down plastic pollution by restricting its use. Each one of us must work towards
combating this problem.