Plastic? Who doesn’t know it? Plastic is a material that is very
commonly used by people in everyday life. Plastic has some advantages, one of them
is light. Please try to see things around us. We can easily find objects made
from plastic. Plastic materials can be encountered easily in some products,
such as bottles, eating box, and so on. Wittingly or not, when we shopping at
traditional markets or supermarkets we don’t get out of the plastic. Yes,
that's the benefit of plastic in our lives.
But have we ever thought, where plastic waste after use? Different with paper, glass
or metal which are easy to recycle,
plastic way directly
from the factory usually ends up in landfills. U.S. Environmental Protection
Agency (United States
Environmental Protection Agency) reported in 2008 :
- A total of 780.000 tons of glass and plastic plates have the same amount according to their production and discarded.
- A total of 930.000 tons of plastic waste produced and disposed of 930.000 tons.
- A total of 3.960.000 tons of bags, plastic wrap, and bags manufactured and only 9.8% were successfully recycled (390.000). A total of 3.570.000 tons of rest discarded.
- A total of 4.810.000 tons of goods, such as disposable baby diapers, footwear, and clothing is produced and discharged in the same amount.
- A total of 2.680.000 tons of plastic bottles and drinking places are produced and only 27.2% successfully recycled (730.000 tons), the remaining 1.950.000 tons disposed.
- A total of 750.000 tons of HDPE bottles (transparent white bottle) produced and discharged in the same amount.
- A total of 3.720.000 tons of plastic products such as plastic sheeting, plastic lids, egg cartons, plastic baskets, and so forth produced. Only 3% (110 000 tons) successfully recycled while the remaining 3.61 million tons discarded. (Source: http://www.hijauku.com/2011/06/19/awas-ada-plastik/#comment-1588). From these data proved that 90% plastic materials wasted as trash and never being recycled.
Plastic
wastes become a
source of serious
pollution problems. Even if plastic materials are disposed
of irresponsibly. Plastic will
not biodegrade when buried. In addition, when plastic was burned, it will break down into
harmless chemicals. Although plastic is a material
that is very useful and flexible,
strong and rigid, but the it will become
waste after used and
will certainly pollute our atmosphere.
Discarded plastic trash
will pollute the various elements of life on the
earth. Plastic wastes can pollute the environment or the soil, air, and
water, including the sea. Lately, plastic wastes become the attention of
the world because it has been polluting the ocean. In
fact, the amount of plastic wastes
in the ocean water increased significantly. In the South Atlantic Ocean, the amount of plastic wastes increased 100-fold in the early 1990's. In Japan, the amount of plastic wastes in the coastal areas increased 10-fold between 1970 and 1980. In the 1990's,
the greater quantity of plastic wastes, up to 10-fold every 2-3 year. Microscopic
amounts of Plastic in the North Pacific Ocean also increased three-fold in the last decade. (Source: http://www.hijauku.com/2011/06/19/awas-ada-plastik/ # comment-1588).
The question that arises is how the plastic can get to the sea? The
answer is simple, because it's light. The lightweight plastic making people
often throw it in random places, such as roads or gutter that can be carried by
wind or rain. As a consequence, a lot of marine animals are dead and
contaminated with plastic microscopics substance. Marine animals was initially
thought that plastic in the ocean is the food for them. It became one of the
biggest environmental pollution problems that we are facing.
Can we believe
that the plastic waste that we
throw up
eventually empties
into the sea
will go
back into our body?
Plastic wastes which
pollute the sea will
break down into microscopic plastic that are
likely to be eaten
by marine
animals. What happens
if we consuming these marine
animals? One
of the most common chemicals found
in plastics
is Bisphenol A. Bisphenol A is
a chemical that can
cause various diseases, such
as diabetes,
heart disease, breast cancer, thyroid disorders, infertility,
erectile dysfunction, and obesity. That
is a cycle that
may occur
from the plastic
waste that we
throw away carelessly
initially and
then carried by the wind or rain water to the
sea, and finally reached
back into our
bodies.
Now, plastic waste not only becomes an environmental pollution
issue but it becomes a challenge for us. Plastic waste is a challenge to reduce
the use of plastic materials. Many ways to do, for instance every time we will
shopping or buying something anywhere try to always bring personal bags or use
cloth bags that can be used multiple times. Say no to plastic bags, and no
tolerance for the use of plastic bags. In addition, using a pen refills is a
simple way to start. Another way is recycle the plastic waste. However, to
recycle plastic takes a long and complex process. Besides that, recycled
plastic has low quality because it has been contaminated with various
pollutants. Furthermore, plastic waste is a challenge to give inspiration to
the environment around us about what they consume and what they've done.
Provide knowledge of what will happens to the products that already used. Finally,
plastic waste is a challenge to make a change. Changed from someone who doesn’t
care about the environment to be concerned with the environment. Changed from a
consumer to be a creative and innovative. The big change started from a small
change. In a simple, we can make innovations from trash waste to create a more
sustainable world, and support the community who demands a better alternative. Some
of the innovations are created such as steel water bottles and cloth shopping
bags, biodegradable plastic and others.
So, currently we’ve already knew about the problem of plastic
waste. How can we reduce it, and what can we do to help?
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