Despite growing awareness of the environmental harm posed by plastic, it remains ubiquitous in our daily lives. It’s in our food, hygiene items, and most store-bought packaging, and, regrettably, it’s also in our oceans. Can we, however, live without it, or at the very least dramatically cut our intake of it?
Is a plastic-free future practical or not?
Some scientists believe that the impending depletion of fossil fuels will cause a reduction in the manufacture of new plastics. However, because plastic degrades so slowly, it would not even vanish from our planet in this scenario. It’s clear to see the challenge we’re up against when you consider that each bottle can take up to 500 years to degrade.
A growing number of campaigns and organizations are supporting a more sustainable lifestyle that includes reducing our consumption of these materials. We must understand that almost everything we use today is made out of plastic, be it a toothbrush or cell phone. Therefore, eradicating plastic from our lives would be a difficult and impractical goal for now.
How can you reduce using it?
- Get aware: When you learn that a single plastic bag can take hundreds of years to degrade, you might reconsider asking for one at the grocery.
- Learn the fourth R: You’re probably familiar with the three Rs: repair, reuse, and recycle. Add another item to the list: reject. Rejecting things that come in plastic packaging is far more effective than attempting to reuse or recycle them later.
- Keep a check on your habits: No one used cloth bags until we realized how important it was and how simple it was to make the switch. How many more things can we modify with a minimal amount of effort?
- Avoid using single-use plastic: Plastic cups, straws, and bottles (together with bags) are among the most destructive goods to the environment. They can’t be recycled and take hundreds of years to decompose. Bamboo, paper, and ceramics are just a few of the ecological alternatives to these products.
Conclusion:
Everyone must make the planet a better, more sustainable place. As a result, everyone should commit to reducing waste generation like paper, plastic, cardboard, electrical equipment, and so on.