Plastic consumption

Article written and website edited by Misaki Tomiyama, Article edited by Ananya Nayar

Image by Steven Depolois licensed under CC BY 3.0

Plastic is one of the most useful, versatile and convenient materials that has severely impacted our lives in many ways, and it is one of the most indispensable things in our lives. The mass production of plastic started only 6 decades ago, and 8.3 billion metric tons of plastic has been produced.

Plastic is used for packaging material, bottles, straws etc, because it is a very durable, convenient and affordable material. The world plastic consumption is increasing because of urbanisation and population growth, and has continued to grow since 1990.

However, plastic and plastic consumption has a major impact on the environment in our world, and poses a great deal of damage to animals and plants and living organisms, especially to animals in the marine world. Since plastic takes around 400 years to decompose, most of the plastic waste is dumped in landfills and oceans. 800 marine species are affected by ocean waste, in which 80% of it being plastic. Many marine animals mistake plastic as food, such as sea turtles, whales and many fishes, and die due to starvation because plastic fills up in their stomach. In fact, last year, a dead whale had been discovered to have had 40 kilograms of plastic in their stomach, in the Philippines.

Most companies and businesses use plastic for their packaging in large quantities, and until they use other eco-friendly material like cork or material from compost, and until we shift to these other alternatives, this problem will not diminish.