The Plastic Chronicles - Maintain Balance...Reuse Recycle Reject - Responsibly

If You Want to Change the World, Start off by making your bed - William McRaven, US Navy Admiral

 

Most of us would have come across Admiral McRaven’s thundering speech about how a simple task like making your own bed can be the stepping stone to actually making a difference towards changing the world. Some may find it inspirational while others may see it as a condescending statement…

 

You mean to say people who don’t make their beds don’t go on to achieve greatness ? Abraham Lincoln arguably the greatest president the US has seen, suffered from clinical depression and bipolar disorders. He went on to abolish slavery among many other achievements. If he had chosen to address his mental problems first (make his own bed) slavery would probably still have existed.

 

Better still, those of us who are able to draw inspiration from the admiral’s speech may agree that a simple task like making your bed enforces a sense of accomplishment which gives an individual the motivation and discipline to go on and achieve bigger goals.

 

Like most things in this world there are multiple sides to everything. A positive, a negative and even a neutral outlook on almost all matters.

For the sake of this post - Our focus rests on Plastic.

 

Since its commercial development, plastic has been a huge success. Omnipresent plastic has grown in production exponentially across the globe due its remarkable qualities. We have already established its efficacy in our last post.

 

Today with the undeniable benefits of having plastic around us, there is also significant data and facts available on how plastic has contributed to increasing levels of pollution world over. So Plastic, like everything else around us is multi-faceted. It has a positive, a negative and maybe a neutral side too.

As an educated audience it is safe to assume that most of us recognise the benefits of plastic, are concerned about any drawbacks and definitely have an opinion on its use / misuse.

 

It has been established that Negligence is the main cause of pollution. There are many factors that have contributed to global pollution over the years. Plastic is one of them.

 

It is estimated that 80% of marine litter comes from land. This pollution comes mainly from poorly recycled household waste, littering and irresponsible dumping in landfills. Such waste is carried by the winds, natural disasters like floods and is pushed by the rains into sewers, streams, rivers, and finally in the oceans.

 

 

So, is there a way to tackle the increasing pollution?

Cleaning up our oceans is a significant first step but definitely not a long-term solution, the best way to address global pollution is to change our mindsets and habits with this controversial but immensely useful material: PLASTIC

 

1. Reuse

Plastic may be a cause for pollution when poorly managed but it has lots of advantages too, such as being resistant. Many plastic items can therefore be reused or used for different purposes. Before throwing away plastic items, it is important to consider how they can be reused.

2. Recycle and Reject

Plastic recycling consists of collecting plastic waste and reprocessing it into new products. Manufacturers of FMCG goods and other industries using plastic as packaging for their products should have a moral responsibility to promote collection and recycling of their packaging.

Rejection / disposal of plastic waste should be taken up only after exploring options of reuse and recycling.

3. Educate

Another important influencer in finding solutions is educating ourselves and others to increase awareness and behavioural change.

Each of us can contribute by being accountable and adopting an approach that suits us best. We can choose to make our own bed or step out and clean the oceans and change the world. Either way, each step big or small will help…

 

Finally it is important to credit Plastic with the fact that as a versatile material it has contributed towards various sectors, not just as a convenient option for everyday life but in ALL areas of life. So, if we choose to look beyond the controversy we have to agree that Plastic protects our energy consumption, creates jobs, adds a lot of value to the human race. 

Let us do our bit…Maintain Balance -  Reuse Recycle Reject responsibly.

 

Aditech – Make It Happen…