A tremendous amount of energy is expended on the production and disposal of plastic items. After the circulation of plastic, it pollutes water, air, and soil, harming marine animals and being incorporated into food and beverages as smaller microplastics. The oceans have been polluted by over 5 trillion plastic pieces weighing over 250,000 tons. Most of it comprises plastic bottles that must be handed to the bottle return depot for recycling.
Steps to reduce plastic pollution
Since the beginning of COVID-19, single-use plastic has been widely used to limit the spread of the virus but has caused a significant drawback of plastic pollution. We can manage it by approaching a nearby bottle depot to promote recycling.
- Cut yourself off disposable plastic
Most of the plastic items we bring home are used once and then discarded, like straws, plastic cups, shopping bags, and disposable cutlery. It would help if you shifted them to reusable ones. It will only take a few times to bring silverware to the office, travel mugs to a coffee shop, or your cotton bag to the grocery store.
- Stop buying water bottles
Twenty billion plastic bottles are disposed of yearly rather than handed over to a nearby bottle depot. Carry a reusable bottle with you, and if you are afraid of consuming tap water, you can go to a system with a built-in filter. If you have plastic bottles, you should responsibly hand them to a return-it bottle depot.
- Decline microbeads
Most of your beauty products, including facial, toothpaste, and shower gels, contain microbeads, and they can slip through water treatment plants and look like food to sea animals. You can replace them with natural exfoliants like oatmeal, salt, or sugar.
- Prefer cooking yourself
Not only is it healthier to cook for yourself at home, but it also prevents the consumption of plastic cutlery. You can also bring your storage containers to the restaurants.
- Purchase secondhand items
New gadgets and toys contain unwanted plastic packaging, including ties and protective shells. You can search on the neighbourhood shelves and garages if you find the product of choice. You can save money too.
- Recycle frequently
Right now, the recycling process is not as much as consumption. You can recycle almost every plastic item, including clear bottles, detergent or coloured bottles, plastic cutlery, yogurt tubs, etc., and utilize the services a bottle depot provides to collect plastic bottles for recycling.
- Promote tax or ban on bags
You can encourage the steps taken by your government to ban all plastic bags and also emphasize the tax on plastic bags to limit their consumption and focus on reusable bags.
- Make bulk purchase
Consider buying one large package rather than several smaller food packages like travel-size toiletries or single-serving products.
- Bring your cloth bag to the dry cleaner
Mostly you get your clothes covered in plastic covers that might add to plastic pollution. It would help if you preferred your garment zipper bags to avoid such conditions.
- Motivate the manufacturers
We can considerably change our habits, but it would make a more significant difference if the manufacturing companies approached a more innovative packaging option. You can encourage them by tweeting them or through emails or letters, and you can invest your money in a company that contributes to a sustainable future. You can emphasize building more bottle depots to minimize bottle littering in oceans and landfills.
Conclusion
The government has to work hard on national and sub-national levels to tackle the problem of plastic pollution. Some significant issues causing a delay in sustainable approach are a lack of support for the recycling companies like a return-it bottle depot and the increased production of single-use plastic items due to COVID-19. Legislators must adopt different approaches, including bans, making more bottle depots for discarding bottle waste and restrictions, and promoting reuse and recycling processes to attain sustainability.
