What is wrong with plastic goods? After all they have become part and parcel of our day-to-day life. Right from pens to PCs, from pots to pressure cookers - plastic bags are lavishly used to carry all sorts of goods right from vegetables to garbage. Packaging of consumer durables seems to be impossible without a plastic wrapper. It was hailed as an eco-friendly product sometime ago. Thanks to plastics, many trees were temporarily saved from destruction. Today members of the public are expressing their displeasure over the ban on the use of certain types of plastics. If you belong to that group, continue reading, for the next paragraph has some information for you.
Dioxin is a generic term for a group of suspected carcinogens extremely harmful to all forms of life. It is capable of causing cancer in the lung, liver, stomach, etc. Dioxin is a by-product of the manufacture and burning of Polyvinyl Chloride (PVC) plastics. Dioxin enters the human tissues mostly through the food chain. Once inside the body, it is not possible to detoxify or get rid of these dioxins. It can affect the placenta even before birth, as a child is exposed to dioxins from the mother. It also has an impact on the male reproductive system thereby causing testicular cancer. Exposure during infant development causes hormonal changes, birth defects, reduced growth, etc. Impaired intellectual development, infertility, reproductive problems are all linked with this killer chemical. It is not advisable to bury the plastics as they prevent ground water from seeping through the soil. And recycling of plastics leads to a fresh set of worries. It is sad that many developed nations dump their plastic wastes in India.
Most of the above mentioned worries could be avoided if we try to alter our lifestyles - a lifestyle minus recycled plastics. Probably it is not possible to clear plastics from the very face of the earth. The government is trying to introduce biodegradable plastics. But, we should understand that there is a limit to the use of plastics. There are alternatives to a plastic way of life. Shopkeepers across the city are planning to replace plastic carry-bags with paper bags. We, as consumers, would do great service to the environment if we take the trouble of carrying our own cloth or jute bags during shopping. Try using stainless steel tumblers or paper cups instead of the plastic products - easy to use and throw variety. Use long knitted socks for product display, plates made of dried banana stems. Some amount of imagination and creativity will decrease our dependence on plastics. Every little action of ours can go a long way in safe guarding our environment.
