The indiscriminate growth of plastic waste

Though this topic is much discussed one with no positive result, I once again refresh the memory of readers about the hazards caused by dumping of plastic material in oceans, thirst quenching rivers s and other water bodies, the indiscriminating dumping of plastic waste causing great damage to the lives of birds and other marine creatures and animals that live in oceans.

According to the United Nations Environment Programme at least one million sea birds and about 1,50,000 marine mammals, penguins and seals are killed by plastic waste every year.

A study conducted in the Netherlands two years ago found that 90 per cent of sea birds live near and in seas had plastic inside their stomachs as we see on earth in milch giving buffaloes ,cows ,goats and sheep ,nearly 7,50,000 tonnes of discarded plastic is believed to have settled at the bottom bed of the seas .

There is so much of plastic waste that is floating on our seas that researchers, scientists and regular ocean travellers refer to these as continents of plastic, a single continent could weigh over 4-million tons .

If we search in internet the damage done to seas by humans beings actually give out the scale of the problem that we created , we may find hundreds of pages of shocking information and pictures about the state of the oceans that cover 70 per cent of this planet .

Remember that our bodies/blood also constitutes of 70 per cent of water .it is important also to bear in mind that this is a problem that is essentially created by humans who have no gratitude for the magnificent seas helping in proving much needed ecological balance .

Over 80 per cent of the plastic found in seas has been washed out from land- from our landfills and from our garbage dumping huge containers-the plastic we use and throw away day after day without concern for the mother Nature .

All of us may not have the opportunity to see what is happening in the far way oceans and rivers, a simple visit to any of our coast lines that piled up with waste of all kinds gives us the good idea of the scale of the crisis and the impending danger awaiting for human destruction .

Simply cleaning seas and rivers on world environment day and coastal cleanup day by volunteers and other NGOs doesn't serve any purpose ,it ends up a as a token sake work we take up for photo ops .A much better and practical and long term solution experts suggest is to adopt with dedication 3R. principle .

That is reduce, reuse, recycle, that might be the only feasible way out, because how much ever we clean up the garbage is not going away if we continue to generate it at the pace and quantities that we are presently and carelessly doing.

Hope good sense prevail over the readers and they do their bit in minimizing the use of plastic and polythene material to save our already polluted water bodies and protect the marine mammals, birds and the fish majority use for consumption.

Rama Krishna M, Kakinada