Plastics are polluting our planet and our waters, harming human health and damaging ecosystems vital to our lives. Different NGOs and institutions are raising the alarm on the severity of the global plastics crisis and they found four reasons why the world needs to beat plastic pollution:
1. PLASTIC IS EVERYWHERE. It takes a variety of forms, from synthetic fishing nets to single-use items like water bottles and trash bags. Plastic is not biodegradable, it simply breaks apart into smaller and smaller pieces over time.
2. PLASTICS HARM OUR HEALTH AND OUR ECOSYSTEMS. Despite being tiny in size, microplastics are a threat to human health and the ecosystems.
3. TO BEAT PLASTIC POLLUTION: REUSE, RECYCLE, REORIENT. The changes we need to make as consumers are necessary, affordable and achievable by eliminating unnecessary common plastics such as excessive packaging is the first step. Reusing refillable bottles for example, in addition to enhancing recycling and turning to greener alternatives, are among the report’s recommendations.
4. TRANSITIONING AWAY FROM PLASTICS SAVES MONEY AND CREATES JOBS. The transition would create hundreds of thousands of opportunities, improving livelihoods for millions of workers in developing countries directly associated with short-lived plastics.
10th grade from Technological High School of Services “Sfântul Apostol Andrei” Ploiesti