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Plastic is an important discovery in human civilization.

 

Produced primarily from petrochemicals, its structures are primarily based on the chemistry of long carbon chains. Because of its basic properties—malleability and versatility, it can be used to make  such bottles, chairs, among others. It can be moulded in any shape and colour, making it useful as the main component of many products. It can be made as hard as stone, as transparent as glass, and as elastic as rubber. They can also be made lightweight and scratch resistant.

 

These wide variety of usefulness and relatively inexpensive cost to produce plastic makes it desirable to be mass produced. Yearly, hundred million tons of these materials are produced worldwide.

 

The problem starts after consumption. Improper disposition can cause serious environmental problems  as this material takes years to decay. In the Philippines, we have the Solid Waste Management Act (RA 9003) but this law seemed to be not properly implemented in many areas. We can see plastic in  the streets, beaches, vacant lands, drains, and other sites.

 

Accumulation of plastic in an area may home disease-causing microorganisms and disease-carrying animals such as rodents and bugs. Those that contain stagnant water can be a breeding spot of malaria or dengue mosquitos. Environmental problems eventually become health problem affects the residents in the immediate community and nearby areas.

 

Dumping plastic with no proper sanitary plan is problematic in land and water pollution. Burning of plastic, meanwhile, release toxic fumes. This increases the danger to those with respiratory ailments. Other gasses may also be released in the process and may harm the flora and fauna in the area, including the residents.

 

Therefore, plastic's life cycle (production, consumption and disposal) must be thought more carefully. Production of non-biodegradable plastics must be re-calculated. We must be more conscious on our consumption. We must learn to reduce our plastic waste, dispose it properly and recycle as much as we can.

 

After all, plastic is the product of human knowledge.  Its discovery is a blessing that has brought us to a new height of civilization. However, ending our environmental destruction due to plastic will mainly depend on our will to correct and be responsible for our actions.