Dear polythene, why don’t you just disappear?! Yes saying that to lifeless, polythene may sound insane but there is no other way left; environmentalists have been urging to reduce the use of the non-biodegradable products for the past decades but nobody seems to put it in their ears. What is more, no one shows any sign of thinking about their imminent, disastrous and unpropitious future that has already opened its mouth and is ready to gobble all of us.

ALL OF US!

Similarly, our dearest Mother Earth will be annihilated and a blanket of darkness will reign over us. So, a question lies ahead- Who is going to cause this carnage and calamity to our lives? Even though the question may seem to be unanswerable, its answer is pretty simple and straight-forward. Well, the answer is ‘us’. To be more precise, the answer is ‘all of us’, the crooked, selfish and uneducated children of Mother Earth.

However, there is still light at the tunnel! We can save ourselves and our beloved shelter; there is hope that we can erase those negative words that are used to describe us (crooked, selfish, betrayer and so on). But how?! Definitely, a magician will not come and eradicate the problems we have already caused. Therefore we have to solve it and we can!

Statistically speaking, about 50% people know about the circumstances but they still do take the wrong route and the reason is very obvious- polythene bags are durable and light. On the contrary, they are useful but we cannot deny the fact that is   the worst polluters.

When plastic bags end up as trash, they are either burned or buried. Both of the processes are lamentable and have an adverse effect on the environment. While burning produces toxic gas like carbon dioxide or carbon monoxide, burying requires a large space and as polythene is non-biodegradable, it persists in the nature for millions of years. If the plastics are unfortunately in the woodland, animals are likely to die. As it cannot be decomposed within hundreds of years, woodland animals are suffocated to death. Plastics and polythene are also responsible for the infertility of the soil, stopping the growth or development of the woods and trees.

Moreover, when thrown in the river or any water bodies, polythene bags can kill creatures, hence disrupting the ecosystem. Some aquatic animals can think polythene as their food and may ingest which will harm them. Among all the animals, porpoises are the most common victim; they usually can’t differentiate between sea nettles, jellyfish (their food) and polythene bags. So they swallow the bag, which eventually becomes the sole reason for their death. Creatures that do not understand anything or is helpless are harmed by the cruelest creatures-human being. And it is absolutely unethical, unfair and unscrupulous. Chlorinated polythene bags are the worst; they release chemicals which may spread to the nearby waterways or may reach to groundwater. As a result, someone drinking that water has mere chance of surviving.

Similarly, human beings are equally affected. Chemicals used to make plastic can lead to death if absorbed by us; people working on those factories are at a greater risk to die from these chemicals.

If, however they are broken down by the mighty micro organisms, methane is released which plays an important role in the global warming, which is biggest threat to the world.

According to the United Stated Environmental Research and Protection, it is found that around 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are used every year and a less than 1% is recycled. What can be worse news than this?! Oil is also used to make polythene and barrels and barrels of oil will be saved if we stop manufacturing plastic.

Polythene bags are already banned in Bangladesh and a few other countries but are strongly recommended that all the nations should ban the polluter and present us a better future. Another shocking but a genuine fact is that around US$13 million is wasted due to the death of marine creatures caused by the deadly plastic. The reasons are pretty obvious: as the rivers get polluted the tourists decrease and so the tourism industries suffer a great loss.
Now, recycling might solve a couple of problems but to recycle plastic, we need a large amount of money that we will not get by selling it. So, no profit and thus nobody wants to take the risk. Therefore, we just have one way to save our existence and our planet! We have to avoid polythene bags and use recycled bags, paper bags or jute bags. Moreover, if we find anybody using polythene bags, we should take immediate action against it! Government should also take certain steps and the world leaders are requested to ban it in the entire world. So, let us all unite to save our future and one of the ways is to eliminate, eschew and expunge the use of deadly polythene bags.