Plastic Consumption by Individuals: Adverse Effects on Environment and Marine Life

Plastic consumption by individuals is causing pollution, killing wildlife, and consuming precious resources. This article discusses the adverse effects on the environment and marine life, and steps to reduce plastic usage. It also highlights the toxicity of plastics and their impact on the hormone of healthy existence. The article provides solutions like carrying reusable bottles, avoiding excessive food packaging, and using refill stations for detergents.

Running head: Creativity and innovation
Creativity and Innovation

Creativity and Innovation
Plastic consumption by individuals
In the present scenario, it has been seen that people are using plastic bags. There are
various reasons which are concerned with the use of plastic bags. The individuals are using
plastics because it is cheap in price. The price is very low and it can be affordable for the each
and every individual. The plastic bags are manufactured from polyethylene which is basically
byproducts of the crude oil refining and it is available in a large quantity. They are considered as
a quite cheap raw material which is cheap to produce (Akcaozoglu, 2015). Also, it is light in
weight which helps individual to carry one product from one place to another. Now day's plastic
bags are used by every individual. From the vegetable vendor of the designer sore, everyone is
using plastic bags. It is also one of the modern conveniences to carry products or goods from one
place to another. Plastics are responsible for causing pollution and killing wildlife and
consuming the precious resources of the earth.
One of the adverse effects is that they are non-biodegradable. Decomposition of plastic
bags can take 400 years and it can be seen that no one survives for a long time to witness the
decomposition of the plastics (Wagner, Peeters, De Keyzer, Duflou, & Dewulf, 2018).
Therefore, it is important to use fewer plastics or no plastics so that environment for future
generations and also animals can be saved.
Plastic bags are considered as a most affordable if a comparison is made with the other
bags. There are many people who do not carry any bags at the time of shopping and demand
plastic carry bags for each purchase.
When the individual uses plastic it gives negative impact on many various aspects. One
of effect is on the oceans. Plastic consumption by the individual is also giving adverse impact on
the oceans. Plastics are considered as a major source of global marine pollution. There are large
pieces that entangle into marine animals and also there are tiny pieces which are broken down
into small pieces by the force of sun and water. The plastic enters into the marine food chain and
creates a problem in relation to their survival. It has also been evaluated that once the plastic
particles are spread in the marine environment, wind then it spreads around the world and create
an issue for the marine animals to survive for long (Gall & Thompson, 2015).
1

Creativity and Innovation
Ocean plastic pollution is a problem which takes place due to persistence, complexity and
also affects the growth. Plastics are toxic in nature and it can disturb the hormone of the healthy
existence. Plastic is considered as a magnet that attracts many marine animals towards it. Like: to
sea turtles, plastic bags in the water seem like a jellyfish which is floating on the surface. It
appears as a tasty food for seagull and by seeing if they start eating it (Mattsson, Hansson &
Cedervall, 2015). It has been evaluated that this can lead to the indigestible poison as plastic bad
for their health and creates poison in the body. The plastics which are eaten by the sea animals
take time to degrade and it creates difficulty for them to survive for a long time. The plastic
degrades into small pieces to pass through the stomach and then into the flesh of fish or other
animals (Hahladakis, Velis, Weber, Iacovidou & Purnell, 2017).
(Source: Gall & Thompson, 2015).
By throwing the plastic waste in the oceans can enhance the water pollution and now
day's water pollution is enhancing by day just because of the reason that people are using and
throwing their waste in the oceans. It is important to control the use of plastics as it is difficult to
degrade it in less time. Huge time is invested to degrade a piece of plastic.
There are many steps that should be taken into consideration so that consumption of
plastic by the individuals can be reduced. The first factor is related to carrying reusable bottles.
To reduce the use of plastic it is important for the individual to carry reusable bottles so that the
use of plastic can be reduced. The second factor is related to "Say no to plastic straws". The
2

Creativity and Innovation
plastic straws are harmful and also a bad news for oceans. It is important to use paper straws so
that adverse impact on the environment due to plastic can be reduced (Long et al., 2015).
Next aspect is related to "avoiding the excessive food packaging". There are many
choices with the supermarkets and also with the retailers. They should not use plastic bags and
offer or give products or goods in paper bags. This step is one of the important steps that should
be considered so that it can be easy in maintaining the environment.
Next is the usage of the refill stations for detergents. It has been seen that there are many
products where it is essential to use plastics. Like for laundry liquid and also washing up the
liquid. So, in this refill bottles should be used so that one person can use the same bottle to
consume any products or goods (Andrady, Bomgardner, Southerton, Fossi & Holmstrom, 2015).
The last aspect that should be considered is related to "Say no to the disposable cutlery".
It has been in café or stations that to eat salad or any fruit, people offer plastic spoons which is
not good for the environment. So, in this, it is important to carry spoons or fork in your bag so
that usage of plastic spoons can be reduced (Spierling et al., 2018).
Therefore, these are the steps that should be considered by an individual so that use of
plastic can be reduced. To create a healthy environment it is important for the individual to
reduce the use or consumption of plastic so that adverse effect can be minimized. Usage of
plastic should be reduced to create a healthy living and also to reduce the water and air pollution
which takes place because of the use of plastics.
3

Creativity and Innovation
References
Akcaozoglu, S. (2015). Evaluation of waste plastics as recycled plastic composite
materials. composites, 3, 5.
Andrady, A., Bomgardner, M., Southerton, D., Fossi, C., & Holmstrom, A. (2015). Plastics in a
sustainable society. MISTRA The Swedish Foundation for Strategic Environmental
Research, 1-40.
Gall, S. C., & Thompson, R. C. (2015). The impact of debris on marine life. Marine pollution
bulletin, 92(1-2), 170-179.
Hahladakis, J. N., Velis, C. A., Weber, R., Iacovidou, E., & Purnell, P. (2017). An overview of
chemical additives present in plastics: Migration, release, fate and environmental impact
during their use, disposal and recycling. Journal of hazardous materials.
Long, M., Moriceau, B., Gallinari, M., Lambert, C., Huvet, A., Raffray, J., & Soudant, P. (2015).
Interactions between microplastics and phytoplankton aggregates: Impact on their
respective fates. Marine Chemistry, 175, 39-46.
Mattsson, K., Hansson, L. A., & Cedervall, T. (2015). Nano-plastics in the aquatic
environment. Environmental Science: Processes & Impacts, 17(10), 1712-1721.
Spierling, S., Knüpffer, E., Behnsen, H., Mudersbach, M., Krieg, H., Springer, S., ... & Endres,
H. J. (2018). Bio-based plastics-A review of environmental, social and economic impact
assessments. Journal of Cleaner Production, 185, 476-491.
Wagner, F., Peeters, J., De Keyzer, J., Duflou, J., & Dewulf, W. (2018). Evaluation of the quality
of postconsumer plastics obtained from disassembly‐based recycling strategies. Polymer
Engineering & Science, 58(4), 485-492.
4