Question: Suppose, you are a reporter of a reputed daily. Make a report on ‘plastic bags are a menace to the environment’ Plastic bags menace to the environment.
Plastic Bags Menace to The Environment
Answer: Staff Correspondent, Dhaka: 27 January 2015: The effects of plastic bags on soil, water, and air are really quite devastating. International Rice Research Institute found that plastic bags destroy the bacteria of soil causing loss of soil fertility. When dumped in the soil it does not allow emission of the toxic gases and pollutants from the earth. Sunlight, its ultraviolet ray, in particular, cannot pass through the plastic bags into the soil.
Here it is noted that the use of plastic bags has become a culture of everyday life for the people of all strata. Market mechanism drives people to use polythene because it is available and cheap. Again, it is “tough, waterproof and easy to carry and store”. People feel comfortable by using plastic bags paying little attention to the damage to the environment.
Adverse effect on the environment and public health due to indiscriminate use of plastic bags is colossal. It causes contamination of water by blocking the entire system of the drains and sewer lines. It results in the germination of bacterial and water-borne diseases, the spread of mosquitoes and bad smells.
Processing and reprocessing of plastic substances cause air pollution. Street urchins use to collect polythene bags from the disposal sites and burn them in the open space. By doing this they produce hydrogen cyanide and other poisonous gases that pollute the air as well as affect the health of the urchins. It may lead even to fatal disease like cancer.
Now it is time we did something for saving the environment. Every citizen should feel the concern, ownership, and belongingness with the problem and act accordingly.