Improper waste disposal and long term effects of plastic on our environment.
Plastics everywhere, we have beheld the sights very often. Our residential drainage systems end in canals and these canals are menaced by heaps of plastic.
Due to poor sanitation, environmentally unfriendly attitude of plastic manufacturing corporations, and a number of other factors, management of water resources and access to clean drinking water poses a major challenge to Nigerian city dwellers.
Major cities host over 2000 bottled and sachet water manufacturing and distribution companies. This ‘Pure Water’ business, as it is popularly known, now generates tonnes of waste that clog drains, litter the streets and waterways, and ultimately alter the ecosystem. As in other parts of the world, most consumer goods are now being packaged with plastic, nylon materials which often times due to inefficient waste management practice find their way into water bodies thereby polluting the marine ecosystems.
For instance, out of the 10,000 plus metric tonnes of waste generated in Lagos per day, 12 per cent of the waste consists of plastic materials in the form of soft drink plastic, water and other consumer goods.
Blocked Drains and Filthy Streets
Blocked drains, gutters and canals that emit foul odor have continued to be a regular feature of Nigerian urban settlements .The unfortunate aspect of this development is that many city residents have come to accept it as part of city life. Most parts of the sprawling city are flooded during rainy seasons due to blocked drains, gutters and canals arising from the mountains of refuse that litter every part of the densely populated commercial nerve centers. It is commonplace to find pure water sachets, plastic bottles indiscriminately disposed of by people ending up in these drains, gutters and canals. The result is that most of them are blocked year round.
Just as the environment is littered with plastic waste so are poor slum dwellers exposed to poisoning from sachet water produced in very unhygienic places. The surrounding water bodies are not left out as city dwellers pollute them on a daily basis with plastics, nylons, and human waste mostly from the slums. This trend will continue regardless of the concerted effort of government to keep it in check. Though Recycling is an internationally acclaimed procedure for waste management, it is still a process that converts plastic to plastic. To augment the recycling preference, government should further hold bottled water manufacturers to account through proper legislation.
The Threat of Microplastics
Microplastics are small plastic particles in the environment. While there is some contention over their size, the U.S. National Oceanic & Atmospheric Administration classifies microplastics as less than 5 mm in diameter.They can come from a variety of sources, including cosmetics, clothing and industrial processes.
Because plastics do not break down for many years, they can be ingested and incorporated into and accumulated in the bodies and tissues of many organisms.The entire cycle and movement of microplastics in the environment is not yet known, but research is currently underway to investigate this issue.
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Please leave your comments and brief ly tell me what you feel about plastics and our long term environment
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