This morning I was woken by my alarm, reminding me that I should stop being a lazy ass and write a blog post. I snoozed the persistent ringing for 4 hours, ignoring the fact that writing a weekly blog post was good for me and aligned with the to-do list I had made earlier this month defining goals I set for the next few years.
At the time it just seemed the least important thing I could do with my lazy Sunday. Now that I’m at the laptop with the post open in from of me, I’m glad i’m here.
Isn’t this what most people do with things related to being green though? We all know its good to use less plastic, more reusable, less disposables etc. etc. But the world is still churning out obscene amounts of un-recyclable thrash. People don’t care about what their food comes in as long as it’s edible. What happens to Design as long as it looks good for the night. The consequences of buying and discarding endless pieces of clothing, as long as you look really cool for that movie date. There is no information given on the longevity of the products we buy (and lets not even think about the packaging it all comes wrapped in) how to safely and responsibly dispose of them, and whether or not they are toxic in the long run, to us as well as the environment.
I’ve been trying to lead a zero-waste lifestyle for more than a year now. Combined with the fact that I’ve also turned ethically vegan, some facts about the twenty first century human misbehavior are quite glaringly obvious. Most of us so-called well-read and educated people lead such shallow lives right from the time we are born till the time we perish, it boggles the mind when you look at it from a different perspective. Basically, the things we are taught to believe in, the goals we are trained to pursue, the logic that is tainting our mind is in extreme self-interest of the human race. We have forgotten that we are a part of the world which consists of the five elements, infinite species of flora and fauna, the earth in all its moods and the infinite wisdom of it all.
Being aware of the aspects of this world would include primarily being kind to the earth, the creatures around us and each other. In a series of blog posts in the next few months, I will be documenting my thoughts on what I think are the most hazardous practices burdened upon us by this “global consumerist profit-seeking economy-centric narcissist culture” that unites all regions, religions and traditions the world over.
This blog post, I will be talking about plastics of various kinds and list of materials I feel are most harmful to the environment, in terms of toxicity, quantities produced and excess of usage.
Some of the worse culprits are:
- Styrofoam/Thermocol
- Mettalised Plastic
- Plastic Bags
- Plastic Straws and Plastic Cutlery
- Toothpaste Tube
- Toothbrush
COMMON NAME
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WHAT IS IT
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CHEMICAL NAME
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FORMS
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FOUND IN
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CHEMICALLY RECYCLABLE
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REAL WORLD RECYCLABLE
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BIO DEGRADABLE
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PETROLEUM BASED
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POLLUTION DURING MANUFACTURE |
IMAPCT ON CLIMATE CHANGE
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ANNUAL PRODUCTION
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AIR | WATER | LAND | |||||||||||
Styrofoam / Thermocol / Packing Material | Polystyrene can be solid or foamed. General-purpose polystyrene is clear, hard, and rather brittle. It is an inexpensive resin per unit weight. It is a rather poor barrier to oxygen and water vapour and has a relatively low melting point.[5] Polystyrene is one of the most widely used plastics | Polystyrene | Sheet or Moulded, Foams, EPS, XPS | PACKAGING MATERIAL, DISPOSABLE CUPS, DISPOSABLE CROCKERY | YES | LOW | NO | YES | YES | YES | N/A | YES | SEVERAL MILLION TONNES |
Mettalised Plastic | Various kind of plastic films (polypropylene, polyethylene terephthalate (PET), nylon, polyethylene and cast polypropylene) coated with various types of metals (Aluminium, nickel, chromium ) | Film | Chips/Namkeen Packets, Sweets, Tea/Coffee Packs, Balloons, Party Decorations, nsulation in Spacesuits, Electronics | YES | VERY LOW | NO | YES | YES | YES | N/A | YES | SEVERAL MILLION TONNES | |
Plastic | Plastic is material consisting of any of a wide range of synthetic or semi-synthetic organic compounds that are malleable and so can be molded into solid objects. | Polyamides (PA) or (nylons), Polycarbonate (PC), Polyester (PES), Polyethylene (PE), High-density polyethylene (HDPE), Low-density polyethylene (LDPE), Polyethylene terephthalate (PET), Polypropylene (PP), Polystyrene (PS) High impact polystyrene (HIPS), Polyurethanes (PU), Polyvinyl chloride (PVC), Polyvinylidene chloride (PVDC), Acrylonitrile butadiene styrene (ABS), Polycarbonate/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (PC/ABS), Polyethylene/Acrylonitrile Butadiene Styrene (PE/ABS) Polyepoxide (epoxy), Polymethyl methacrylate (PMMA) (acrylic), Polytetrafluoroethylene (PTFE), or Teflon, Phenolics or phenol formaldehyde (PF), Melamine formaldehyde (MF), Urea-formaldehyde (UF), Polyetheretherketone (PEEK), Maleimide/bismaleimide, Polyetherimide (PEI) (Ultem), Polyimide, Plastarch material, Polylactic acid (PLA), Furan, Silicone, Polysulfone. | microplastics as well as mega- and macro-plastics. | Prettymuch Everything | YES TO SOME, NO TO SOME TYPES | LOW | NO | YES | YES | YES | NA | YES | SEVERAL MILLION TONNES |