Plastic is a lightweight and malleable material, which is widely used in almost all the materials that we use daily and results in large amount of non-biodegradable landfill waste every day. Therefore, environmentalists all around the world are encouraging people to recycle plastics instead of just tossing them in the dumpster. However, not many people exactly follow this advice because they are not aware about the harmful environmental effects of not recycling plastics. So, the following points can be the resulting effects of not recycling the plastic materials you use every day:
- Pollution
We are all aware about the ever-increasing pollution that has resulted in climatic change and so, it’s high time we try to decrease our contribution towards damaging our own environment by taking the first step of recycling the plastics. Moreover, our duty doesn’t end by just sending the plastic wastes to recycling program as it is also necessary to make sure that the recycling process is also carried out in an eco-friendly way.
- Destruction of natural habitat
Every organism regardless of his or her size is important for our environment to maintain a perfect ecological balance. Extinction of one species can have highly negative impact on our ecology. So, by not adding plastic wastes to our surrounding areas, we will also be helping the natural habitat to grow profusely on its own without getting harmed by plastic pollution.
- Resources
The manufacturing process of plastic involves a lot of fossil fuels which are nonrenewable and also emits harmful gases to our environment. So, recycling the plastic materials helps not only in saving the nonrenewable natural resources that are used in plastic power plants, but also decreases the emission of toxic gases to some extent.
- Landfill wastes
Plastic materials, which are not, recycled, eventually end up being landfill wastes. Because of its non-biodegradable properties, these wastes contaminate the surrounding air and water. As a result, these contaminated air and water lead to severe health issues like lung cancer, asthma, birth defects, reproductive problems etc. Besides this, water containing plastic wastes also cause severe damage to the aquatic life.
- Household expenses
Recycling plastic bags can also save you from spending money in buying bags for garbage cans or for lunch bags, etc. It will not only decrease your contribution towards landfill waste but will also benefit you in your daily needs.
- Packaging
Recycling plastics can create a huge negative impact on our environment as well as on our economy. Plastic packaging contributes in creating huge amount of plastic wastes and so, it is better to buy products with minimal plastic packaging or which are packaged using eco-friendly and biodegradable materials.
