LUCKY RUBY SAY’S NO MORE TO PLASTIC STRAW USAGE

Lucky Ruby SAY’s NO MORE To Plastic Straws

For the past few decades, the world as a whole has been suffering from two major burning issues; one of them being global warming and the next air pollution. Little has been actually spoken about the third issue regarding water and land pollution mostly caused due to the overuse of plastics, until recently when many worldwide campaigns are being held to abolish or ban the use of plastic straws and other plastic goods for good. The most recent example includes Lucky Ruby Border Casino situated in Cambodia who at present are actively participating in this campaign by deciding to effectively ban the use of plastic straws.

Established on May 1, 2015, on the day of International Labor Day, the Lucky Ruby Border Casino has been involved in this positive campaign for quite some time now. The major reason put forward by those in the verdict of banning these plastic straws and other plastic products is the harmful threats it poses to the environment. So, what exactly is plastic pollution and how does it affect the environment? All these will be discussed in detail in paragraphs that follow.

What is Plastic Pollution?

Plastic pollution simply refers to the pollution that is caused primarily due to the overuse of plastic products on a day to day basis. Plastics are usually considered non-biodegradable and no one has an actual idea of how long it takes to break down or even if it has a tendency to breakdown at all. Most believe that it takes hundreds and thousands of years for plastic to degrade. There are some forms of degradable plastics that are designed in order that they degrade quickly like Oxo-degradables but there is no 100 percent certainty that they degrade fully. As they tend to grow everyday with the increase in overall world population each day, it actually does not take a considerable amount of time before tons and tons of plastics get accumulated with no real knowledge on how to get rid of them. Some might argue that burning those plastics might help decrease the quantity of wastes but in doing so the human beings are at even greater threat involving air pollution which is also one of the major causes of various respiratory diseases nowadays.

What brings about Plastic Pollution?

Like mentioned earlier, the overuse of plastic items is the main cause of plastic pollution. Plastic is very cheap and readily available so people seem to be careless on choosing ways for dumping or disposing of these plastic wastes. As it is already known that plastics don’t decompose like other wastes thanks to their non-degradable properties, just dumping them openly on landfill sites will not do any good and burning them will often release an incredible amount of toxic chemicals in air thus resulting in air pollution as well.

The biggest contributor to this sort of plastic pollution is a regular day to day trash. Disposal of plastic-made water bottles, bags, and other products will most certainly end up in a dump somewhere where they will ultimately affect the groundwater system and wildlife located nearby.

Fishing rods and nets made up of plastics are the next contributors. Fishing itself is not bad as it actually is the major source of income in various parts of the world. The major problem is the nets being made up of plastic materials. When dipped for fishing purposes they leak these harmful toxins which add more pollutants in water.

What problems do Plastic Pollution cause?

Most of the damage is done on marine species due to the result of plastic pollution prevailing in oceans and seas. As a result, it can bring about a negative change in the economy of people relying only on fishing as their main source of income.

There is a clear rule in a food chain: The stronger animal always preys on the weaker ones. The same rule applies to the water kingdom as well. Smaller planktons are preyed upon by higher animals. So, if plankton’s ingest these plastic components floating freely on ocean surface then the next one in line in the food chain is likely to ingest these plastics as well when they feed on those plankton’s. This will ultimately result in the accumulation of huge amounts of plastic components on bigger fishes. And if a person consumes these fishes then most likely those same toxins from plastics might affect his/her health as well.  

Plastic wastes are also seen to have effects on fresh groundwater sources. Evidences show that such effects are not limited to ocean water. As soil is porous, the toxins released from freely dumped plastic wastes in-ground most likely reach these water sources through seepage and degrade the quality of water which people intake regularly.

In the case of land, air currents are most likely to carry these plastics to other places as they can get stuck in grasses, trees and other places which will result in litters everywhere. Herbivorous and some omnivorous animals when coming in contact with these wastes in their natural habitat, unknowingly consume the toxins produced by plastics along with their food which will hamper their health. Similarly, plastics might also get entangled and the animal might get suffocated as well. Likewise, if an animal intakes plastic then they most likely will be susceptible to having these harmful toxins affecting them, as well as digestive ailments such as stomach clogging. Over 200 species of animals are reported to consume harmful plastic debris.

Another pressing issue plastic wastes have brought forward is air pollution. Burning plastic wastes results in various toxic chemicals to openly interact with the surrounding air thus promoting air pollution as another major environmental impact which also impacts human health.

With the increase in the numbers of plastic wastes on a daily basis, the landfill sites to properly dispose of them must also be increased simultaneously. Unfortunately, the case scenario continues to be the same in the future as it is now, as the land will not be sufficient for their disposal which will result in landfills to take up more area and more likely affect the surrounding habitats of animals and also might take even closer to groundwater sources.

Not only environmentally—it also happens to affect the economy of the whole world. Millions and millions of dollars are spent on proper disposal of these plastic wastes by organizing many cleaning campaigns all year round. Similarly, the craze of tourists in a particular region has been subsequently decreasing as pollution is increasing day by day which also seems to leave a serious negative impact on a country’s economy.

“Every problem has a solution; it may sometimes just need another perspective.” This famous quote by Katherine Russell tells us how problems deemed impossible by many have hidden solutions and one must be clever enough to get through that. Similarly, the issue involving plastic pollution also has solutions that need to be implemented in order to eradicate the root cause of the problem.

The best way to eradicate plastic pollution is to start recycling the plastic products. The plastics have many cycles so instead of polluting the environment by disposing of them haphazardly, it is wiser if they are placed to recycle over and over again. Similarly, the reuse of plastics can also be entertained.

The next way involves the government to encourage people to stop using plastic related products and raise awareness relating to the harmful effects that can be undeniably seen in the environment and also have some provisions for providing prize money which will most definitely encourage more and more people to get involved in prohibiting the uses of plastics.

Nowadays, many companies worldwide have started discarding the use of plastic products. Many supermarkets have started providing paper bags to their customers rather than traditional plastic bags to put the bought goods. Even restaurants and hotels have been actively involved in this worldwide banning of plastic products like plastic straws, plastic cups and many more. In place of those, stainless steel straws, steel or paper cups, and glass accessories are being used in most of these places. Advocating against the use of plastics in a local community can work wonders. If just a few people start raising awareness on this particular problem then the issue relating to the plastic pollution will be resolved in no time.

We have come to a point where plastic waste will always be there, but it is up to us how we want to address these wastes. Is it by disposing them in dumping sites and again increase the environmental risk or by recycling them for different purposes over and over again so that they are unable to impose the threat in our environment? Either recycling or avoiding the use of plastic products will help to solve plastic pollution and save the environment from degrading.

Considering the effects of plastics on a natural environment, Lucky Ruby Border Casino has also discouraged the use of plastic straws following the footsteps of many international organizations already involving in the abolition of plastic products.