We must protect the Earth from microplastics

Md Mojahidul Islam:

The World Earth Day was observed across the globe on Tuesday, April 22. This year’s theme was ‘Our Power, Our Earth’. On this occasion, the environmental and health disasters caused by soil contamination were widely discussed at home and abroad.

The news that plastic is entering our daily food is no longer new. These days, it has been emphasized that uncontrolled plastic waste is continuously ending up in rivers and wetlands. Fish are consuming this waste, which is then entering the human food chain.

This is why plastic is a global concern today!

And it is not just fish; plastic waste is now mixing into our water, salt, sugar, flour, and even the air. Shockingly, it is also even found in breast milk and human embryos and sperm.

Tiny plastic particles are silently poisoning life and nature; but since it is a very small particle, we can say that it does not cause us much of a headache. Although in the long term, it is considered to be extremely harmful to the entire world.

If this poison is mixed in the body day after day, it can lead to fatal diseases. To prevent this, Bangladesh became the first country in the world to ban polythene bags in 2002.

There have been recent nationwide campaigns against polythene and plastic, but despite that, the situation is not improving.

Every day, reportedly about 73,000 tons of plastic waste enters the sea through Bangladesh alone. It is the fifth largest in the world in terms of quantity.

An interstate research team has found that there are more than 2.5 million floating particles per square kilometer of water in old Brahmaputra River in Mymensingh and 4.500 particles of microplastic per kilogram of soil at the bottom.

The root cause of this situation is the unmanaged plastic we use daily. To stop plastic pollution, companies must take responsibility for managing their plastic waste.

A social movement is needed to eliminate polythene shopping bags. It is possible to limit the amount of plastic waste by taking steps to recycle or reuse it.

In addition, cloth or low-cost jute bags should be made available to the public as an alternative to polythene bags. People should get used to using glass, aluminum, ceramic and earthenware utensils in their homes.

In this way, if the use of plastic products is stopped, public health and the earth can be protected from environmental disasters caused by plastic waste.