The plastic ban in Goa needs your support

By Karen C

Share

Tweet

All around the world, governments and citizens are joining hands to counter the menace of plastic garbage and its devastating impact on our environment. As non-degradable plastic chokes our rivers and oceans, it’s time to wake from our reverie and take serious action that can make a positive impact on the environment and our lives.

Plastic ruins Goa’s beaches and waterways 

Plastic bags are made of Polypropylene – a material that is made using non-renewable fossil-fuel-based resources. Just manufacturing this material itself releases greenhouse gases, which in turn leads to global climate change. Considering the short-life of a plastic bag, the damage it causes to the environment far outweighs its benefit.

Because plastic bags are so lightweight they are easily borne away by wind and water. As a result, plastic is quick to litter the beaches and waterways in Goa. It gets caught in fences and trees, floats around in waterways, and ends up polluting our oceans.

The hidden costs of plastic

One of the most obvious disadvantages of using plastic is that it is non-degradable. Over time, plastic breaks into tiny pieces that end up in the ocean. These pieces are often mistaken for food by fish and sea turtles, with damaging consequences. As the plastic enters their digestive tract, these animals are susceptible to infection and even death by suffocation. It gets even worse then when the food chain introduces this plastic into our systems.

Here’s something even more alarming. Plastic fragments in the ocean such as those from plastic bags can absorb pollutants like PCBs (polychlorinated biphenyl) and PAHs (Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons), which are quite worryingly, known to be hormone-disrupting chemicals.

Although people speak of recycling plastic, the truth is that only 9% of all the plastic manufactured in a year is recycled. The rest just finds its way into landfills or the ocean. Many people view plastic as a low-cost alternative whereas in reality its costs are much higher. Apart from the environmental cost of manufacturing plastic, there is the cost of loss of quality of life, economic loss from littering and wildlife loss.

Plastic ban in Goa and other nations

The good news is that more than 40 countries and municipalities around the world have instituted plastic bag bans. The United Nations Environmental Programme Secretariat has recommended a ban on all plastic bags globally.

We have to rethink, reduce, reuse and recycle all the plastic at our disposal. In Maharashtra the government is trying to build 10,000 kms of road using waste plastic. Goa too needs to investigate the possibility of innovative solutions like this to help get plastic waste out of our sea.

 Some ways to recycle plastic

As a socially-conscious organization, Aansav does its best to limit its plastic consumption and to use recyclable materials. At our development in Verde, we have installed garbage recycling units and utilize the compost generated from this unit to fertilize our own garden.

To know more about our development and our vision for a cleaner, greener Goa, do get in touch at contactus@aansav.com or click here to see the property.