ECOmazons

“If it can’t be reduced, reused, repaired, rebuilt, refurbished, refinished, resold, recycled, or composted, then it should be restricted, designed or removed from production.”

— Pete Seeger. Social activist

We generate thousands of tons of plastic waste in Lagos State but only a tiny percentage is recycled.

Statistics indicate that one million waste plastic bottles are churned out every minute across the world while five trillion plastic bags are generated yearly – about 10 million units every minute. It is also estimated that at least eight million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year. There is an empirical prediction that by 2050, world’s oceans will have more plastic than fishes this calls for urgent measures and actions.

Plastics are typically organic polymers of high molecular mass and often contain other substances. They are usually synthetic, most commonly derived from petrochemicals, however, an array of variants are made from renewable materials such as polylactic acid from corn or cellulosic from cotton linters. (Wikipedia)

As a result of its lower cost of production and durability; we’re using more plastic now than ever before and in an alarming rate.

Problems PET bottles pose:

PET (Polyethylene Terephthalate) bottles pollution:

1. Litters the environment as can be seen in our immediate vicinity and much more in rural areas. This waste remains uncollected for a longer time.

2. PET bottle debris is floating on our water surfaces, thereby contaminating it and also affecting a great number of sea animals. This has great negative consequences to these animals as they mistake some of these fragments for food which eventually lands on our tables.

3. Production of this plastics are made from petroleum. Continued large scale production will limit energy available for other purposes.

4. Harmful chemicals are released into the air from burning and decaying plastics which we breathe in.