The objects we use in our lives are basically composed of three materials: plastic, glass and metal, each of which has its own physical properties and is very versatile.
Plastic is the most important, because it is very cheap, easy to obtain and manufacture, and it is malleable, corrosion-resistant, strong, light and other characteristics, so plastic is filled with all aspects of our lives, and is even used to make clothes, tableware and so on.
Although the mass use of plastic has brought us unprecedented convenience, it has also brought us a very headache, that is, its chemical stability is too good, making it difficult to be eroded by nature, weathering, so it has caused long-term, widespread white pollution.
And we humans now have no way to dispose of these plastic products without polluting the environment, but only by burying them so that the earth can slowly digest them. But the earth will not be able to digest it even in the face of plastic.
For example, the plastic bags we use for shopping, the use of only tens of minutes, but nature will take hundreds of years to completely erode it.
The disposable cups and straws used for drinking are only a few minutes long, and nature has been paying for our actions for hundreds of years.
There are also our mineral water bottles, drink bottles, three minutes to drink up, but nature wants to digest these outer packaging also takes hundreds of years. The Earth is still really hard!
According to statistics, the country produces more than 80 million tons of plastic products each year, and only a small percentage of these plastics are recycled and reused in secondary products. For example, plastic bottles will be recycled into polyester clothing, which is often referred to as indeed.
Most of the plastic will be buried, and if you are lucky enough to visit your local city's landfill once, the shocking images will certainly make you quite emotional.
But in addition to the long-lasting damage plastic is doing to the planet, it is constantly backfiring and hurting humans.
Because the plastic will be broken down in nature into very small particles, as well as will shed tiny fibers, these nanoparticles will be eaten by natural animals, residue in the body, and then served on the human dinner table.
This is especially true for marine life, where about 8 million tons of plastic enter the oceans each year, and the ocean is now estimated to have reached at least 150 million tons of plastic, which is carried fully across the world's oceans with ocean currents and then broken down into particles that enter the biological chain.
Organisms in the ocean already have residual plastic particles in their bodies, and these can end up in the human body.
There are also the clothes we usually wear (polyester fiber), and the home use of blankets, sweaters, these have polyester fiber inside, these things shed fibers will be inhaled into the body, and eventually into the human body.
The above is not just speculation. Because a 2019 study showed scientists have detected plastic particles in human feces. The size ranged from 50 microns to 500 microns.
It is already a hard fact that plastic enters the human body.
That's why in recent years we have a plastic restriction, encouraging people to bring their own baskets and cloth bags when consuming, and use as few plastic bags as possible. Produce less plastic waste.
And we are also trying to ban some unnecessary plastic pollution (such as plastic straws) as much as possible, but of course while banning them, we are also trying to find alternatives to plastic.
The problem of plastic in the future must be solved, otherwise one day you will find that every corner of the earth is buried with plastic, and plastic will encroach on all living space, as well as land.
In addition to the plastic issue, scientists have recently discovered that what we think is not harmful to the environment glass bottles, in fact it is more harmful to the environment than plastic bottles, and four times more harmful than plastic bottles.
Our usual beverage packaging is just four kinds: plastic bottles, glass bottles, cans and cartons. Scientists have evaluated these different packages and found that glass bottles are actually the most harmful.
The main reason is not the impact on the environment and human health after it is used and discarded, but the fact that the glass bottle requires more resources and energy for its production, which causes more serious environmental pollution.
So scientists have come to this conclusion after taking into account the consumption of energy and resource extraction.
Because the production of glass requires the mining of materials such as silica sand, soda ash and dolomite, this has all the environmental impacts associated with mining, which can lead to land degradation, dust pollution, and pollution of rivers within the mine's boundaries.
And mining itself is also very harmful to the human body, rock dust can make people suffer from silicosis, which is a very serious occupational disease, more harmful than coal lung disease.
And in the manufacture of glass will produce a large amount of sulfur dioxide, carbon dioxide, these two gases are the most harmful to the Earth's environment today, the greenhouse effect caused by the most difficult environmental problems today.
We know that the greenhouse effect can lead to changes in the Earth's climate, degradation of polar glaciers and mountain glaciers, global climate anomalies, frequent floods and droughts, and ocean acidification, and these negative effects far outweigh the harm of plastics.
And you can look back at the five biological extinctions that have occurred in the history of the planet, and at least three of the major extinctions were related to the increase in global CO2 levels.
And we humans are experiencing a severe greenhouse effect, and the planet's species are now dying out at a rate 100 times faster than before the industrial age.
Therefore, scientists believe that the Earth is now experiencing a new round of species extinction, that is, the sixth extinction, and is already in the middle, but also for this extinction event are named well called the Holocene extinction.
The leading cause of this extinction event is none other than humans, and the reason is simple: the destruction of the earth by human activity. The resulting atmospheric pollution, pollution of freshwater resources on land, pollution of the oceans, destruction of forests, loss of habitat for animals, and overfishing and consumption of other animals in nature by humans themselves.
And eventually all these evils will fall on the human body, the massive disappearance of species, the collapse of the ecosystem, and greenhouse gas emissions, resulting in the runaway greenhouse effect, will also eventually make it impossible for humans to live on Earth.
So scientists think we should now take the reuse of glass bottles as well as recycling seriously along with the plastic issue. Or reduce the use of glass bottles in every possible way to reduce human exploitation of mineral resources, as well as greenhouse gas emissions.
