- Are we buying water, or plastic?
JAMMU: For just Rs 5, one can easily quench his thirst by drinking a bottle of water available in markets but the same water bottle ends up in piles of garbage and junk, polluting the environment. The question arises here, are we buying water, or plastic? Because single-use plastic bottles are the world's biggest plastic polluter, and second, the idea of drinking water from single-use plastic bottles is not very environmentally sustainable.
Observing the health and environmental hazards of packed water bottles and other aerated drinks, social activist and environmentalist Puneet Jamwal said it is not very health-friendly and major manufacturers of these water bottles and beverages are the world's biggest polluters. Quoting a survey conducted by Break Free From Plastic in 2021, Jamwal said two major aerated drinks are the world’s top plastic polluters for the 4th consecutive year.
He said single-use plastic items, including the bottles used for beverages or water, are found everywhere, from the deepest oceans to the highest mountains. He said that plastic remains break down, the traces of microplastics percolate in the water we drink, the air we breathe, and the food we eat, and consequently enter our bodies and organs, including our lungs, spleen, kidneys, and blood.
He further stated that ubiquitous material poses a serious threat to humanity and all its species, and therefore needs replacement, and we need to act fast. Demanding complete ban on plastic material, Jamwal said that instead of harmful plastics, the government should move to alternatives like paper, wood, agricultural waste, food crops or plan based substitutes of single-use plastic items.