Plastic, the ultimate villain of the material world! Its origin can be traced back to the time between First and Second World Wars, and since then, the ease with which it can be created and its extreme durability has ensured its reign of terror. We’re addicted to the troublemaker, like it’s our loyal sidekick. It’s like that friend who always gets you into messes, but you can’t seem to let go of them. Here’s a fun fact to ponder upon: over half of all the plastic ever created came into existence after the year 2000. We are literally drowning in it! We try to dispose of it or trick ourselves into thinking we’re recycling it, but it’s like that stubborn ex who refuses to disappear from our lives. It ends up in the air we breathe, the water we drink, and even the milk babies have. It’s like the worst kind of flashback that keeps haunting us, you know, like that time when we decided to cut our hair ourselves and ended up with a terrible haircut that even our dog wouldn’t sit next to.
Back in the 50s, the French philosopher Roland Barthes saw that plastic would magically take over our lives and replace everything. The man had a point because even I can’t seem to function without it! As I type this witty masterpiece, I realize that I’m hitting plastic keys on my laptop, sitting on cushioned faux-leather-effect polymer, and wearing plastic Bluetooth earphones. Though I’m thankful for these items keeping me comfortable, they might end up harming me later, like my past choices in life. See, when these products are no longer useful, they crumble into microplastics and get into the water supply, and we end up consuming them unknowingly. In the ocean, bits of paint become microplastics, whereas on land, dust from tires and fibers from carpets and clothing get into our system via the air we breathe. Plastic, you sneaky devil, you!
Last year, a study showed that an average person eats up to five grams of plastic particles every week. That’s like consuming an entire credit card! Well, that’s the report’s authors’ words, so it might be a little exaggerated. But then again, as consumers, we never use our credit cards sparingly, do we? We always go over the limit, and then some! The imagery of a credit card being eaten is seriously messed up, like a scene straight out of a horror movie. Sometimes, I can’t help but imagine myself blending my credit card and adding it to a smoothie. You know, something to get me through the day!
Serious News: nytimes
