Plastics are everywhere. We use them for various purposes and they are a part of the everyday life of most people. They pollute our environment but more are made every second because of demand. A lot of solutions have been brought to mitigate plastic pollution but we are still getting negative news everyday. What can we do to permanently end plastic pollution, to make it a thing of the past? Read this article.

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What have we been doing wrong?
We have been recycling and reusing, we have reduced our use but there are still plastic bags, bottles, etc everywhere. What are we doing wrong? Well to answer this question, let us view plastic pollution as what it is; a problem like every other problems. To end plastic pollution, we need to understand how problems are solved. To explain, i'll use an illustration.

To chop or to uproot?
We know that trees can sometimes be stubborn. Some can be chopped today and regrow before the end of the year. For such trees, they will always grow so long as their roots are still in the ground. In order to stop those tress from growing again, we either kill the root or uproot it. The bottom line is that the battle against the tree (problem we see) can only be won (solved) when we face the root (source of the problem). You see, to solve a problem, we have to find the source.

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How is the illustration above related to plastic pollution? Like all problems, we have to find the source(s) of plastic pollution. The sources include:

* Unavailability of alternatives: Plastics can be used as bottles, bags, wraps, spoons, fashion accessories, toys, etc. Glass being an alternative to plastic bottles is not an alternative to plastic bags. You see, plastic has various uses so we need to come up with various alternatives.
* Lack of discipline and love for the environment: Some cities in Nigeria are flooded because of bad drainage system or clogged drainage. The people in these cities know fully well that they have a role to play in order to curb the flood. They can clear the drainage system then dispose the right way so that their dirt and wastes don't block the waterway again. Well, they sometimes clear the system but they still throw their dirt anyhow. They know that their wastes cause the flood yet they still dispose anyhow. If they are disciplined or have love for their environment, they will not dispose just anyhow.
* Increase of demand: How is the demand for plastics increasing even though we are trying to reduce our use? I'll explain with an illustration.

The sinking boat
A boat in a river has a hole in the middle and water is entering the boat through the hole. The more water enters the boat, the lower the boat becomes. How can we raise the level of the boat? Your answer will definitely be to scoop the water out. Well that's part of the solution but to permanently solve this problem, we'll need to first block the hole so that water cannot enter the boat before we remove the water which is already in the boat. Both actions taken are important but one proves to have a more lasting solution than the other. That's not all, let's see how we can use this illustration to explain how the demand of plastics is increasing.

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Now let's say that you have been idle in that boat and now that there's a hole, you have the job to scoop out the water. You know fully well that when the hole is closed and the water is out, you'll resume being idle so instead of closing the hole, you are very comfortable with scooping out the water. Just as doctors will go jobless when there's no sickness, people who sell coffins will close their shops if death stops, etc you will become idle if the hole is blocked.

We humans are subconsciously selfish. When will we realize that the more we come up with ways to reuse plastics, the more dependent on plastics we will be? Yes let's appreciate everyone who have come up with ideas to reuse plastics but let us also realize that plastic pollution is still increasing. Here are some ideas they brought:

* From 2017, there have been a lot of articles online about some organisms like the waxworm which are able to eat plastic bags. Is it really worth it? Yes i agree that the waxworm eats plastics but then again what next? Can it digest it? What if another organism eats it or it finds a way to our tables (bioaccumulation)?. If we use these worms, they'll surely find a way to our tables because fishes eat them and we eat fishes. We'll indirectly be eating plastics.
* Today, plastics are being tested in construction; some are used to construct walkways, some are shredded and mixed with mortar or melted to make bricks or roads. These innovations are good but they also make us more dependent on plastics.

Let us solve this problem of plastic pollution from the root. No we aren't condemning the ideas because without them, we'll have even more plastics in our environment. Let us first focus on blocking the hole before we start scooping out the water. That is, let us find alternatives to plastics, reduce (or end) our demand for plastics before we channel our focus on what we can use the plastics already polluting our environment for.

When we focus on reusing plastics, we'll be fighting a never ending battle. We then can say that the more polluted the world becomes, the richer someone becomes (the person who came up with ideas on how to reuse the bottles). If we really want to permanently end plastic pollution, we should first focus our ideas on alternatives to use in order to reduce the demand, focus our energy in enlightening the public about causes, effects and solutions to pollution then come up with (or use existing) ideas to reuse the plastics already polluting the Earth. This is a fight with an end.

Step by step actions to permanently end plastic pollution
Green alternatives
We're looking for alternatives that will not cause pollution after mass production. Alternatives that are degradable (able to breakdown unlike plastics) and healthier are what we should be looking for. Instead of using plastics to wrap food items like moimoi (bean pudding) and okpa (made with bambara nut), we should use plant leaves that are traditionally used (Thaumatococcus daniellii). Come to think of it, the past sometimes offer a solution for present problems. Before plastic items were manufactured, what were our ancestors using? How can these items be modified? We can even consider a mass production of natural rubber since it is biodegradable.



Enlightenment and enforcement
People should be enlightened and educated about pollution. They should be taught the causes of pollution, the effects of pollution (on our health and the health of our environment) and ways to end pollution like disposing the right way and only buying what we need and can consume. If these campaigns are successful, more people will value the Earth and dispose the right way. For others who are stubborn, they can be jailed or fined when they dispose anyhow. Companies involved in production of plastic items or items wrapped/contained in plastics should consider the end products of what they are making and should be fined when their products pollute the environment.

Read about a campaign we organized at Rivers state against plastic pollution at Plastic pollution campaign

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Controlled production rate
Even though the demand for plastics is increasing due to increase of population and discovery of more reusable ways, the rate of production should be controlled by governments or unions of manufacturers. Come to think of this; when there's a will, there's a way. If plastic production is banned, individuals and firms which previously relied on plastics will come up with a way to survive.

Recycling and reusing the plastics already polluting our environment
Now that the hole has been blocked (or is being blocked), we can focus on reusing or recycling the plastics already polluting our environment. This will be more effective in the concluding phase of the battle against plastic pollution than in the starting phase. Why? When we don't reduce the supply of plastics, people who reuse and recycle plastics will find them easily, they won't have to search for them or travel to the remote parts of the oceans where plastics are gathered. They just have to wait for people to throw their wastes away in order to find whatever kind of plastic they are looking for. When other preventive measures are taken before we focus more on reusing and recycling, we'll be sure that these people who recycle will have to search for the plastics therefore cleaning up the environment. Think of this; scavenging is an enterprise you can start with zero capital. You just have to search for a needed waste and supply it to who is willing to pay for it.

Read about the construction of a walkway using plastic bottles, wraps and caps

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The battle against plastic pollution has taken too much time. Let us permanently end plastic pollution. Thanks for reading this article to the end. Please do well to share your opinion in the comment box below. You can also share the article with your friends and family.

ABC; All Biological Concerns

What do you think?

K

Recycling it’s big money here

Okay o

Use of plastics can't be totally banned, the government just need to control the production rate and allow recycling to flourish in the country. Las las everything will be alright.

.No country is free from environment menace it just depend on how it is approached

Very good thread.....

Thanks OP.

orisumibare1:
na today we dey hear this

Simply take it or leave it.

This is not a concise method of eradicating plastics in Nigeria. it is like those politicians rambling. you are talking about moimoi. Is moi moi the major reason for plastic epidemic ? Nobody even sells moimoi in plastics. leave my moimoi alone o. You can raise awareness all you want, but the consumers are not responsible for plastic epidemics. Companies are. list the individual products manufactured using plastics and their alternatives.

Smart

Elijahrona:
What do you think?

Thanks for putting forward this topic. Although I don't have a ready alternative at hand, I think your alternative isn't feasible.

Using green alternatives to replace plastics? Seriously, how many plants will have to be cultivated for this replacement to occur? As for natural rubber, how many rubber trees will have to be endlessly sapped to meet up with the Nigerian demand.

I'm sure there are viable alternatives, I'm just not sure its in plants. Let's leave plants alone for now, we've overburdened them too much.

Nigeria has a general problem in waste management.

For this to be successful in Nigeria, we need serious orientation. It is when we truly, genuinely understand the dangers that we will be able to stop plastic pollution

The problem is, Nigeria isn't educated, and that education isn't a function of school, but of transforming information put to work.
Your idea is one of such education.

Nice post

Asus blast Buhari over appointment of new uniabuja vc


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JqZheIUEyqk

In Nigeria, recycling is just textbook theory.. You can't educate everyone that use plastics in Nigeria..

Yampotatocarrot:


Thanks for putting forward this topic. Although I don't have a ready alternative at hand, I think your alternative isn't feasible.

Using green alternatives to replace plastics? Seriously, how many plants will have to be cultivated for this replacement to occur? As for natural rubber, how many rubber trees will have to be endlessly sapped to meet up with the Nigerian demand.

I'm sure there are viable alternatives, I'm just not sure its in plants. Let's leave plants alone for now, we've overburdened them too much.

O bro you got it wrong. By green, I don't mean plants, I mean renewable resources... Green is a term in sustainable development referring to renewable resources. The leaves of plants clearly cannot replace plastics but natural rubber (gotten from plants) has potential.

You’ve said it all... Reduce, Reuse, Recycle

In saner climes this works, in Nigeria it will be a challenge.

Reduce requires alternatives. Maybe if shops charge for the bags then it will promote reusing. As long as the bags are given for free, reusing will not be an option.

Recycling is even more challenging. It is easier to recycle if waste separation is done at the household level. Plastics are kept separate from house hold waste and collected separately to a recycling facility. What we have is recyclables thrown out with house waste and attempts at recycling are made by scavengers at the dump sites. Most make it into the drainage before the scavengers get to them.

To cap it all is enlightenment. This should start from schools were children are taught about the effects of plastic pollution. They will go home and be change agents.

These cannot work in isolation; rather it is a chain in which one weak link leads to a failure of the entire chain. You can not reduce if you don’t reuse. You cannot reuse if you don’t recycle. You will not reduce, reuse or recycle if you know nothing about the effects these plastic have on the environment. Even if you know and try to do the three without government policies and structures in place... it’s pointless!

You can recycle plastic like I do


https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fAhzQT41A6Y

Elijahrona:
What do you think?

Recycle what is already in circulation.
Reduce further production and use of plastics by having natural/bio-degradable options and multiple use plastic.
Many thanks for creating the thread and special thanks to the mindful mods who took it to the front page.
Kudos y'all.
Life is more than just about money and s3x.


www.nairaland.com/attachments/3401521_cannoteatmoney_jpegaebb2a352ae295fc9aa7a61c24b4203c

pyro62:
In Nigeria, recycling is just textbook theory.. You can't educate everyone that use plastics in Nigeria..

Thanks for your wonderful insight.
So, what do you propose as the practical alternative to the textbook theory please

U r a doomed looser
U cant even upgrade your scam
What a shame. For 5 yrs

Christain765co:
Nice one

Been long since I saw an actually intellectual post on nairaland. Kudos Op
I agree a ban on plastic importation as well as plastic indigenous industries will go a long way. As for recycling I think incentives should be added for those who are able to gather huge amount of plastics. This was the idea indomie used earlier on. As for orientation/sensitization it should be done to the grassroots using local channels/ radio station as well as offering alternatives and incentives till people get acquainted with it. The most important factor is governance as long as illiterates continue to govern us. These won't be given priority.

GRACEGLORY:
The problem is, Nigeria isn't educated, and that education isn't a function of school, but of transforming information put to work.
Your idea is one of such education.

Well said.
Bravo!

Orientation
Recycling
Conversion