Women- the plastic user

Plastic is a part of our daily lives. Everything is plastic from a pen to a button of a shirt. Plastics are harmful to our mother earth, but it’s hard to stop using them. There are plastics that have long term applications, but there are also other plastics that are used every day and thrown away.
Plastic is a part of our daily lives. Everything is plastic from a pen to a button of a shirt. Plastics are harmful to our mother earth, but it’s hard to stop using them. There are plastics that have long term applications, but there are also other plastics that are used every day and thrown away. Plastic is a substance that consists of a wide range of malleable organic synthetic and semi-synthetic compounds that can be converted into solid objects. Other things in the world may exist up to a certain period, years or decades but the age of plastic is infinite. However, due to its low cost, ease of manufacturing, imperviousness to water, plastic is used in a multitude of products of different scales.
This has greatly increased the use of plastics. There are also no natural alternatives that can replace plastic use. When we talk about plastics, the word ‘Recycle’ is often heard and used. Many countries around the world have banned the use of poly bags and water bottles to reduce plastic use and save the world from its catastrophic effects. There are numerous forms of plastics which effects have not been realized yet. A small chocolate wrapper also adds in mounting the number of plastics. For example, when we have a packet of chips, we throw the packet as soon as the product is over. But we don’t realize that the product is still in existence. The news from India for using plastic waste for road construction came with a powerful solution to use plastic waste in a proper manner. The process carries a bulk quantity of plastics which is an enormous approach to protect the environment. There are different plastic recycling machine which claims to recover scrap or waste plastic and reprocess it into a useful product despite the fact that their execution is still not in use. Adding this in the context of Nepal, the trash in the Everest is becoming a serious problem which is destroying the glory of Nepal. With the increasing number of tourists, the number of trash such as empty bottles of Tuborg beer, food cans, torn tents, empty oxygen bottles is also increasing, reports the New York Times.
  But there are other plastic forms that are hidden in the story. The very first thing a woman cares about is her beauty. They use many cosmetic products to enhance their beauty. Either for hair, face or body; there are thousands of cosmetics in the market. We are well aware that all beauty items are filled inside plastic bottles but they have not yet realized its growing consequence.  There are 3.8 billion women in the world. Let’s say a woman uses 5 cosmetic products a month on average. If we make a short calculation that takes half of the population of women, each woman uses 60 cosmetic plastic bottles every year. It means that every year 11.4 billion cosmetic plastics are used and mostly thrown, which is more than the population of the world. The difficulty is that cosmetic plastic recycling appears to be complex. It is not in women’s hands to control, or recycle, the use of plastics, as there is no alternative. For women alone, the subject is not biased. But the thing is that men have started using such cosmetics, it’s only after women.
The impact of these plastics in our country is gaining rapid growth. Therefore, immediate action to protest the environment from its harmful effects should be undertaken. The cosmetic bottles are generally made from hard plastics that are not easily shattered. Such disposable plastics can be reused by the government of Nepal as well as by the cosmetic industry. Policies should be made to encourage the consumer to keep the bottles in condition until the product is out and return it back to the designated store. The consumer can be motivated by giving some offers with every bottle they return. Some cosmetic companies are also leading towards sustainable packaging where the cosmetic bottles are made from 100 percent recycled materials and that can be recycled again. This task seems to be difficult but is not impossible. Not only will this improve the environment, but it will also help cosmetic manufacturers and their customers. Collecting cosmetic plastics will give new people a job. This will benefit the ecosystem as well as consumers and cosmetic industries alike. We just need to place it in the recycling bin instead of tossing the synthetic plastics into the dustbin. State, cosmetic companies and each individual have the same role to play in protecting the environment. It’s just we who can save our planet from this powder pollution that we need to know. “Nepal can get back its Beauty only if the Beauties of Nepal help to makeover our country.”

Divya LalwaniLecturer at Merryland College and Koshi Multiple Campus, Biratnagar