Medha Lolayekar is a junior in High School and a member of the Chitresh Das Youth Company..
Plastic Pollution Reflection
by Medha Lolayekar
It seems not so long ago, CDI students visited a recycling center at Stanford University. The wonderful staff of the center gave us a guided tour of what really happens to plastic when you throw it away and urged us to make more sensible choices in our day to day life (ChitreshDasInstitute.org/blog, 2019). We left the recycling center with a sense of urgency to promote and educate people about reducing waste. Little did we know then how the world would switch seemingly overnight. The unprecedented time of COVID pandemic halted so many eco-minded efforts causing drastic escalation in plastic consumption, and inevitably, plastic waste.
Manufacturing across the globe stepped up production of personal protective equipment (PPE) resulting in the monthly global consumption of hundreds of billion face masks, gloves, and single-use packaging (Adyel, 2020). Authorities in Europe conducted a study showing that the Mediterranean will soon have more masks than jellyfish (Kassam, 2020). Scientists observed a significant increase of PPE debris covering beaches and polluting aquatic environments across the globe (Kumar et al., 2021). The hydrophobic nature of fibers used in disposable PPE prevents water from aiding in natural decomposition, prolonging its already long decomposition time to nearly half of millenium (Mayers, 2021). As plastics break down, fragments of microplastics runoff into natural aquatic environments contributing to trillions of pieces of plastic waste in the ocean (Xu & Ren, 2021), so even pieces that are invisible to the naked eye pose a threat to all life (US Department of Commerce, 2016).
Water is our source of life and most precious asset on our planet, critical to the survival of all living things. The COVID Pandemic highlighted the serious condition of our planet's environment and increased the urgency to act on pollution threats and climate change. The time for action is now as the survival of billions depends on sustainability. Our actions today affect the future of our world; and to start, we should make environmental changes in our own lives. We can start by minimizing the use of plastic-made products, and whenever possible, opt for reusable items. Let's make an effort to eliminate the possibility of it entering ecosystems when we dispose of a plastic item.
Bringing awareness and assuring that more people are conscious of their choices and their effect on the environment is the foremost step. Making active choices in investments, voting in government, researching and educating others all together will create the greatest impact possible to the cause. This is our start towards correcting the current unsustainable system. Together we can force change before it is too late, before climate change and pollution produce irreversible effects to the environment. The global water dilemma being a major pain point for decades. A handful of non-profits have been fighting to end the water crisis that especially impacts developing countries. Chitresh Das Institute production of a dance drama “Jamuna Ke Tat Par…”, is highlighting the urgency to address water pollution focusing our collective attention on one such river - Yamuna. Yamuna is one of the largest and is the longest tributary river in India. Volumes of historical literature and famous shlokas are composed of this iconic river. Its beauty inspired many works of arts. However, years of exploitation, chemical wash-off and run-off from industrial sites built along the river banks turned this sacred river into an icon of water pollution. Despite the dangers, people still immerse themselves in the sacred waters of the confluence. The dance drama “Jamuna Ke Tat Par…” is our call to step up together in employing all means available to remediate a threatening problem of water pollution and save our planet.
Come and see Medha and all her fellow CDI students on Sunday, May 22nd at 6pm at the Samuel Johnson, Jr. Performing Arts Center at Capucino High School in San Bruno. LINK TO TICKETS & INFO
References:
Adyel T. M. (2020). Accumulation of plastic waste during COVID-19. Science (New York, N.Y.), 369(6509), 1314–1315. https://doi.org/10.1126/science.abd9925
ChitreshDasInstitute.org/blog (2019), Medha Lolayekar’s Thoughts On Recycling, Ecology And Dance, https://www.chitreshdasinstitute.org/blog/2019/5/10/medha-lolayekars-thoughts-on-recycling-ecology-and-dance
Kassam, A. (2020, June 8). 'More masks than jellyfish': coronavirus waste ends up in ocean. The Guardian. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from https://www.theguardian.com/environment/2020/jun/08/more-masks-than-jellyfish-coronavirus-waste-ends-up-in-ocean
Kumar, M., Tsydenova, N., & Patil, P. (2021, December 13). Unmasking the pandemic's impact on plastics waste management across South Asia. World Bank Blogs. Retrieved February 27, 2022, from https://blogs.worldbank.org/endpovertyinsouthasia/unmasking-pandemics-impact-plastics-waste-management-across-south-asia
Mayers, L. (2021, August 8). Disposable face masks prompt anti-waste campaigners to call for sustainable alternatives. ABC. Retrieved December 29, 2021, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2021-08-09/cloth-masks-vs-disposable-face-masks/100361114
US Department of Commerce, N. O. and A. A. (2016, April 13). What are microplastics? NOAA's National Ocean Service. Retrieved September 26, 2021, from https://oceanservice.noaa.gov/facts/microplastics.html
Xu, E. G., & Ren, Z. J. (2021). Preventing masks from becoming the next plastic problem. Frontiers Journals of Higher Education Press. Retrieved December 29, 2021, from https://journal.hep.com.cn/fese/EN/article/downloadArticleFile.do?attachType=PDF&id=29199
Link to Medha’s blog in 2019 on the Youth Company visit to the Recycling Center at Stanford University