Well, my plastic collection especially for the milk packets is amassing and I still have no idea what to do with them.
To solve this we could:

• Stop buying milk packets and buy plastic bottled milk That would create another accumulation though
• Use the milk bars at supermarkets…great idea
• Get a cow!!!

The use of plastic and plastic waste itself has spark a very tender spot in my heart as I have been trying to see and analyse why manufacturers prefer the use of plastic to other materials such as glass or carton for packaging. This has led to the discovery that;

1. Plastic is extremely durable
2. Plastic is extremely versatile and has the ability to meet very specific technical needs
3. It is lighter in weight than contending materials, reducing fuel consumption during transportation
4. It is resistant to chemical, water and physical impact.
5. It has better safety and hygiene properties for food packaging
6. It has excellent thermal and electrical insulation properties
7. It’s relatively cheap to produce

Despite all this, plastic is a still irritating and degrades the environment in a bigger way than we imagine, not only by what we see but what we don’t get to see in the vast oceans and land filled with plastic underneath. Remember, plastic can take up tomore than a million years to disintegrate.

Recycling and re-utilising plastic, milestones attained to reduce increase of waste on our planet, is great as it reduces the plastic waste accumulation and also uses less energy and less virgin materials in producing another plastic material.

Recycling, though, has various cons which include;

• Time spent in separation of the various plastics
• Cleaning of the waste and possible pollution of the plastic being recycled
• The value of the recycled plastic will be of low quality

Even though, recycling plastic will;

• Conserve non-renewable fossil fuels as 8% of oil productions is used in plastic manufacturing
• Reduce consumption of energy used in the production of plastics
• Reduced amounts of solid waste going to damp sites
• Reduced emissions of Carbon-Dioxide, Nitrate oxides and sulphur oxides.

Big and better recycling ideas have however come up such as our own Kenyan Idea, Ecopost here, the project of using plastic waste to construct roads (PlasticRoad) in Netherlands, though still on paper, here and the Swedish Waste Management project here. These are projects where any type of plastics can be used.

How can we, the end results of plastic consumption, assist in reducing the plastic chaos on our environment?

• Reduce, reduce, reduce, reduce, reduce the use of plastic where possible
• Reuse plastic containers

Furthermore, for better progress;
• Manufacturing companies could take back the miscellanies of the plastics after completion of intended purpose
• Proper legislation on recycling
• The government should fully support waste management companies
• The public should be informed on the plastic waste issue

Although recycling is a big way to go, we should not pollute the environment in the name of recycling and the use of recycled products. The planet does not need us, we need the planet.

The time is always right to do what is right.

REDUCE, REuse, recycle