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Plastic has been around for nearly a century finding application across various fields and industries. In fact if we take a
look around us we can find at least one or two items made entirely of plastic. For a short period of time low weight plastic
bags were considered as the most used product in the world. Customers were given these lightweight plastic bags when they
purchased a product from any vendor. They provided a convenient and hygienic way of transporting goods. Moreover since
these bags were extremely cheap to manufacture they were given free of cost to the customers. However the environmental
implications of plastic can be observed now. Lightweight plastic bags were traditionally made of low density poly ethylene
plastic. These plastic items were primarily produced using petroleum or natural gas which is non renewable resources. It
also became increasingly difficult to dispose of as it was not biodegradable. Over time these plastics quickly accumulated in
landfills thereby reducing its efficiency. One of the solutions proposed for resolving this problem is recycling. However it is
not widely implemented especially in India. As stated previously the production of plastic uses non renewable resources like
coal and natural gas. This directly contributes to global warming and an increased carbon footprint. Using non reusable
resources directly contributes to the production of greenhouse gases which can change the dynamics of the planet. In the
long run this can have disastrous consequences on our planet like extreme weather patterns and instability in the
ecosystem. Humans will be drastically affected if the ecosystem becomes unbalanced. There would be widespread shortages
of food which can directly affect an economy. Continued production and usage of plastic will only worsen the situation. The
biggest problem of plastics was its inability to decompose. Currently charges and bans are the two solutions to curb the
usage of plastic. Charges ensure that the cost of the plastic bag is to be borne by the consumers. This not only discourages
the use of plastic bags but also generates an additional source of income. The ban method outright bans the use of plastic
bags. However this method is rather hard to implement in practice. A country like India does not have the required
resources to strictly enforce the ban. Hence this method may not be as viable as the latter. Another method is to recycle
plastic bags however according to recent statistics just five percent of plastic bags return to recycling facilities. The rest end
up on the streets where they become litter. Plastic bags that are under twenty micrometre in thickness have been banned
since years but the enforcement of the ban is almost negligible. The primary reason these plastic bags got banned was due
to the fact that cows mistake these bags for food and they end up eating it them. Consequently this blocks up their intestines
and results in death. Today the repercussions of plastic were better understood than a decade ago. Hence many countries
have opted to outright ban plastic or at least recycle existing plastic. This act has led to reduced carbon emissions as well as
addressing many other related problems. New discoveries and alternatives to tackle the problem of plastics will pave the
way for a new generation in a much cleaner and greener planet.