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Art and power of communications
Reportage: Increased plastic consumption threatens environment sustainability
Bottled water consumption has increased over the years in Canberra. There has been significant shift from tap water to bottled water in Canberra due to improved living standards of the citizens. People believe that bottled water is sage but they neglect the repercussions of plastic waste. Therefore, it is a reality that despite the massive waste of non-renewable resources such as crude oil used to produce and transport the plastic bottles as unfortunately, the final destination is for the plastic to become garbage; such plastic and raw materials seriously degrade and contaminate the environment. Even with such consequences, the continuous purchase of bottled water does not seem to diminish. The increased consumption of bottled water is linked to high plastic waste that fills the lands of Canberra and generates carbon dioxide. Increased bottled water consumption contributes to global warming that undermines the concept of environmental sustainability. The generation of carbon dioxide contributes to global warming that undermines environment protection.
Bottled water depicts serious environmental risks due to the producing of massive plastic. Overfilled lands threaten environmental conservation as society dumps over 8 million plastic bottles made from oils and fossil fuels. Every week tones of plastic is disposed in landfills that causes detrimental impacts on the environment. Facts state that increased consumption of water bottles increased the production of plastic waste by four times. It is difficult for societies to manage huge landfills overcrowded with plastic litre. The strategies of companies to use recycling are also inadequate and involve loopholes. Evidence supports the claims of negative impacts suggesting that companies caused more damages to the landfills by taking no actions against waste management. Inappropriate waste management threatens environmental sustainability and preservation.
The prevention strategy stresses on banning plastics. The plastic bag ban reveals That “171 tonnes of bags were thrown away in a six month period, making a 36 percept reduction in landfill” CITATION Jor17 \l 1033 (Hayne, 2017). This indicates that banning plastic bags and cutting consumption of bottled water will lower the plastic trash that will promote environmental sustainability. It is important to discourage the purchase of bottled water by examining the harmful effects of the plastic bottles on the environment as well as pollution on the planet. It also attempts to call on people to realize that it is wasteful to spend money on the purchase of bottled water based on false beliefs. Another strategy that can be adopted for overcoming the issue includes recycling plastic bottles CITATION Sio17 \l 1033 (Heanue, 2017). These two strategies can be used for minimizing the use of plastic bottles and promoting environmental sustainability.
Advocacy: Banning bottled water for environmental sustainability
Switching to bottled water from taps results in climatic change. The consumption of bottled water is significantly high in Canberra that threatens environmental sustainability. Carbon dioxide generation causes temperature rise thus leading to the issues of global warming. The absence of accountability standards motivates companies to focus on profit incentives only. The state of Canberra ignored the negative impacts of bottles and the release of toxic chemicals. The toxic chemicals such as acetone, methyl ketone, and toluene have relevance to global warming. Fossil fuel generation also constitutes the production of greenhouse gases depicting negative impact on environmental conservation. Global warming threatens environmental sustainability and depicts the need for reducing the consumption of bottled water CITATION Sio17 \l 1033 (Heanue, 2017).
Practical implications of bottled water are even worse due to its dependence on oil for creating plastics. Creating plastics for bottled waters involve the inefficient use of resources reflecting the exploitation of resources. The world already faces risks of oil depletion due to increased consumption of oils and massive growth experienced each year. The argument claims that reliance on bottled water will consume more oil that threatens the environment and society. Groundwater depletion remains one of the central concerns of bottled water consumption. Facts reveal that “the environmental damage caused by bottled water is by no means limited to groundwater depletion. The manufacturing and distribution of plastic bottles are energy-intensive, consuming the equivalent of between 100 and 160 million barrels of oil in 2007” CITATION Mar103 \l 1033 (Lewis, 2010). During manufacturing and filling the companies waste millions amount of water that threatens the conservation of natural resources. Bottled water consumption in Canberra further increases the risks of water depletion thus affecting the environment and its preservation. The argument claims that are producing 60 million plastic bottles involve massive energy. Most of the plastic is indecomposable that means reusing them is not possible.
The argument claims that bottled water threatens oil reserves reflecting waste of natural resources. Switching from tap waters to water bottle will result in depletion of oil reserves. The debate on the bottled water consumption and its impacts on environment revolve around two main arguments. The central argument portrays the environmental risks associated with increased consumption of bottled water. The adverse environmental implications involve carbon emission due to the use of fossil fuels and oils for plastic manufacturing. Growing wasteland due to the dumpling of millions of plastic bottles in landfills contributes to environmental degradation due to climate change and global warming. To attain environmental sustainability it is thus crucial to eliminate the risks of global warming by cutting the consumption of bottled water. The state of Canberra must find alternative ways for providing purified water to the citizens.
References
BIBLIOGRAPHY Hayne, J. (2017). What difference did the plastic bag ban make to Canberra's waste? Retrieved 05 19, 2019, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/specials/curious-canberra/2017-04-10/what-difference-did-the-plastic-bag-ban-make-to-canberras-waste/8392804
Heanue, S. (2017). Canberra recycling plant upgrade means empty bottles could be used to build roads. Retrieved 05 19, 2019, from https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-20/canberra-recycling-plant-upgrade-could-turn-bottles-into-roads/8823874
Lewis, M. W. (2010). Costly water: Bottled and Sold: The History Behind Our Obsession with Bottled Water. Issues in Science and Technology, 27,1, 288.
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