Plastics: The Crisis

Putting my cap on, I started picking up some trash. I was really close to the water at one point and saw something swimming in the water. It looked like something a brown and slimy. It had to be an otter! It just lingered around this one spot near the beach for the longest time and eventually started climbing onto my nerves. When no one was looking, I went closer to the murky water. I saw the otter quickly swimming away, freeing itself from a mangled brown plastic bag now suspended by the water. I waded into the cool water and picked it up, absolutely disgusted by what was just seen. This is a story from Beach Clean Up volunteer Khantey Lim.

This is a service called “The Beach Cleanup” that goes out to Changi beach to pick up tossed trash. They spend an hour there and find heaps of plastic on the beach. This service helps to fish out most trash and their chance to get washed into the ocean, clearly making a difference to the marine environment.

Gandhi once said “There is enough in the world for everyone's need, there is not enough in the world for everyone’s greed”. The crisis of overconsumption is that people are blindly using resources for pleasure without awareness of its impact on the Environment.

Plastics cover up most landfilling spaces in numerous places around the world. The problem with plastic is that it is made out of polymers. Polymers are a bunch of long noodle like strands that are woven together and held tightly by chemical bonds. The problem with polymers is that they don’t biodegrade naturally as they are too large for microorganisms to break down. Plastics are also quite expensive to recycle, and they release harmful gasses into the air when they are. This means that plastic is a material created by humans that has been designed to throw away. All plastics that have been created still exists in some shape or form cluttering up our planet and destroying lots of nature. The more we dispose it, the more it harms our home.

Researchers say that 50% of used plastic is landfilled, 30% of it is made into durable goods and the remainder is disregarded. These disregarded plastics eventually find themselves floating into oceans, which causes lots of inconvenience to marine life. Some animals choke to death trying to eat these plastics thinking that they are food while others have consumed so much plastic that they are not able to eat any real food- hence making them starve to death, and even some animals get entangled in it- and they cannot survive the long lasting durability.

Plastics live a very long life. Almost too long, while the plastic is floating in the ocean, the sun can break them down into tinier pieces through a process called photodegradation. These microscopic plastics are found in oceans, beaches, and stranded on land. Micro plastics attract toxic chemicals. These micro plastics are then eaten by marine animals, then these micro plastics are then transferred throughout the rest food chain. Scientists are still trying to find out the effect of this on humans.

UWCSEA is making an effort to reduce plastic consumption. This school has changed our takeaway cutlery and glasses to Cornware. Its a healthier material for the environment. Also, every 2 in 3 students in the Jra classroom say that they are willing to bring in their own lunch box to get food from the canteen. If bringing a lunchbox to school becomes a routine, there will be less plastic and food waste disposal at the school, creating a greener environment. The school shop has also started giving out paper and cloth bags instead of plastic ones.

If we consume less plastic, less plastic would have to be manufactured. Over time, there will be less plastic that would be washed into the ocean and cause inconvenience to marine life. Also, less trees and wildlife habitats would be destroyed to create plastic landfill sites. The best part is that the air we breathe would be a lot less polluted because less plastic would need to be created and incinerated. The wildlife population in the world has almost halved since our existence on earth so these measures should be taken as quickly as possible. Visit this site to find out more about how you could start living a plastic free life.

In conclusion, we should be aware of the plastic problem. We can see through our own eyes that this is a large issue, that will only get worse if the problem is not taken seriously. Whenever you see a piece of plastic loitering around on its own, find a trash can where it could be safely disposed off. Ask if you could get recycling cans and ensure that plastics are recycled or disposed away from wildlife habitats. And always remember that you can reduce, reuse, re-fuse, recycle, and re-design. Get creative with these R’s, up-cycle trash into treasures to raise awareness about the plastic problem. Find alternative solutions to your plastic consumption. Every action counts, make your change now!

Antartica? I thought this was Singapore?

“Can you turn the AC up?” A student in Mr Douglas's math class asked on a rainy tuesday morning. “It says its off but it doesn’t feel like it, I mean I’m Canadian and I’m still feeling cold!” Mr Douglas said, laughing to himself. The moment the students had entered the dull classroom, a chill ran down their spines and throughout the lesson they were fidgeting in their seat attempting to keep themselves warm but sadly failing. They couldn’t focus on their learning because of the strong, chilled air blowing down on them through the vents.

As soon as they were dismissed from class the students sprinted out of the ice box, into the narrow corridor hoping that they would ‘thaw’ as they got outside. “It was so cold, I was going to die!” one of the students exclaimed to her friend. “I know right, my teeth were legit chattering,” her friend replied. They walked fast to their next class in hope of restoring some heat in their bodies.

This wasn’t the only experience the students had with cold classrooms at UWCSEA. Many others have complained that the air conditioning is to low and should be increased to a higher temperature. There is also visual proof, of how cold the school is, by the number of students wearing sweaters to school.

Not only is sitting in cold class rooms uncomfortable for the students but it is also bad for their health.They are constantly going from hot to cold every time they step in and out of their classrooms. This can students to become sick from the rapid change in temperature. Another negative effect of keeping the air conditioning low is the environmental side. It would take up much less electricity if we kept the temperature lower and it would reduce the schools electricity bills. UWCSEA spends 60% of their electricity bills on cooling. This can be cut down by simply turning up the heat. It’s cheaper, healthier and more environmentally friendly too.

Written by Aditi