Malaysia has recently joined in on the ban of plastic straws with the hopes to encourage the public to stop using plastic straws. With Malaysia’s population is at 31.62 million as of 2017 using straws every day in their daily lives, all of which to only end up in landfills and the ocean.
Why are plastic straws harmful to our Mother Earth and the ocean?
1. Most straws are made from type 5 plastic, or polypropylene which can be recycled, however straws are not accepted by most recycling programs because of their size, these straws if not accepted are then sent out to landfills or ocean.
2. Plastic is not biodegradable however some may degrade, which means they break down into smaller molecules. Plastic straws take 200 years to degrade and this degrading process releases chemical that are toxic to both wildlife and the environment.
3. Did you know straws are currently the 8th most frequently found trash in ocean cleanups? There has been numerous cases of plastic straws choking our sea animals or injuring them. According to Strawless Ocean Organization (2019), 99% of sea bird species will have ingested plastic by the year 2050.
A recent study conducted by the Scientist of UGA Mew Materials Institute discovered micro plastics particle which are smaller than dust or powdered sugar inside of baby sea turtles. Even at such a young stage of life, these turtles are likely to die due to excess ingested plastic pollution which in conclusion threatens the survival of species.
These micro plastics are also found in the fish that fishermen sell in the market, we are subconsciously consuming our own trash.
Let us support this ban and use reusable straws to reduce waste to fill up our oceans, this is our home and who else will take action to save it, if not us? Reusable straws can be bought in several outlets with materials ranging from metals to bamboo, let’s take this as our duty and say no to plastic straws.
Penulis
- Amber Leigh Clark adalah pelajar Fakulti Filem, Teater dan Animasi.
- Dr. Mohd Syuhaidi Abu Bakar adalah Pensyarah Kanan, Fakulti Filem, Teater dan Animasi.
