War on plastic: people in Kazakhstan become more environmentally conscious
People all over the world are gradually declaring war on plastic. They recycle secondary raw materials, use more gentle materials and develop appropriate laws. According to international research, in just a week, the human body receives as much plastic as it takes to make one bankcard.
“There are a lot of studies that confirm the presence of microplastics in the placenta, in newborns, in breast milk, on top of the Mount Everest, in the Mariana trench. We think that people there do not use plastic. How could it get there? All this suggests that plastic is gradually fragmEnted, it does not decompose and gets into the food chain. This means that it is everywhere,” said Ainur Batyrkhanova, Chief of Staff, Waste Management Department, EPR Operator LLP.
People in Kazakhstan think about this as well. The population has become more environmentally conscious, experts believe. Instead of traditional plastic bags, they tend to use reusable alternatives such as shopping bags, cloth bags, or bio-bags. So far, in small steps, but the beginning has already been made.
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“This is, of course, for environment and for convenience purposes, in order not to use ordinary bags as well as to save money. Very comfortably. Two bags are just enough for me. So don’t you buy plastic ones? I don’t.” said a city resident.
“We take these bags to preserve our environment. It is in critical condition now. Therefore, we use only environmentally friendly bags. We bought them a long time ago, and we always use them,” said a city resident.
“Firstly, I buy them in order to preserve nature in the future, for self-use. Secondly, I will need it anyway. So, will you use them again? Yes, of course.” said a city resident.
Fortunately, large markets have also picked up the eco trend. Instead of polyethylene, they offer consumers more gentle alternatives. At the same time, they no longer hand out harmful bags for free. According to experts, this has become a big push for people to save money. The consumption of plastic bags fell by 60 percent in one of the largest stores in the country.
“We offered alternative types of packaging that help to get rid of excessive plastic consumption. As a result, to date, tens of millions of bags have not been released into the environment. We are grateful to our customers who have given up the excessive consumption of plastic. We urge everyone else to follow their example,” said Assel Aitmagambetova, hypermarket manager, Nur-Sultan city.
“This widespread practice called Zero waste, that is, when you come to shop with your own bags. Therefore, we urge everyone to follow an environmentally friendly lifestyle as much as possible. At least give up plastic bags, and if you have already taken them, then of course you do not need to reproach yourself for this. You can send them for recycling, but on condition that they must be clean. That is, they are not contaminated with any food or oil waste,” said Ainur Batyrkhanova, Chief of Staff, Waste Management Department, EPR Operator LLP.
Dirty bags can be washed, dried and sent for recycling. Then the harm from them is significantly reduced. At the same time, one plastic bag can be recycled seven times. After which it becomes unsuitable and gets into the environment anyway. According to experts, a bill that obliges citizens to properly sort garbage will help to get the situation off the ground. Of course, each of us needs to think about the major damage we are doing to the planet.
