This presentation is made by me as a part of ongoing effort to increase awareness on Abusive use of plastics and its impact on Global Warming.

1. PLASTICS - BOON OR BANE?
By
Pratima Pandey
Objective – To create awareness about
Global Warming and (Ab)use of Plastics

2. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
FAMILIAR SIGHT..?
500 billion plastic bags distributed annually
worldwide , and less than 3% of those bags
recycled.
They are typically made of polyethylene and
can take up to 1,000 years to biodegrade in
landfills that emit harmful greenhouse gases. 2

3. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
PLASTICS - WHY SO POPULAR?
Water-proof
High tensile strength as
compared to paper
Light weight
Multipurpose
Usually comes free with
Why So Popular? purchased goods
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4. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
HOW PLASTICS ARE HARMFUL?
• Animals consume
• Clogging of the
plastics disposed in
drainages, a civic
landfills and water
menace
• 1 million sea creatures
• Disposed Plastics result
killed every year (www.
in littering; an eye-sore
green.ndtv.com)
No natural
Danger to
process of
animal life
degradation
Contd.
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5. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
HOW PLASTICS ARE HARMFUL?
Human health
hazard
Phthalates, a chemical used
to make plastics pliable, may
have hormone disrupting
effects on unborn baby boys;
also linked to obesity and
diabetes in men ( CBC News
(2008), URMC Press(2007))
Enters food chain as it is
ingested by sea and land
animals
For more negative health
effects, see
http://www.ecologycenter.org/
factsheets/plastichealtheffect
s.html#plastichealthgrid
Contd.
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6. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
HOW PLASTICS ARE HARMFUL?
Plastics in land fills emit greenhouse For more on
gases which trap heat and contribute to GW, click
me!
Global Warming (GW)
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7. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
IS THERE A WAY OUT?
R– R–
R – REUSE
REDUCE RECYCLE
3 R Mantra from Green Peace
Contd.
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8. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
IS THERE A WAY OUT?
Using refillable containers and reusable
bags
Buying in bulk
Buying things that don‟t need much
packaging, and buying things in
recyclable and recycled packages
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9. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
INITIATIVES ROUND THE WORLD
Click for India
Click for UAE
Click for Other
countries
Efforts by mega-marts and retail chains
in this direction can go a long way.
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10. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
INDIA
Lalji Tandon, BJP Candidate from
Lucknow, for a plastic-less campaign in
2009 elections
Delhi to outlaw use of plastic bags –
implementation to be carried out in
phases
(Guardian (UK), January 2009)
•
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11. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
UAE
Geant supermarket putting nominal
charge to discourage use of plastic
shopper bags (Gulf News,2008)
Gulf News “No to plastic bags”
campaign for creating awareness in UAE
in March, 2008
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12. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
OTHER COUNTRIES
Rwanda, Bhutan and Bangladesh imposed bans on use of
plastic bags (Guardian (UK), January 2009)
7 Supermarkets in UK (including Marks &
Spencer, Sainsbury's and others) sign up a voluntary
agreement that obliges them to halve the numbers of
single use carrier bags compared with 2006 levels.
(Guardian, December 2008)
National phase out policy by Australian Govt in 2002 led to
a reduction of 34% from 2002 to 2005 saving 2 billion bags
from being produced
„Say no to plastic bags‟ campaign by Environmental
Society of Oman started in March, 2009 seeing
enthusiastic response (Khaleej Times, March 2009)
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13. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
REFERENCES
Australian Retailers Association

(2008), http://www.noplasticbags.org.au/home/default.aspx ,accessed April 6, 2009.
BBC (2004), http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/3666474.stm, accessed April 6, 2009.

CBC News (2008), http://www.cbc.ca/health/story/2008/06/04/f-

phthalates.html, accessed March 17, 2009
Khaleej Times (2009)

http://www.khaleejtimes.com/DisplayArticleNew.asp?col=&section=middleeast&xfile=
data/middleeast/2009/March/middleeast_March247.xml, accessed April 6, 2009.
Guardian (2009) http://www.guardian.co.uk/world/2009/jan/16/plastic-bags-india-

delhi-ban, accessed April 6, 2009
National Geographic http://environment.nationalgeographic.com/environment/global-

warming/gw-effects.html, accessed April 6, 2009
Time (2007)

http://www.time.com/time/specials/2007/environment/article/0,28804,1602354_16030
74_1603179,00.html, accessed April 5, 2009
URMC Press Room

(2007), http://www.urmc.rochester.edu/PR/news/story.cfm?id=1405, accessed March
17, 2009
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14. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
Thank You
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15. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
WHAT IS GLOBAL WARMING?
It is the increase in mean temperature of
Earth due to increase in green house
gases in the atmosphere, which trap in
the sun‟s infrared rays.
Greenhouse gases are Carbon dioxide,
nitrous oxide, methane and water
vapours.
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16. GLOBAL WARMING AND
Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
CONSEQUENCES
Ice melting - includes mountain

glaciers, ice sheets covering West
Antarctica and Greenland, and Arctic sea
ice
Researcher Bill Fraser has tracked the

Decline of the 7 April 2009 penguins on
Antarctica (from 32,000 breeding pairs to
11,000 in 30 years)
Movement of butterflies, foxes, and alpine

plants have moved farther north or to
higher, cooler areas
Precipitation (rain and snowfall) has

increased across the globe, on average.
Sea level rise became faster over the last

century
(So: National Geographic)
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17. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
GLOBAL WARMING AND NATURAL
DISASTERS
No. of Natural Death from Natural
Disasters Disasters
400 100000
337 83000
80000
261
300
53000
60000
200
40000
100 20000
0
0
1990 2003
1990 2003
Risk factors: City growth, climate
change, environmental degradation
(So: International Strategy for Disaster Reduction, UN
Agency , reported to BBC, September, 2004 )
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18. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
GLOBAL WARMING – A REALITY – WORLD
SPEAKS…
Nine out of ten say that action is necessary to address
global warming .(BBC World Service poll in 2007 of 22,000
people in 21 countries)
Global warming is quot;unequivocalquot; and that human activity
is the main driver, quot;very likelyquot; causing most of the rise in
temperatures since 1950. (The Intergovernmental Panel on
Climate Change of the United Nations 2007 Assessment
report)
“We now know without a doubt that global
warming is threatening us with higher
temperatures, more drought, more
wildfire, more flooding, and more erosion of
our coastal communities…the
overwhelming scientific evidence has
proven this over and over again. We must
act now with the rest of the world to curb
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emissions” Barack

19. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
EFFECTS OF GLOBAL WARMING
Why go far…Just recall the
last time we remarked or
discussed about the climate
change in our area?
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20. Each one can make a difference! 5/7/2009
TO KNOW MORE ABOUT GW..
Important Sources of
Information
•http://www.stopglobalwarm
ing.org/sgw_learnmore.asp
•http://environment.about.co
m/od/faqglobalwarming/f/gr
eengases.htm
•http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/
Greenhouse_gas
•http://environment.national
geographic.com/environme
nt/
•http://www.globalwarming.
(Co: www.globalwarming.org.in)
org.in/global-warming-
facts.php
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