advertisement
Video editor: Prashant Chauhan
Camera: Athar Rather
Camera assistant: Mayank Chawla
Ever bought a bottle of water from a roadside vendor?
If your answer is yes, then you – like me – pose a danger to the world. In the course of this video, I realised how easy it is to miss our dependency on plastic. With each plastic bottle, straw or cutlery we use, our planet moves one step closer to the tipping point.
Nearly 45 percent of the plastic we dispose consists of the ‘big four’, these include bags, glasses, cutlery and bottles. And currently only nine percent of plastic is recycled in the world.
As a result most of this plastic ends up in oceans or rivers, where it chokes marine life and contaminates the water with chemicals. More than 80 percent of tap water in India contains plastic fibres, which is a concern as chemicals in plastic have been linked to several diseases, including obesity and cancer.
There is a study which states that there will be more plastic in the oceans compared to fish by 2050. Imagine taking a dip into the Ganga to wash away your sins but rising anew with plastic entangles in your hair. Worse off is the holy cow, which dies after continuously munching away on plastic.
Malik’s everyday choices go a long way in inspiring others and, sadly, make her a rare exception who is not only complaining about environmental pollution, but is actually doing her bit to save it.
(At The Quint, we question everything. Play an active role in shaping our journalism by becoming a member today.)