Plastic can be dangerous in many ways

Let’s be very careful what we throw away, and how we dispose of plastic.

We all have heard of the dangers of plastic – about how animals can ingest the plastic and can then die due to indigestion. But there are several other ways plastic can endanger wildlife, too.

Sometimes, the dangers are seen quite dramatically. Let me illustrate with two examples that I saw. At Nandi Hills, I saw this Black (or Common) Kite, with a big plastic bag entangled in its talons. It was flying about, desperately trying to get the bag off, but in vain:

Black Kite with Plastic Caught in Talon Nandi Hill

The Kite could not chase any prey while the bag was caught in its talons… I do hope that it was able to extricate itself speedily, otherwise, starvation was the fate it would face.

On another nature trail recently, my friends and I found, in the rain, that this carelessly thrown plastic cup was full of rainwater….and two insects which are called Bombardier Beetles, were swimming, literally, for their lives.

I video’d them and then rescued them… I hope this video will help raise awareness, and make each one of us stop to think how our carelessness could cause lives.  Let’s be very careful what we throw away, and how we dispose of plastic!

Related Articles

The rock on which Bengaluru sits
Bird-beaks reveal eating habit!
Yes or no to plastic bags?
From anti-plastic steps to zero waste management

Comments:

  1. srinivasan dr sundaram says:

    100% correct. why the govt itself is still distributing plastic. the milk by KMF is supplied in very plastic sachets. they might say it is pvdc coated or whatever but in essence it is plastic . why they can’t find a better substitute or do tetra pack. Like we are calling for natural[herbal] hair dye which can not be done with out a chemical[ non herbal] para phenelenediamine a fixative of its class.Like wise i think plastic is an inevitable evil. but its indiscriminate use can be minimised, .

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Similar Story

Panje wetlands: Greens continue their fight against all odds

Despite a long struggle by environmentalists, the Panje wetlands in Uran are drying up. A look at the reasons for this and what activists face.

“Panchhi nadiya pawan ke jhonke, koi sarhad na inhe roke…”  (Birds can fly where they want/ water can take its course/ the wind blows in every direction/ no barrier can stop them) — thus go the Javed Akhtar penned lyrics of the song from the movie Refugee (2000, J. P Dutta). As I read about the Panje wetlands in Uran, I wondered if these lyrics hold true today, when human interference is wreaking such havoc on natural environments, and keeping these very elements out. But then, I also wondered if I should refer to Panje, a 289-hectare inter-tidal zone, as…

Similar Story

Bengaluru’s climate challenge: How the city can reduce its carbon footprint

Bengaluru's high carbon dioxide emissions can be reduced by promoting public transport in the city and enhancing energy efficiency.

Global carbon dioxide emissions continue to soar despite climate agreements like Kyoto and Paris. Should this be the path we tread? Since the Kyoto Protocol was signed in 1997, annual carbon dioxide emissions have surged by an average of 1.7%. This is in stark contrast to the 0.9% increase seen in the seven years prior (1990-1997) to the signing of the Kyoto Protocol. The exclusion of the world's biggest polluters — United States, China and India — is the primary cause of the failure of the Kyoto Agreement. Vehicular emissions contribute significantly to air pollution in Bengaluru. Pic: Jyothi Gupta…