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Your email address will not be published.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 *

Similar Story

Air quality management is a governance problem, not just an environmental one

Despite massive funding, Indian cities face weak governance, poor data, and limited capacity, as air pollution continues to worsen.

Indian cities are struggling to breathe. Air pollution is a year-round governance challenge. In 2024, 35 of the 50 most polluted cities globally were in India, with PM2.5 concentrations above 66.4 μg/m3. This is at least 13 times the World Health Organization (WHO) guidelines and at least 1.6 times the National Ambient Air Quality Standards (NAAQS) in India. Citizens continue to bear the brunt of worsening air quality, and urban local governments (ULGs) are at the forefront of the problem, being primarily accountable for their citizens' first mile. While they do have a role to play in addressing this threat,…

Similar Story

Protecting urban green cover: The process and penalties for tree felling in Chennai

As green spaces shrink amid rapid development, here's a citizen's guide to navigating Chennai’s updated permit system for tree cutting.

​Two decades ago, Gandhi Nagar in south Chennai was a shaded green canopy, recalls Meera Ravikumar, a resident. “Now, in the name of development, many incidents of tree felling have occurred in the past 15 years on avenues and across private properties. In highly populated and polluted urban areas, green lung spaces are important,” says the member of Swacch Gandhi Nagar, a citizens group.   Since 2000, India has lost 2.33 million hectares of tree cover, according to the 2024 Global Forest Watch. Tamil Nadu has fared better than most states — its forest cover has remained “largely stable” since…