Sri Lanka banned plastic bags and other disposable products after the collapse of the island’s biggest dump led to a rubbish disposal crisis.

Rotting garbage piled up in many parts of the capital after the giant rubbish tip collapsed in April, crushing dozens of homes and killing 32 people.

Many blamed the haphazard use of plastic, which was also cited in flash flooding in the capital after storm water drains became clogged.

In response, President MaithripalaSirisena banned the sale of plastic bags, cups and plates as well as the burning of refuse containing plastic.

“Any person who fails to comply with the regulations shall be liable to an offence and punishable under the National Environmental Act, the President said.

Offender could be fined 10,000 Rupees ($66) and jailed for up to two years.

Plastic pollution is a growing

problem that needs    to be addressed by  every human being.

We all know that plastic pollutants can build up in water sources and make it difficult for marine life to move around freely in their habitat. They can also reduce the flow of air within water bodies, afactor that reside in these habitats. Some marine organisms ingest micro debris made of plastics and suffer from poisoning because of the chemical components. On the other hand, plastics can be an eyesore when they are strewn all over the place.

Plastic pollution has so many negative effects. They are not confined to one segment of the ecosystem. Different components of the environment are affected and this causes loss of biodiversity. The planet is much better when it’s clean and pollution is kept at a minimum or completely eradicated. People have to be ready to do what is necessary to make that happen. The business community has its role to play. Yes, they are after making profits because that is what motivates them. But would they even operate their businesses when the earth is inhabitable? This should be the question that every entrepreneur asks him or herself before making environmentally destructive business decisions.

Around the world, people throw away roughly four million tons of trash every day. About 12.8 percent of that waste is plastic.

See  how dangerous it is?

Sri Lanka has showed as the way, now it’s our responsibility to go through that way.

Nations like the US should come forward for such a plastic banning culture, since they are the top users of bottled water. Not just the US, every nations should ban plastic, since it could create this much problems to us in the future.

Killing 32 people is not just a thing that we can avoid. It’s a serious topic that might be faced by every nation at some point. We should decide whether to sacrifice the lives of millions of our brothers and sisters or to stop using these kinds of deadly objects. The decision is clearly ours. Don’t think that it will not happen to us or we are always safe. The possibilities are higher. It will happen to us one day.!   Sarika