CBSE(NCERT) GRADE 12 ENGLISH 2022 SET2

Very often, we do not take the first step towards a good cause because nothing gets done. There is much talk about environmental protection, air pollution and saving our forests. Do we really care ? If we do, here are a few things we can do to make our surroundings more pleasant. It is good to adopt a two-uses-attitude ! By putting an article to a second use, we are giving it a longer lease of life and using up less raw material from nature. One of the worst things we do is the abuse of paper. The clean sides of envelopes can be used to write small notes, lists and reminders around the house. The more paper we use, the more trees will have to be cut down. For the same reason, we should avoid the use of paper napkins or paper plates. Cloth napkins are just as good, for they can be washed and used over and over again. The one area which needs the most urgent attention is effective garbage disposal. People who are conscious about it follow rules and laws strictly. As a result, their neighbourhoods are clean and beautiful. understand the adverse effect that society has on it. It is important to convince people to care about the environment. The first step would be to convince people to change by providing simple alternative solutions and ways of doing things. The Internet is a powerful tool and a group of like-minded people can be formed on social media. People can share environmental stories and issues as well as pool in solutions and alternatives to educate one another. With the current state that our planet is in, it is imperative that people actively care about the environment and most importantly, act now. Similarly, each one of us can contribute to a cleaner environment. All kitchen waste should be collected separately. Those who have green fingers can turn this into valuable manure. Dig a pit and put the kitchen waste into it. When the pit is a little over half full, cover it up with mud. Let nature do the rest. Within three or six months, we will have a good garden manure. It can also be done as a community project by digging a large pit in the colony. Do take help of all the members, for nothing succeeds like co-operation.

1 Our history makes it evident that the Indian Plastics Industry made a vigorous beginning in 1957 but it took more than 30 years for it to being seeded by the State-owned Indian Petrochemicals and it was only in 1994 that plastic soft drink bottles became a visible source of annoyance. 2 In the same year, people in other cities were concerned about the state of public sanitation and also urged regulatory bodies to ban the production, distribution and use of plastic bags. However, the challenge was greater than it appeared at first. 3 The massive generation of plastic waste in India is due to rapid urbanisation, spread of retail chains, plastic packaging from grocery to food and vegetable products, to consumer items and cosmetics. The projected high growth rates of GDP and continuing rapid urbanisation waste is likely to increase. 4 According to the United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Report of 2018, India stands among few other countries like France, Mongolia and several African countries that have initiated total or partial national level bans on plastics in their jurisdictions. On World Environment Day in 2018, India vowed to phase out single-use plastics by 2022, which gave a much needed impetus to bring this change. 5 In this context, thereafter, ten States (Andhra Pradesh, Chhattisgarh, Gujarat, Himachal Pradesh, Karnataka, Madhya Pradesh, Meghalaya, Odisha, Rajasthan and Tamil Nadu) are currently sending their collected waste to cement plants for co-processing. Twelve other States/UTs are using plastic waste for polymer bitumen road construction and still four other States are using the plastic waste for waste-to-energy plants and oil production. A world of greater possibilities has now opened up to initiate appropriate and concrete actions to build up the necessary institutions and systems before oceans turn, irreversibly, into a thin soup of plastic. 6 However, there is no one single masterstroke to counter the challenges witnessed by the staggering plastic waste management in the country. The time is now to formulate robust and inclusive National Action Plans, and while doing so, the country will establish greater transparency to combat the plastic jeopardy in a more sustainable and holistic way. Global plastics production, 1950 to 2020 Annual global polymer resin and fiber production (plastic production), measured in metric tonnes per year. 400 million tonnes World 350 million tonnes 300 million tonnes 250 million tonnes 200 million tonnes 150 million tonnes 100 million tonnes 50 million tonnes 0 tonnes 1950 1960 1970 1980 1990 2000 2015 2020 Our World in Data