Recent photos of Durgam Cheruvu showed how the popular lake in Telangana, India, has turned from a beautiful oasis to a dispiriting dumping ground.
A Redditor shared the shots in the subreddit r/hyderabad, showing a corner of the lake piled high with trash, more garbage floating on the surface under a layer of scum, and a dead fish.
The poster said they were "shocked" at the sight upon their first visit in years. "This is so devastating," they wrote.
India's waterways are infamously polluted, with plastics and waste contaminating the vital resource. The country dumps 10.25 million tons (9.3 million tonnes) of plastic into the environment every year, which is 18.5% of the global contribution to the pollution, the South China Morning Post reported. Despite various bans on single-use plastics, enforcement is lacking.
Another issue is the ever-increasing production of plastic, which does not get recycled. Only about 9% of what has been manufactured has ever been recycled, and 12% has been incinerated, according to the European Environment Agency. That means the material is the cause of pollution when petroleum is extracted from the earth, when the plastic is formed, and when it is tossed.
All this adds up to 3% of the heat-trapping pollution that is flooding our atmosphere and warming the planet.
The good news is we can all take steps to solve the problem. It starts with educating children and others to cut back on consuming products packaged in plastic, especially single-use plastics, which include water bottles. Instead, turn to brands with sustainable packaging and practices.
🗣️ Do you think America has a plastic waste problem?
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🔘 I'm not sure 🤷
🗳️ Click your choice to see results and speak your mind
This action can have a snowball effect, inspiring others to meet the challenge that comes with living in our rapidly changing world.
"If you're really upset first stop ordering food from places that deliver in plastic containers," one commenter wrote. "Single use plastic containers are a bane to society."
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