INSTEAD OF USING POLYSTYRENE/PLASTIC/NEWSPAPER FOR TAKEOUT FOODS, SHOULD MALAYSIA CHANGE IT TO THE USE OF FOOD CONTAINERS AND BOTTLE TUMBLER?

This article originally published in GOING PLASTIC FREE IN YOUR EVERYDAY LIFE. Posted here by Farah Hazwani for educational purposes only.

Source: The Pew Charitable Trusts

by Nur Farah Hazwani

The usage of polystyrene, plastic and newspaper recorded highest usage in restaurant or stall. In addition, our nature “already” destroy because of non-biodegradable materials. According to National Geographic in every year, about 8 million tons of plastic waste escapes into the oceans from coastal nations. That’s the equivalent of setting five garbage bags full of trash on every foot of coastline around the world. Furthermore, plastic is ubiquitous because of people who lack of humanity towards animals and responsibilities as human itself by directly dumping trash into the nearest river or lake, plastic is growing increasingly common in the world’s oceans. According to Forbes, plastic trash is found in the guts of more than 90% of the world’s sea birds, in the stomachs of more than half of the world’s sea turtles, and it’s even choking the life out of whales. At the rate at which plastic is accumulating in the oceans of the planet, it’s predicted that, by 2050, the mass of plastic in the world’s oceans will exceed the mass of all the fish that live there. Plastic pollution has become one of the most pressing environmental issues, as rapidly increasing production of disposable plastic products overwhelms the world’s ability to deal with them.

Source: Forbes

Source: Change.org

Should Malaysia change it to the use of food containers and bottle tumbler?

This are comments conducted from an interview session:

-Farhira Faruddin, student-

[Instead of using non-biodegradable materials for takeout food, I believe that Malaysia government needs to start implementing laws and regulations for Malaysians to start bringing their own food containers and bottle tumblers at restaurants and food outlets. This is because those items such as plastic/polystyrene would take many years to be broken down and this will only pollute the earth even more. Furthermore, this new change will save costs for both the business and the consumers as well.]

-Aliah Atiqah Binti Ahmad Aishom, student-

[Yes, Malaysia should definitely change it to food containers and tumblers because it is more eco-friendly and we can reuse it in a safe manner rather than having chemicals mixed up with our food. Also, it is easy to heat the food up and is safer for our health.]

-Nur Syamimie Suhaila binti Samsudin, student-

[Yes, I think Malaysia needs to change the way it is used to pack food by using polystyrene to bring the own food container and bottle tumbler. This is because not only it can prevent from an unauthorised disposal of food containers, it is also able to guarantee cleanliness when using its own food container. Using of food containers can make your food last longer for example, if you put hot or cold beverages inside you tumbler it makes your drink keep in it current temperature rather than use disposal cups. And you can fill your drink as much as you want following the size of the tumbler.]