- Target:
- Selangor Menteri Besar
- Region:
- Malaysia
Please sign the petition is at the bottom of the page.
In 2015,a study published in Science Magazine declared Malaysia as the eighth worst country worldwide for plastic waste.
If that statement is not eye-opening enough, an article from The Star newspaper , written by Victoria Brown on the 20th of August 2017, stated that based on a conservative estimate ,a whooping 31 million plastic straws are used by Malaysians EVERY DAY. These statistics are increasing at an alarming rate and yet we have continued to turn a blind eye to this issue. Dr Amar Singh HSS wrote an article to encourage Malaysians to give up the use of plastic straws out of concern for the environment. He stated 5 important facts on plastic and plastic straws. The first fact was that at least 80%-90% of all marine debris is made from plastic. Plastic straws are too small to be easily recycled, so they are disposed as trash and often end up in the ocean.These plastic straws are detrimental to animals, especially marine life, as these sea creatures tend to ingest these plastics or become entrapped by them. Some studies have clearly shown that one third of all fish that we eat has ingested plastic.
Plastic straws are not biodegradable. A single plastic straw takes 400-500 years to break down into small pieces called microplastics. The Economist posted up an article entitled ' The Known Unknowns of Plastic Pollution' on March 3rd 2018 t stating that plastics once exposed to salt water and ultraviolet light, can fragment into “microplastics” small enough to find their way into fish bellies. From there, it seems only a short journey to our dinner plates.
If not taken seriously, our generation and the ones after us will suffer its consequences. Action starts with you . You have the power to change and save our dying environment. If not now, then when? Are you going to just sit back and allow our home to be continuously destroyed by our selfish deeds?
Regardless of religion, we have been taught that the earth is a gift of God and it is our responsibility to protect and care for it.
Think and act wisely, my fellow Malaysians.
Change is now.
Please sign this petition to ban plastic straws.
Let us not forget the cringe-inducing viral footage in 2015 that depicted a number of researchers extracting a plastic straw trapped in a sea-turtle's nostril. The recording further proved how plastics were detrimental to marine life and sparked movements across the globe to refuse plastic straws , opting instead for other environmentally-friendly alternatives such as reusable acrylic, glass, bamboo, metal or even one-time use paper straws.
Malaysians, it is time we start to refuse plastic straws too.
It is up to us to amend our selfish deeds and be mindful of our environment.
We call upon the Selangor State Government to eliminate the use of plastic straws. .
You can further help this campaign by sponsoring it
The Petition to Ban The Use of Single Use Plastic Straws In Selangor petition to Selangor Menteri Besar was written by Samantha Dass and is in the category Environment at GoPetition.