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Plastic Waste |
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Examples: plastic lanterns, Christmas
trees and disposable cutlery |


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Accelerates
depletion of the world's limited oil reserves
Plastic is a by-product of
oil. It is estimated that the production of plastic accounts
for 8% of the oil demand. Unwise use of plastic products wastes
our precious oil resources.
Oil is a limited resource. It is predicted that oil resources
will be essentially used up within 40 years. (information
from: US Department Of Energy)
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Results in air
pollution, forms acid rain and affects ecological balance
Treating waste by incineration*
releases toxic gases such as dioxin, leading to air pollution.
Other acidic gases that are emitted cause acid rain.
(*There are currently no waste incineration facilities in
Hong Kong. However, the government has not excluded the possibility
of adopting incineration in future to solve the waste problem.
Many countries, such as China, Japan and Singapore, use incineration
for waste treatment.)
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Contains
carcinogens which affect reproductive ability and child development
Many plastic products contain
carcinogens. At high temperatures, these are release more
quickly. Some of the chemical constituents may affect our
reproductive ability and children's development. |
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Shortens life
of landfills
It takes hundreds of years
to decompose plastic products, so they will be in landfills
for a long time.
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Fluorescent Sticks |
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Waste oil reserves
The outer shell of fluorescent sticks is plastic.
Buying and throwing away the sticks wastes oil. |
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Threatens health
Some of the chemicals in
fluorescent sticks are carcinogenic, and can affect brain
functions if they enter our bloodstream. Other chemicals cause
eye and skin irritation.
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Metallic Waste |
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Examples: mooncake
boxes, aluminium cans, tin cans, batteries for lanterns |
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Wastes metal resources
Mooncake boxes and food cans
are made from iron. These, like aluminium cans, can be recycled
to recover and reuse the metals. Simply throwing away these
boxes and cans wastes metallic resources. |
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Heavy metals
pollute the environment and threaten health
It is estimated that the
energy used to manufacture batteries is 50-times that which
they supply. Further, batteries contain toxic metals such
as mercury, cadmium and zinc. Throwing away batteries can
pollute soil and water. The heavy metals may even enter the
food chain, and affect the health of plants, animals and humans.
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Packaging Materials |
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Examples: cardboard boxes and
wrapping paper |
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Creates waste
Once a gift box is opened,
the packaging materials become waste.
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Accelerates
destruction of forests and depletion of oil reserve
At least 17 trees and 1,750
litres of oil are required to produce 1 ton of paper. Packaging
paper is not a necessity. Excessive use of it will only accelerate
the logging of forests, making wildlife lose habitats, and
threatening the earth's ecosystems. |
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Pollutes the
environment
Many dyes and chemicals are
used in bleaching paper. These will cause air and water pollution
and affect human health.
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Spray products |
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Examples: snow sprays, colour
sprays |
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Form photochemical
smog
These sprays contain toxic
chemicals (e.g. volatile organic compounds, VOCs) that will
cause photochemical smog in sunny weather, damaging the respiratory
system, causing eye irritation and lowering visibility.
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Form photochemical
smog
These sprays contain toxic
chemicals (e.g. volatile organic compounds, VOCs) that will
cause photochemical smog in sunny weather, damaging the respiratory
system, causing eye irritation and lowering visibility.
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