Environmental Science. The Impact of Plastics on the Environment

The Impact of Plastics on the Environment
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Bottled water is treated with a lot of chemicals that are believed to kill germs hence making the water safe for consumption. This process has been going over for a substantial amount of time and is having both negative and positive impacts on the biodiversity. As well, the process of making plastic bottles and bottling water has an impact on the carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous cycles. Therefore, plastics have a lot of impact of the environment.
Carbon is a major component in most of the compounds on earth. Therefore, its cycle is characterized by the manner through which the carbon can take different forms to exist on earth. It is produced when substances decay as well as during combustion. Nitrogen consists of the processes that convert it into different forms and the cycle begin with the atmospheric nitrogen which occupies an approximation of 80% of the atmospheric air (Chen, Zeng, Zhang, Xu, Chen & Lu, 2015). As well, phosphorous is commonly found in the sea in the form of salts which are discharged by rocks. They enhance the growth of plants hence explaining the reason as to why people use phosphate components to grow healthy plants. Water is one of the most common liquids on earth and occurs naturally on the earth's surface. The water cycles consist of the evaporation, condensation and precipitation processes which ensure that water remains on earth's surface regardless of the climatic conditions.
Some companies have taken the initiative of mining underground water. If the water is drawn a higher rate as compared to the natural rate with which it should have been depleted, then it causes a huge problem for the surrounding biodiversity. For example, such water is used by the surrounding trees to grow, and its absence means that the trees will dry up. Also, replacing such waters is difficult because less water is absorbed by the ground when it rains. A large amount of it becomes run-off water.
As well, the combustion process involved in the making of the water bottles produces harmful gases to the environment. These gases interfere with the natural cycles of carbon, nitrogen and phosphorous hence affecting biodiversity. The chemicals used to make the plastic bottle end up in water bodies due to poor disposal techniques. This makes the water that was once safe for consumption harmful. Also, the chemicals hurt the biodiversity of the water bodies. Some of the plastics, when left out in the sun, can emit harmful chemicals that in turn, find their way into the water bodies hence contaminating the water. This water becomes part of the water cycle and, eventually, this means that all the water on earth will be contaminated if a restorative action is not taken.
In addition, the transportation the raw materials for making plastic bottles requires a good transport system. This means thus biodiversity will have to be interfered with during the construction of roads leading to the water treatment plants. Also, the tapping of underground water for bottling requires the construction of underground reservoirs which negatively affect the plants and animals living in the surrounding area.
Most of the water bottles are made from virgin plas...