Directions: Choose the word/ group of words, which is/ are most opposite in meaning to the word printed in bold as used in the passage.
Dismal
Directions: Read the following passage carefully and answer the given question.
According to the United States Environmental Protection Agency (USEPA), plastic bags are a better option than paper bags from the environment’s point of view. Many studies comparing plastic versus paper show that plastic bags have less net environmental effect than paper bags, requiring less energy for transport, production and recycling and because of all these, plastic generates less greenhouse gases. They cause less air and water pollution and can get compressed to a small size in landfills. Plastic bags are sterile and thus are a better option for the transportation of eatables and medicines.
However there is another side of using plastic. Plastics are manufactured from petroleum. This brings a host of other issues e.g. destruction of habitat. Their manufacturing involves chemicals, many of which have not been sufficiently tested for their toxicological impact on humans and animals.Exacerbating the problem is that science has only advanced to detect plastic components in human bodies and then link it to human ailments and diseases. Where science has been unable to help is that it has largely failed to invent a solution to the hazards caused by it. Making the situation dismalis the fact that the hazard is closer than it appears. Teflon, PVC, Polyethylene, polystyrene in utensils and various silicones in hair and body care products accumulate in the body and lead to serious diseases. Plasticproducing companies are often chemical companies or subsidiaries of chemical companies, both with poor track records when it comes to their adherence to regulatory compliance and their willingness to perform toxicological analysis on the products that they make.
Plastics often drain component chemicals, including hazardous chemicals when temperature changes beyond a certain point. It is for this reason that toxicologists do not recommend storing very cold food in plastics or heating food (microwaving especially) in plastics. Also, plastics are durable materials. Thus, they are hard to eliminate once used and create tremendous waste. While some common plastics can be recycled the vast majority cannot be recycled.
Scientists suggest the use of Biodegradable plastics as an alternative to this persisting problem. These are the plastics that can decompose in the natural environment. Biodegradation of plastics can be achieved by enabling microorganisms in the environment to metabolize the molecular structure of plastic films to produce an inert humus-like material that is less harmful to the environment. They may be composed of either bio-plastics, which are plastics whose components are derived from renewable raw materials, or petroleum-based plastics. The use of bio-active compounds compounded with swelling agents ensures that, when combined with heat and moisture, they expand the plastic’s molecular structure and allow the bio-active compounds to metabolise and neutralize the plastic.
Various countries have been adopting different methods to discourage the use of plastic. Growing awareness in the UK of the problems caused by indiscriminate use of plastic bags is encouraging retailers to reward customers who bring their own bags or who reuse or recycle existing bags. This is called the ‘Green Bag Scheme’. In other countries retailers have stopped providing free plastic bags with purchases and have been selling cloth bags for very minimalistic prices.