It is truly a cancer and the reason for its widespread use simple the fact that it is both economically viable and easy to work with making an alternative for it very difficult to find. Adopting the suggested alternates would be all the more difficult in developing nations because of the costs associated. Only if stopped chasing after the nukes and put more money in to research in this direction...

The side-effects, such environmental degradation and increase in health problems, due excessive plastic use are already showing.
I think manufacturing and markeketing of plastics should be regulated on a large scale. Only then menace can be curbed...