Why polythene bags should be avoided

Plastic is non-bio-degradable and thus causes pollution; as it cannot be recycled, burning plastic diffuses harmful smoke. Plastic also emits some radiation. Plastic bags can prove to be a choke hazard for small animals and people. Plastic water bottles are also thought to be carcinogenic. Plastic bags for use by consumers in supermarkets and other stores should be made illegal. More than this, plastic bags are responsible for the deaths of huge numbers of marine species, who mistake the bags for food.

Consumers must accept that it is hugely wasteful, massively unethical, and potentially deadly to continue using plastic bags. Supermarkets must be told by the government that continued supply of plastic bags will result in large fines, whilst those supermarkets who remove all their bags can be rewarded.

From sweat shops, to over production; things which have much more disasterous consequences on the environment and people than misely plastic bags.

The reality is, the environment argument is a smokescreen for people to moan about litter. A more diligent approach to parenting and teaching would solve this problem more effectively.

Charging consumers for using plastic bags should not result in profit for the supermarkets. Instead, any supermarkets who refuse to totally ban plastic bags, and charge their customers for using the bags eg. This revenue should then be used to repeal some of the damage supermarkets reap on the local economy, environment, and society. Only 3. The chemicals and compounds that go into making plastic bags could also be utilised in a far more effective manner.

These two factors show that plastic bag production is a waste of resources, which could be being used in a far more effective way. Also there is alot of animals dieing about like , animals dieing each year by plastic bags. An estimated 17 billion plastic bags are given to British consumers. We do not need this many plastic bags in the world. The pollution caused by their creation alone is enough to warrant a ban on their manufacture and their use.

In addition, they do not degrade well in our rubbish dumps, so they will remain on this planet forever more. We cannot have this accumulation of plastic bags and the only way forward is to ban their distribution and use. These black bin liners are designed to hold more in them than the plastic carrier bags and therefore they are thicker. They use far more oil in their production and due to their thickness they take even longer to degrade. How can the ban, therefore, be seen as having a positive effect on the environment?

Not only do plastic bags fill up our landfill sites where they will remain forever more, but people throw them into the streets. They accept plastic bags when they do not need to and once out of the shops take their items and litter the streets with the unwanted plastic bags. Animals can caught in them, motor accidents are caused, and many end up in trees. As a society, this shows that we do not need plastic bags if we are willing to just throw them away.

Plastic bags should be banned and replaced with bags that we would not so readily disregard. But the war against plastic bags is not worth the relatively little gain, the problem will remain long after a ban on plastic bags is placed on people. Instead we need to recognise our dispoable society and start looking at the bigger picture.

Instead of picking on the small features of the problem, we need to get to the roots. And here, the roots is not the plastic bag, but our attitude towards consumption. Well if Animals have to die, just force them to mate as much as you can until they are over populated, then if some are killed it will be ok, and the same thing for children.

If each couple has atleast 10 children, then out population will be atleast five times of what it is. Essentially people do not seem to be bothered about ruining animals lives, or often even those of other human beings through other forms of pollution so why be bothered about plastic bags in particular? Yes plastic bags can cause damage but why are people throwing plastic bags in forested areas and other wildlife habitats.

The civic agencies should be making sure that plastic bags do not get to such places, those they gater from streets should be recycled or reused which is possible meaning we really need an improvement in infrastructure to solve the problem.

Plastic bags often end up floating in the seas- the home to many mammals, fish and invertebrates. One species that is at great risk from plastic bags is the already endangered Leatherback turtle amongst others including the Green turtle, see the article below.

Turtles often mistake floating plastic bags for jellyfish- their only food source. The tragedy is that once they eat the plastic bags, they can get caught up and wrapped round the gut or in the throat, causing suffocation and starvation. Hunter schofield. By banning plastic bags, not only will we reudce all the environmental issues such as animals, litter and landfill, we will also spread awareness globally and even potentially nationally.

And look, 5 years ago Australias landfill was overflowing with plastic bags that do not break down and now the small perentage of cloth bags that do go in landfill not many go in because cloth bags are so reusable are gone very quickly because they break down into what is not unhealthy for the environment! Maybe we should ban plastic bags too so we can recieve such a great effect! Do you see what I mean. People realise it is a big enough issue to make a law and see this great effect and actually CARE!

Yes, plastics use must be banned. Throwing poly bags plastics could make the soil unfertile soil pollution. Animals also need soil cause it make plants to grow and animals eat plants. Paper can be reused. If all you do is put cans in it, its not dirty. They can be reused. I have many bags that i reuse. They are very useful. Americans plant roughly 1. Our Paper companies are committed to the Sustainable Forestry Initiative which is an organization that understands the need to use trees as resources and does its best to keep trees alive in the world so that they can always exist.

Remember, without trees, paper companies would be without a job. They are not mindless idiots. Paper make the tree population deminish very quickly. Normal paper does enough anyways.

Because turtles eats plastic and die by mistaking them by jelly fish. Also maybe some animals is close to extincit because of plastic. And its also very harm for earth earth wil really get dirty and we might have to leave the planet if this gos on so people who says no dont ban it. However, one thing we know, is that by introducing a pollutant that may never break down in the environment can have implications that will far exceed any of our predictions.

Have you ever seen endangered sea turtles hatch? They are tinier than a palm of your hand and appear so fragile when struggling across the beach to make it to the sea. Even human footprints left in the sand represent mountain-like obstacles in their path and waves washing up on the beach are another challenge, as they thrust them back on the dry land to try once again before finally being picked up by a return current and start swimming for their life.

Since their birth, baby turtles have only one goal — to get to the sea and swim into deep waters where they will feed and if successful grow into adult turtles.

On their long journey, they will encounter many difficulties and only a small portion of them will survive. Sadly, one of their newly acquired enemies is created by us who should protect them instead. Plastic bags. Plastic bags floating in the ocean resemble jellyfish, one of the main sources of food for some species of sea turtles, especially the critically-endangered Leatherback turtles.

According to a study carried out in , up to 35 percent of turtle deaths were caused by plastic ingestion and the probability that sea turtles will consume even more plastic increases every year [9]. Nearly 20 years ago, a dead pelican was found with its stomach filled with 17 plastic bags [10]. In , a crocodile in Australia died because of 25 plastic bags filling its stomach [11]. A calf had to be put down because of indigestion caused by 8 plastic bags in its stomach.

These examples could go on for a long time…. Plastic bags are often mistaken for food by animals, birds, and marine life. The consumed plastic congests the digestive tracts of these animals, and can lead to health issues such as infections, painful intestinal blockage, starvation or death by suffocation.

The most heartbreaking part of this is that the affected animals are not aware they eat something that will make them feel miserable and will slowly kill them. Animals can also easily become entangled in this plastic waste. There were numerous cases of birds caught in plastic bags, unable to fly and feed, eventually strangling themselves to death.

Similar fate has met dolphins, seals, cats, dogs, deer and many other animals which got severely cut on their bodies due to plastic bag entanglement. National Geographic made a video on how helpless it feels to be caught in a plastic bag. Have a look yourself to imagine the suffering of these animals.

A last example of a true horror caused by plastic has been discovered just recently. A study of coral reefs in the Asia-Pacific has confirmed that plastic waste deposited on coral reefs promotes outbreaks of diseases that gradually destroy whole reef colonies [12]. So, plastic waste only speeds up the destruction of these most biodiverse ecosystems on earth.

Microplastics were found in soft drinks like Coca Cola, in tap water, in seafood… It has contaminated our food chain, so it should not surprise us that it can be tracked in our body.

The reason to worry is that scientists do not know how our metabolism and immunity will react to the increased concentration of plastic particles in our system. They suspect that it may add stress on the liver by introducing more pathogens into the body. Additionally, plastics in our digestive tract may affect absorption of some important trace elements like iron which we need for maintaining proper health [13].

Plastic bags and plastic products overall contain substances that are harmful to our health. The most common are inorganic dyes that are added to change the color of plastic bags. These dyes on their own can leach toxins, but they can also be contaminated with traces of heavy metals such as lead or cadmium, both of which affect kidney health and proper functioning of other organs.

Plastic fragments in the ocean such as those from plastic bags can absorb pollutants like PCBs polychlorinated biphenyls and PAHs Polycyclic aromatic hydrocarbons easily. These are known to be hormone-disrupting chemicals.

Plastic waste that clogs water drainage channels and river tributaries of many Asian cities increases exposure of residents to water-borne diseases, as it creates a toxic soup that remains stranded in one place for prolonged periods of time. As plastic bags tend to get caught in recycling machinery, most recycling facilities do not have the capacity to recycle plastic bags and therefore do not accept them.

Since plastic bag recycling requires a specialized equipment that can break down the plastic and mold it into a new product, most municipalities do not have the budget to include their recycling in their waste management program. So, plastic bag recycling facilities are few and far between and transportation to one could be expensive. As a result, the actual recycling rate for plastic bags globally is between 5 to 15 percent, while in the United States it makes only 1 percent a year [17].

An additional problem with plastic grocery bags recycling is their cleanliness. Ideally, to be suitable for recycling, bags need to be clean to be accepted, which is often a problem, considering that we use them to carry groceries and potentially leaky goods.

On average, plastic bags cost retailers about cents each. It may not seem like much, but when you imagine how many bags they have to provide throughout a year, you will quickly realize that plastic bags are costly. Additionally, someone has to pay the cost of dealing with plastic bags in the waste stream. This includes waste collection, regular cleanups to remove plastic bag litter along the roads or blown away from landfills and then even processing at landfill sites. According to some estimates, the cost of plastic bag cleanup is about 17 cents per bag [14] and the cost is paid by us once again.

Beyond the costs associated with the production and purchasing of plastic bags by retailers, there are many external costs that are often not considered. These costs include the true environmental costs of resource extraction and depletion, the loss of quality of life, economic loss from littering, and wildlife loss.

Unfortunately, such costs are typically not included in most economic analyses, as they are not easy to calculate because the equation would have to involve many indirect variables. The resulting number is staggering. The explanation is quite simple. Reusable shopping bags are very durable and can be reused many times over the course of their useful life. This means that you are not consuming more resources every time you need to carry your groceries home.

For example, a reusable jute bag should last at least 4 years, during which it can prevent the use of single-use plastic bags. Once a person gets into the habit of bringing reusable bags when shopping, it is not much of an inconvenience at all.

After all, ask your grandparents, they will remember that during their time people were used to go shopping with their own bags or baskets. The manufacturing of reusable bags or compostable alternatives to plastic bags offers a new opportunity to create sustainable products and provide jobs that go with them.

The trend has already started. There are some great initiatives that strive to provide jobs for women in rural communities with limited possibilities of securing monthly income.

To date, around 60 countries and municipalities around the world have instituted plastic bag bans, and additional seven countries are planning to enforce the law in the closest future.

Some countries have decided to do so after directly experiencing negative impacts of plastic bags, other countries have implemented the ban to reach their sustainability goals. For those governments that are opposed to full bans on plastic bags, another option is to institute a plastic bag tax, where consumers or retailers would pay a small fee for each plastic bag.

This strategy has been adopted by some countries and municipalities so far and has proven to greatly reduce plastic bag usage by consumers. For example, in Botswana, the consumption of plastic bags dropped by 50 percent after the introduction of the tax in They may also raise environmental consciousness among consumers. Despite the good intentions of these new rules, plastic bag bans are problematic for a few reasons. Plastic waste is indeed a very serious problem.

The total for all single-use plastic is much greater, at million tons per year. Think of this as However, the latest research shows plastic bags make up only a fraction of marine debris in the waters of Greater Jakarta. Thin or thick plastic wraps and sacks constitute just over Moreover, while plastic bags are visible to us all, we need to remember that what is in them is often more harmful to the environment than the bags themselves.

For example, products with heavy plastic packaging and containers can weigh many times more than the bag. Or consider the actual items, from toxic cleaning solvents, to high-food-mile imported strawberries, to soda in an aluminium can. Evidence from previous plastic bag restrictions shows this does reduce their use, but sometimes leads to more environmental harm if customers switch to other materials with larger resource footprints.

Plastic bags use fossil fuels, a nonrenewable resource, and are permanent, entering the waste stream forever.

They may cause more pollution on land and in waterways, but have less effect on climate change and land use than other types of bags.

In the end, a decision on the type of bag becomes about which particular environmental issue takes priority.