A Contributed Post: Why You Should Stop Using Plastic Bags
The world of modern convenience has made life easier, but has also taken us away from thinking about our choices in many situations. Everything we do has consequences, but the conveniences brought about by modern technology and advancements have helped us overlook where we might be contributing negatively. In the case of plastic bags, there are many important reasons why people should carefully consider whether they’re the best option for transporting items. In order to shed some light on this problem, we’ve put together a list of reasons why you should toss those plastic bags to the wind (metaphorically speaking) and look for a different option instead.
They’re Wasteful
The number of plastic bags used in the United States alone is roughly 100 billion each year. Think about all of the resources that are used to produce these bags, and how – in most cases – these resources cannot be used to produce other items. The main reasoning behind that is because most plastic bags are trashed instead of recycled, making it nearly impossible to recover those raw materials and reuse them. With a planet that contains a finite amount of resources, it’s pretty silly to be wasting those resources on items we simply throw away and cannot ever reuse.
They’re Harmful
Besides the fact that the vast majority of plastic bags are used once and then discarded, the bags themselves are harmful to the environment through each phase of their lifetime. In order to produce the bags, more oil must be extracted from the earth, creating a wave of pollution in its own right. The production of plastic leads to harmful chemicals and tainted water being released into the environment, causing further damage. When the bag is used and subsequently discarded, it takes up to 1,000 years for the bag to fully break down – and during that time, it continues to leech harmful chemicals into the water and soil.
They’re Inferior
The great thing about ditching plastic bags is that there are so many other great choices and alternatives available. Take for instance the use of insulated cooler bags: these items can help protect frozen and refrigerated foods from spoiling in short amounts of time, meaning that you don’t have to rush home from the grocery store. Another great choice for shopping are custom tote bags that include everything from built-in pockets to zippers. You’ll never have to worry about the bag ripping, tearing or crushing fragile items again.
They’re Politically Influential
The mere presence of plastic bags in our society creates a variety of weird political relationships and behaviors that are just bad for democracy in general. First of all, the politics surrounding oil and petroleum products means that sovereign nations must bow to oil-producing states due to the need for their products; by kicking your addiction to plastic bags, you’re helping to minimize that effect. Additionally, there are entire lobbying groups that focus solely on the propagation of plastic bags and the continued use of oil – and they’re spending big money to convince your elected officials to continue supporting them! Ultimately, no business or industry should be able to buy influence over the voters.
Plastic bags aren’t just ugly: they’re dangerous, politically influential, wasteful and inferior to other choices on the market. By kicking the habit, you’ll be doing yourself, your environment and your democracy a huge favor.
Plastic bags have so many disadvantages. In order to protect our planet, we should stop using plastic bags.
Right on, Florence.
Craig and Florence,
It’s good to see people interested in smaller and humbler environmental products.
So it’s kinda sad when I read such an ill-informed, unscientific rant like you just posted.
Many decades ago, plastic bags were indeed a terrible environmental scourge, but that was decades ago. Today’s plastics bags are produced to decompose with greater environmental benefits than even reusable bags and containers.
Where supermarket bags have been banned, studies have shown increases in non biodegradable plastics has risen and public transport usage declined.
Modern plastic bags are not all made from oil. The percentage that are produced from oil are more Bio-degradable than alternatives.
Nor do oxo-biodegradable Plastics contain metals ! They contain salts of metals, the same elements which are necessary as trace-elements in the human diet.
Oxo-biodegradation of polymer material has been studied over a long time and huge volume of peer-reviewed studies have disproved any harmful environmental claims.
Modern plastic bags are 96% bio-degradable in a soil environment within 24 months, and 100% within 5 years when tested in accordance with ISO 17556.
In sea or fresh water the degradation is much faster.
Evolution has also helped. Many bacteria have evolved to degrade plastics the ability to degrade plastics.( Flavobacteria and Pseudomona etc).
More excitingly, certain bacteria have developed enzymes capable of consume hydrocarbons and using carbon dioxide for cell growth.
When posting such opinions, it does pay to do a modicum of research. Simply repeating out of date and distorted myths only discredits the environmental movement with the general public.
The plastic wrapping industry is essential for the good health and safety of modern consumer products.
Civilization has moved on from the days when people gew their own food, knitted their own yoghurt etc. Today, most people live in enormous cities. Hygienic wrapping of all consumer goods an essential safeguard against contamination, epidemics, sabotage etc.
Proper wrapping allows consumer information, proper inspection regimes, and enforcement of standards.
In addition, the high volumes of oxo-biodegradable plastics enable poorer countries to adopt these products. Without these products being produced in the West, developing nations would revert to cheaper, inferior, more pollutant plastics and the damage to the environment would be damaged to a far greater extent. (especially the oceans).
I realize you mean well, but it pays to try and think these things through before advocating such nonsense.
I don’t wich to be unkind, but little ill-informed, sanctimonious preachy homilies are, well…, annoying and counter-productive.
Holy cow, you’re relentless. You really need to criticize Florence for wanting to make plastic bags go away?
Craig,
Yes !
The post was misleading, scientifically and factually inaccurate, and poorly researched.
It perpetrated easily the sort of preachy, moralistic, sanctimonious disinformation easily dispelled, that brings the entire environmental movement into disregard and disrepute.
As environmentalists, we have a choice. We can hold ourselves to a high standard of accuracy and credibility earning the respect and support of the general public, or become a sort of religious sect, sanctimoniously repeating to each other myths, ideologically and politically biased inaccuracies, etc.
Florence, yourself (or anyone) is quite at liberty to refute my information, and I welcome the opportunity to be proved in error,that’s how we all learn.
But that would require just 5 minutes or more research, it’s so much easier to just repeat twee little prejudices, isn’t it ?.
But you didn’t write to the author; you wrote to Florence whose comment was: “Plastic bags have so many disadvantages. In order to protect our planet, we should stop using plastic bags.” Not sure she needed rebuke on that totally innocuous comment.
Craig,
The comment is hardly innocuous. In fact, it confirms the sort of unthinking acceptance of the authors assertions.
Florence intentionally represents a great many well meaning, but ill-informed environmental supporters who are easy prey for activists and counter-productive green advocates.
There are 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic in our oceans. Personally, I think she’s got a point, but that’s just me.
Craig,
You’re right, but that’s exactly my point!
By attempting to ban all plastic bags, you simply increase the number non-oxo-biodegradable bags, thus increasing not decreasing the problem.
The only way to decrease the problem is to promote the use of oxo-biodegradable bags and containers. With volume other less degradable products become uneconomic and cease production.
Since most of the use of plastics is by developing nations, the only way to effectively deal with the pollution problem created by plastic containers and wrappings, is to encourage the use of oxo-biodegradable plastic.
So no, I’m afraid Florence hasn’t a solution, unwittingly she’s part of the problem !
“By attempting to ban all plastic bags, you simply increase the number non-oxo-biodegradable bags.” I don’t understand the logic there. The countries that are banning internal combustion engine vehicles aren’t accidentally creating more of them, are they?