In the past companies such as Publix have had lawsuits that were out of the norm. Publix as well as Winn Dixie are grocers who use “Go Green” recyclable bag. Both…
In 2012, Americans alone produced over 250 million tons of garbage. One large component of this waste consisted of oil based plastic bags, which are utilized excessively by grocers, restaurants, and stores nationwide. In order to reduce this source of waste, many countries are banning plastic bags or taxing customers for their use. Utilizing at least two scholarly sources, discuss at least two environmental problems caused by such extensive plastic bag use? If you were in charge what plan might you propose to reduce or eliminate their use? Discuss the economic impacts of implementing your plan versus the financial impacts of making no change in our current use.…
In Katherine Mangu-Ward’s article, “Plastic Bags are Good for You” she argues that plastic bags are better than paper bags because they’re cheaper for stores to distribute, they can hold items that are twice its own weight, and they can be used for other household necessities. Mangu-Ward makes reasonable points and provides a lot of information in her article, but she does not have reliable sources that supports her claims. Also she does not cite the sources she is getting her information from. The organization of her article is not successful, and the language she uses throughout the article is not effective.…
There are many communities, groups and people spend their time advocating how plastic bags damage the environment. For instance, Californians Against Waste, a non-profit organization founded in 1977, strives to prevent pollution and protect California’s environment many years. They sponsored and help complete almost all of California’s predominant recycling legislations. Recently, they have succeeded in contributing in exposing the plastic bag ban in public. They will keep on preventing plastic bags pollution, and they want to make sure the ban will be effective in California State. Not only do people stop producing plastic bags will impact the economy, the pollution they produce will also affect the economy. California Agasint Waste concludes that single-use plastic bags cost taxpayers money to clean up. They state that California spends around $34.2 million to $107 million every year to prevent people from littering plastic bags into the waters (“The Problem with Plastic Bags”). It is weird that people spend the money producing plastic bags to earn more; at the same time, they spend money again dealing with their disposal. Such huge amount of money can be invested into other fields to make society better, such as inventing new materials to decompose plastic bags faster. However, people are indifferent to the disastrous effect. Overall, there are hundreds of groups gather together to…
BAN THE BAG BEFORE ITS TOO LATE” is an article that was published in the Daily Chronicle on the 27th of May 2008. The article stresses the negative impact that plastic bags are having on the Australian Environment and that the Government needs to make an immediate change. The article is targeted towards the general public, particularly those who have an interest in the environment, animals and battling pollution.…
If proposition 67 was implemented then it would eliminate the use of plastic bags completely in California. Several counties in California have already adopted this proposition and it has already been in effect for about a year. However, according to Ballotpedia, if this proposition is passed then California would be the first state to ban the sale of plastic single-use bags. Instead, Californians will have the option to use reusable bags and recycled paper bags with a minimum fee of 10 cents. Products that are exempt from this proposition are meat, bread, and other items that can spoil quickly. The goal of proposition 67 is to protect ocean and wildlife, reduce litter, and reduce the costs of cleanup. The fiscal impact this proposition would…
First, there is no mechanism or law to reinforce the use of reusable bags. For example, local governments seem reluctant to develop policy that will discourage the use of plastic bags. In order to reduce the impact of plastic bags, local governments must take some measure that will discourage the use of plastic bags. For example, in Singapore, Shoppers needing a plastic bag are encouraged to donate 10 cents towards the Singapore Environment Council to help finance its environmental activities. Shoppers are also encouraged to decline bags when making small purchases ( Civil Service College, 2014). Second, most supermarkets still provide plastic bags at no cost. Third, there is a lack of public awareness on the impact of plastic bags on the environment. As most of the participants noted during the our campaign. In response to this, I wrote a poem about the impact of plastic…
Plastic bags have been used on a daily basis since 1977 (Williamson, 2003) as a means of carrying items such as groceries as they are not only convenient but also cheap. However, the over-use of plastic bags has posed significant threats to the environment in recent times as they are non-biodegradable and also a threat to wildlife. The primary reason for this concern is that plastics bags are not re-used, but simply disposed of in landfills. These problems have both social and environmental impacts that are of global concern. This essay will begin by illustrating the problems associated with plastic bags, followed by the various ways in which society can hope to resolve this dilemma.…
In Canada, the Toronto City Council voted to ban plastic bags, beginning January 1, 2013. Toronto city council voted on June 6, 2012, to ban plastic bags effective January 1, 2013, and to scrap the city 's five-cent bag fee starting July 1, 2012.[107] Industry groups have convinced city officials to include a grace period between January 1, 2013, and June 30, 2013, when no fines, only warnings, can be issued.[108] The bag ban and five cent fee (six cents with HST) have both been overturned as of November 28, 2012 and it 's up to individual retailers if they want to charge for plastic bags.[109] Most stores, with the exception of a few national retailers do not…
Did you know that we generate 21.5 million tons of food residuals annually? That’s a lot of wasted food. But according to greenwaste.com, if this food waste were composted instead of being sent to landfills, the resulting reduction in greenhouse gas emissions would be equivalent to taking more than two million cars off the road. We all have learned about the importance of recycling cans, bottles, and paper but food waste has been overlooked until recently. On October 21, 2009, San Francisco made it illegal to throw orange peels, coffee grounds and grease-stained pizza boxes in the trash. I believe that this ordinance to help reduce waste is positive and should be considered in other major cities. First, I’d like to talk to you about what exactly the law is and how it is enforced. Second, I want to discuss the benefits of compost recycling. And last I want to talk about how other major cities can adopt this type of recycling to reduce their own waste.…
Thousands and thousands of people are shopping in grocery stores each day using either plastic or paper bags. They think of it as something that just holds their items. What they don’t know is how much it harms our environment. So the question is which is better?…
Some businesses have stopped offering their customers plastic bags, and many communities are either considering a ban on plastic bags or have already implemented one.…
A few months ago, when I was in Montreal, I was surprised to see that in some grocery stores plastics bags were sold. It is something new because two years ago when I lived in this city, they were free. Now, people need to bring their own reusable bags or buy a plastic bag for 20 cents. Banning grocery plastics bags in Montreal is the city plan as well as some cities in the United States already doing. The aim of this new recycling program is to protect the environment. I believe that recycling is not always effective in some aspects, but it is still the first step that people can do to fight earth’s contamination.…
North Americans make up only eight percent of the world’s population, yet they produce half of the world’s waste and consume one-third of the earth’s resources. Clearly, Canadians need to reduce their waste in order for the entire world to benefit. For this reason, countries like Italy have illegalized disposable plastic bags and have replaced them with biodegradable fabric and paper bags; this would be a successful policy to implement in Canada as well. In one year alone, 500 billion to 1 trillion bags are made each year; in the United States (US) alone, 12 million barrels of oil are required each year in order to make these bags. Not only would banning plastic bags decrease waste, it would lower carbon dioxide emissions as well. Another way to reduce garbage production in Canada would be to use biodegradable, all natural packaging. Companies such as Sunchips use 100 percent biodegradable, earth-friendly packaging which definitely benefits Canada, as well as the earth as a whole. In fact, a plastic bottle takes around 450 years to decompose, glass takes one to two million years to decompose, and Styrofoam will never decompose. Evidently, through using environmentally-friendly packaging, Canada’s waste would decrease dramatically. Lastly, using Canadian tax payer dollars to fund more recycling would be of great value in order to reduce waste. In fact, only one percent of government spending goes to environmental causes; this goes to prove that Canada needs to…
Nowadays, many billions of plastic bags have been using every year, and it seems to be increased more and more. According to Noland (2013), in the UK, the number of plastic has risen up to 5.4% in 2010 to 2011. Another statistic illustrates that 90 percent of plastic bags do not be reused or recycled (Bobby, 2013). This shows that people do not care much about the effect of plastic bags. Therefore, the government should intervene to solve this problem: to introduce a charge for plastic bags.…