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.…
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.…
Often times, there are debates surrounding controversial environmental issues, such as global warming, deforestation and nuclear power. But then, there is little or no public debate on the impact of plastic bags on the environment. Plastic bags kill tens of thousands of animals every year. In the marine environment plastic bag litter is lethal, killing tens of thousands of birds, whales, seals and turtles every year as they often mistake plastic bags for food such as jellyfish (planetark, 2015). Various experts estimate that up to a million birds and 100,000 marine mammals are killed each year from plastic debris including bags (One Green Planet, 2015). It is estimated that between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year ( One Green Planet, 2015). This means that plastic bags is serious environmental issue. Given this, we as sustainability leaders should start to think of a way to trigger some public debate on this issue. Sustainability is about…
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.…
Plastic has an abundant amount of uses in daily life. Whether someone knows it or not, plastic is prevalent in everyday objects: containers, computer screens, and even DVDs. One of the main uses of plastic is in bags, and people use them for everything, from carrying lunch to lugging groceries. Although they are an ingenious invention, there are also many negative effects associated with plastic bags, as they are not biodegradable. These types of bags are made from natural gas and petroleum and plastic bags crowd landfills and pollute oceans and lakes (Cho). This pollution takes away from the beauty of the outdoors and the greatness of a city. Many states and nations have a ban on plastic bags, should Michigan do the same? Michigan should ban…
Plastic bags are made from thermoplastic which is made from oil. China has banned the use of plastic bags and has reduced the amount of oil consumption by 37 million barrels of oil yearly. If the United States would do the same it could lessen the oil consumption it has and the dependency they have for foreign oil. When plastic photo degrade they break down to a toxic petro-polymers and eventually find their way into the soil and water ways contaminating them. These microscopic particles enter the food chain and then enter us from the food we eat. It takes $4000.00 to recycle just one ton of plastic bags that can be sold only for $32.00…
The plastic bag pollution effects animals who swim and feed there self in the ocean. Plastic bags tend to disrupt the environment in a serious…
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…
Plastic bags are very common in this modern world and have been used widely in our daily life especially in shopping purposes. Due to its highly convenient, cheap and strong features, plastic bags appeal to many people either customers or the seller as the most effective way in delivering goods (such as foods) from the store to home (Kinnon, 2008). Although plastic bags are very convenient to use, there are several drawbacks that come from the usage of it mainly towards the environment and social aspect and this is getting worsen with the overuse of it. From this, plastic bags are being questioned whether the usage of it should…
In his essay “Bag Ban Bad for Freedom and Environment,” Adam B. Summers expresses his opinions on the downside of restricting plastic bag usage. Summers effectively conveys his points by using ethos, logos, and pathos.…
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.…
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Amongst the myriad of literature on the issue of plastic bag usage, multiple perspectives have been brought up and discussed. In this critique, I will be highlighting some of these issues discussed and provide my analysis on the article.…