A Report On India 's ' The Garden Where Plastic Bags '

Plastic's end of life cycle involves being discarded, either recycled for reuse or dumped into a landfill or the ocean. Recycling's popularity has significantly grown since the 1970's, as well as the overall number of plastic products being produced. In addition, the amount of plastic products being created as significantly increased over the past 60 years. Due to the endurance of polymers, plastic is filling up landfills faster than it should and invading our natural habitats. Recycling is one of the most critical things we can do for our environment. It can cut down on the amount of plastic in landfills as well. Recycling plastic reduces the need to create more plastic, which also cuts down on oil use and pollutants being released into the air. In the time that recycling has become more popular, technology has advanced to create more job

The author proves the falsehood of the long known assumption that plastic is a threat to our planet. By citing the research done by the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, the author convinces his readers that not only are plastic bags not harmful as people think, but also beneficial. This surprises his audience and shows them how exaggerated the cries of environmentalists, which gets the readers wondering what else have they falsely believed in and what other information are paper-bags advocates hiding from them, and that pulls them into the argument and intrigues them further. Additionally, Summers lists the harmful consequences of using reusable bags by presenting research results and observations. This alarms the audience and raises concern in their

Since 1985, America has used plastic bags due to them being waterproof and having handles making them easier to carry goods. Paper and plastic have always been a huge controversy in supermarkets through the preference of customers. Some customers prefer having the paper bags standing up straight in the trunks of their cars. Other customers prefer the plastic bags because of the handles making it easier to walk home and carry their goods. Although both preferences are fine, all customers know the dangers of the plastic bag. Banning plastic bags from stores and replacing them with only paper or reusable bags, will reduce corruption of organic products, reduce CO2 emissions from the creation and destruction of the plastic and prevent harm

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.

According to ecowatch.com, all the plastic humans added up thrown away added up can circle the Earth four times. This is around 500 billion plastic bags, and most of them end up on landfill sites. The plastic bags in landfills usually lay there for over 300 years until they are completely photodegraded, or decomposed by the light, especially sunlight. During the process of being photodegraded, the plastic bags break down into small toxic particles that are either released into the air, or into the soil. These small toxic particles contaminate many different things such as soil and waterways. Since it is in the soil and waterways, animals often come and end up eating these dangerous toxic particles. Some supermarkets use biodegradable bags that are said to be “environment friendly,” but that is a total lie. According to an article about plastic bag pollution by Sharon Jacobsen, it says, “...the truth is that the process of breaking down these petrol based bags causes carbon to become methane which is a greenhouse gas.” Greenhouse gases are very dangerous to the environment since it causes temperature increase around the whole entire globe. Therefore, in conclusion, neither plastic bags or so-called “environment friendly” bags are good for the environment all around us, and we should not use them. Instead, we should use reusable

It’s a hot summer day and you’re enjoying your nice, cold, refreshing soda from a plastic bottle. You notice a blue bin labeled for plastic recycling and go to chuck it in however you may want to think twice before you do. Everyone has been told time and time again by teachers, peers, and family alike to recycle once in their life. It’s commonly accepted that recycling materials like paper, glass, and plastics will help our environment and our health. However recycling plastics is far more bad than good to both our health and the environment. Recycling plastics is harmful to the environment and human health and we must find a more responsible way to use plastics, recycle them, or do away with them.

People would say that plastic in landfills would just stay there and if we keep on using plastic the waste problem would just worsen. I think that the problem here is why do people put plastics in landfills mixed with biodegradable materials. There are ways to properly recycle plastic. This comes to my third argument for why plastic beats paper. It is better because we could change its physical shape to things we really need. Richard Stein, from the University of Massachusetts, stated that plastics could be melted and formed into different structures such as propellers for wind turbines, food containers and many more [3]. Imagine being able to reuse plastic as long as the quality of it can still be recyclable, but if it isn’t anymore, Richard Stein also suggested that plastic could be converted to energy by burning it since it is made of petroleum [3].

The average American creates about one hundred-thirty pounds of trash a month, and an article in the journal Nature estimates that global solid-waste generation will triple, to eleven million tons a day, by the year 2100 (Semuels). Plastic does not break down; it’s not biodegradable nor does it

Australians approximately use 6.9 billion plastic bags per year (Errata Nolan ITU, 2002). The high consumption of plastic bags highlights one outstanding issue. The adverse impact, consumption and disposal of plastic bags have towards the environment. This involves the resources used to make

43% of the plastic is wasted on a global scale by being disposed of in landfills where all it does it

“Americans use more than 100 billion thin plastic bags every year.”(Pickert, 11). This number is extremely large and needs to be addressed, however, the alternative needs to be environmentally friendly. Reusable tote bags have been the answer in most Americans eyes, this is evident through grocery stores selling them and in certain cities requiring one to have to pay for plastic bags. Reusable bags can be made from a various variety of materials, but cotton is one of the most popular. “One study found that a cotton tote must be used at least 131 times to be better for than planet than plastic.”(Pickert,11).The reality is that these cotton tote bags usually do not get used that many times before they are thrown out. This is because the bags are made with very inexpensive materials . The argument is that because the bags are reusable means they're better which is not the case, because once it is time to thrown away the bag justs sit in landfills. “Production of tote bags commonly marketed as sustainable actually had an environmental impact many times larger than that of a standard plastic HDPE

As the United States deals with the overwhelming amounts of waste building up, Nitin et al explain that “plastics take anywhere from 15 to 1000 years to biodegrade” once they are discarded (Nitin). Changes in recycling methods can no longer keep up with the exorbitant amount of waste produced in the United States. This is why some states choose to take their initiative one step further by placing either fees or a ban on the use of plastic bags. Due to the enormous waste the United States produces on a daily basis and the negative outcomes of this trash including adverse health effects, harmful impacts on nature, and the exponential piling of trash in landfills, the US government should ban plastic bags.

Plastic bags cause a massive amount of pollution to the earth. It lets out lots of CO2 into the air with the production of it. CO2 is a greenhouse gas that if let out too much at one time can hurt the planet. Not only do plastic bags produce pollution while being made, but also when they are decomposing. Plastic bags go on to last for up to 10-1000 years. That is possibly 1000 years that a plastic bag goes on to add the huge amount of trash in the world. Although plastic bags take so long to decompose they do eventually break down. Exposure to a lot of sunlight and wind will also speed up the process of the decomposition of plastic bags. The breaking down of plastic bags seems like a good thing, however it is the complete opposite. Plastic bags are broken down into microscopic particles that are toxic. Those toxic particles then go on to hurt the environment. An articles states, “They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them.”. This goes to show that those

Five hundred billion used globally and one hundred billion of them end up in U.S. landfills, taking about one thousand years to decompose, but only 5.2 percent were recycled (Borrud, 2007, p.75).-These are the figures plastic bags have produced every year. Human beings invented plastic bags for the convenience of carriers and packers. However, just as other great inventions, say, nuclear energy and biotechnology, plastic bags are causing serious issues like global warming, environment pollution and energy consumption. They are gradually becoming sword towards ourselves. In responding to this problem, the city of San Francisco has become the trail blazer to prohibit non-biodegradable plastic bags in its large supermarkets and pharmacies.

No. Supervisors 1 1 2 2 3 Certificate Project work qualifies for submission 4 Approval of the Supervisor Approved/Rejected/Needs Revision 5 Signature of the Supervisor/s Department of Civil Engineering, Delhi Technological University, Delhi, India Abstract We are familiar with the problems that our environment face due to plastics, as these consumes massive energy and other natural resources, depleting the environment in various ways. Moreover, their disposal has always been a constant headache and problem for the society. But plastic’s usage can’t be completely ostracized as it will result in depletion of other natural resources like paper, wood at great extent.