Argumentative Essay: Plastic Bags vs Paper Bags

Plastic – an American-made synthetic material, renowned and praised for its almost indestructible quality and versatility, yet on the contrary has had detrimental consequences on our environment and ourselves. It is quite amazing to observe how plastic has completely changed our way of life. In Susan Freinkel’s book “Plastic: a Toxic Love Story” she writes about the effects of plastic on our world. The author points out, a commonly overlooked fact, that plastic is literally everywhere. Plastic is in the clothes we wear, the cars we drive, the cups we drink from, and sometimes even the ground we walk on. Two chemical bonds made in a laboratory have forever changed the way we live, through small commodities like

Plastic bags users have long received backlash and criticism from the majority of public, seeing as it is a known fact that plastic is harmful to the environment and the planet, but is this actually true?

Plastic pollution is one of today’s most pressing problems, and minimizing the use of straws is a feasible and realistic step in the right direction. Although the problem of pollution is widely understood, the extent of the damage by plastic straws is not as known or acknowledged. Education of children and adults is an integral component of shifting cultural norms and mindsets. With a more informed population, people will be more likely to refuse and forgo plastic utensils. Furthermore, businesses and influential icons play a vital role in this opportunity. Some restaurants give out both a cup and straw as a mere convenience and a no-straw policy implementation in such businesses can make a big difference. By initially targeting coastal areas of the United States to adopt eco-friendly methods, eventually this transition could inspire a nation-wide law to ban plastic straws to globally shift society-environment interactions to sustainability. While eliminating plastic straws entirely is ideal, it is difficult to make an abrupt shift; an attainable solution is to gradually switch to bio-degradable and eco-friendly straws like glass, metal,

Many of these issues however, can be addressed and even resolved in several ways. Nowadays, a number of countries have begun to impose taxes on plastic bag consumption, with few even banning the use of plastic

Due to the proximal ban of plastic bags in California, Adam B. Summers argues the reasons why they should not be banned in his article, “Bag Ban Bad for Freedom and Environment”. In order to build his argument, Summers includes an effective use of factual data and evidence, relating to the audience, and appealing to the audience’s emotion.

According to United Nations Environment Programme, there are approximately 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in every square mile of the ocean! I strongly think that plastic bags should be banned in the whole entire United States. Not only would it encourage people to use reusable bags, it will save many animals, and will prevent toxins from entering into the air.

The claims that plastic bags are worse for the environment over reusable bags are deceitful. Compared to paper bags, plastic grocery bags produce fewer greenhouse gases, require 70 percent less energy to make, generate 80 percent, less waste, and utilize less than 4 percent of the amount of water needed to make them. The reason for this is because plastic bags are lighter and take up less space. Another reason reusable bags aren't as useful is because they are more prone to food contamination if not washed properly. A study found that San Francisco’s plastic bag ban in 2007 resulted in more visits to the hospital from patients suffering E. coli, salmonella, and other infectious diseases from

The objective of this report is to illustrate the effect of the implementation of a plastic bag tax in Australia. By providing a brief overview of issues, correlated with plastic bag consumption in conjunction with current and proposed changes to policies in Australia. Through the application of economic theory, it can determined whether a tax would decrease consumption and through supporting evidence indicating its efficiency when applied in practice.

As you make your way through the check-out line, you began to pay for the items you just purchased. The cashier looks up at you to ask if you want to use paper or plastic bags. You look up not knowing what to say so you immediately pick one without thinking about it. You decided to go with the plastic bags for no reason. Those plastic bags will have two destinations: the garbage or put into another bigger bag for a long period of time to be used as smaller garbage bags. On the other hand paper bags could not only hold more items than plastic bags but they have more uses for them. They could be used to cover textbooks, to start a bon fire, make various storage baskets, as paper to write on when you can’t find anything else, to carry garbage

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" entered the world through chemistry in 1909 and was originally coined to describe Bakelite, the first fully synthetic resin. What make's plastic so unique is when it is heated it can be molded but it retained its shape when cooled (Reddy, 2010). The modern plastic bag was not possible until the accidental discovery of the first industrially practical method of polyethylene synthesis in 1933. Fast forward to today, the use and

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

The resources and things that go into making plastic bags can be used for other important things.

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.

The type of day handbag should you cause the next big vacation? You do not want to haul around something obtrusively large or heavy, nevertheless, you also have to have room for the requirements. The very last thing you want to worry about on holiday has been the victim of pickpocketing or theft, so choosing the bag that will protect your belongings is crucial. We've curved up a set of the best and safest travel day hand bags to help with making that decision process less of the puzzle.