INTRODUCTION
The explosion of technology, though makes our lives smooth and comfortable, also bring with it certain disasters. The disaster is made by the users of the technology-the human beings. It is our behavior which affects the environment. It may be global warming, depletion of natural resources, seasonal uncertainties, or serious health problems, we are responsible in some or the other way to make it happen. Here comes the question, how informed, sensible and responsible we are as consumers? We are least bothered about our behavior, causing more harm to our planet. Unless we engage ourselves in ecologically oriented or pro-environmental behavior, we are on the way to perish. The protection of the physical environment requires a
…show more content…
Plastic bags have advantages and disadvantages when compared to alternatives such as paper bags,cloth/jute bags and cardboard boxes. The durability, strength, low cost, water and chemicals resistance, welding properties, lesser energy and heavy chemicals requirements in manufacture, fewer atmosphere emmisions and light weight are advantages of plastic bags. Plastic polymers including poly bags, bottles, foam cups, pipes, toys, TV and PC cases and more, account for about 20 percent (by volume) of landfill space. However, non-biodegradable bags fill landfill sites and make for long-lasting litter, which in particular is dangerous to wildlife away from centers of human population, due mostly to virgin resin cheap price when compared to other flexible packagings and this low price tend to be under-enthusiastic to recyclers.
Plastic Waste Management in India
Plastic goods after completion of their useful life find their way into waste. The phenomenal growth of plastics and their consumption in terms of products of short and intermediate life span have resulted in significant generation of waste.
Separation of waste at home has been met with an enthusiastic response. Rolf Annenberg, former Director General of the Swedish
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
Although plastic bags, as well as paper bags, can be recycled in order to postpone running out of resources, the creation and destruction of the plastic releases CO2 or (Carbon Dioxide) into the air damaging the Earth’s atmosphere along with all the other horrific machinery emitting the same toxic and harmful gas. This is more popularly known as “Plastic Pollution”, one of the biggest causes of climate change. “An estimated 12 million barrels of oil are used to manufacture the 30 million plastic bags that Americans use each year.” (Durkin, 1 bag at a time) Factories creating and destroying these plastic bags have the some of the highest rates of CO2 emission. No matter how the plastic bag is disposed of, either way it will end up releasing the catastrophic chemicals that are killing our planet.
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
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
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].
It cannot be denied that, in at least some areas, the invention and progression of technology has benefitted the human race. With the growing industrialization of the world in the last centuries the lives of many people have been made easier. But, this growth of technology is not without its consequences and people are not without their concerns. While industrialization has had its benefits, the environmental cost of this progress is immense, and the impact it has on nature can be hard to swallow. It may seem like talk of the environment is something to be left to scientists or activists specializing in that particular field, but they are
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
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.
Along with carrying groceries, plastic bags carry environmental problems; banning them is necessary. Plastic bags that are less than 50 microns thick (excluding plastic bags used for hygienic reasons) should be banned. First of all, plastic bags contribute to pollution an extortionate amount. In fact, over 40,000 plastic bags were found at Canadian shorelines in the past year. This number could be heavily reduced if plastic bags were banned. Plastic bags have been found in tree lines and can clog up sewers and cause flooding. If plastic bags weren’t so readily available, they wouldn’t be littering streets and getting caught up in trees. Plastic bag pollution is definitely not limited to land. All over the world, plastic bags have ended up in oceans, lakes, and rivers. Fish are meant for oceans, yet studies show that by 2050 there will be more plastic in the ocean than fish. Canadian plastic bags have been found all the way in Scotland. This means Canada’s plastic bag problem is not limited to its territorial boundaries. Plastic bag pollution is very high because of the amount of plastic bags Canadians use. Canadians use 15 billion plastic bags a year, enough to circle the earth over 55 times! Because Canadians use so many plastic bags and don't recycle them, pollution has become a greater problem.
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
Introduction: Have you ever wanted to help the environment, but you just didn’t know how? When we go shopping we see a lot of people carrying bags made of plastic. I must admit; plastic bags can be very convenient at times, but the use of plastic bags has it disadvantages. If you knew about the dangers of the use of plastic bags, then I'm sure you will think twice about using plastic bags and use tote bags instead.
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.