There's logic missing in the battle of bags now raging in the California Legislature. People are tired of flimsy plastic bags hanging around trees or finding bags swimming with the fishes. The majority of the United States has started to create efficient ways to prevent the harmful doings of global warming. California, as a matter of fact, has already started the path towards a cleaner environment, known as proposition 67, where they proposed a ban on plastic bags in an effort to reduce carbon dioxide intake and environmental waste and public stores would charge customers 10 cents per bag. Although the proposal to charge 10 cents for plastic bags may create a state of bacteria-collecting reusable bags, it is the closest step to a cleaner future because it will protect the environment from degradation, prevent global warming, and decrease environmental waste.
Charging 10 cents for a plastic bag may seem silly, however, it is a much bigger concept towards earth’s future, such as degradation. Another iceberg broke off of Antarctica, resulting from warmer ocean waters eroding the icy tongue of Antarctica, leading to higher sea levels, debating whether people should be worried or not. The article, “An iceberg the size of Delaware just broke off of Antarctica”, by The LA Times, entitles, “The iceberg, which at around 1 trillion tons is one of the largest on record, poses no immediate threat to sea levels. But scientists say the break may have altered the profile of the continent’s western peninsula for decades to come and offers a preview of what degradation might do to marine ice shelves”. This quote explains that the iceberg may not raise sea levels, but may offer a preview of degradation. In order to stop anymore icebergs going rogue, bold actions should be taken into place. Therefore, charging 10 cents a bag may be the start of a So yes, maybe charging 10 cents isn’t so silly after all.cleaner future, and an end to a substandard ecosystem.
Global warming is the main concern to earth’s ecosystem. People think it is no big deal, others think it’s just a myth to scare people for their energy hogging ways. People must be thinking, “What do plastic bags have to do with global warming”? Well, as a matter of fact,
Global warming has become an undisputed fact about our current livelihoods; our planet is warming up and we are definitely part of the problem. However, this isn’t the only environmental problem that we should be concerned about. All across the world,
The Global Warming theory has become increasingly popular over the past few years. Citizens of the world are being encouraged to be more environmentally conscious by others including politicians, celebrities, and world organizations. The problem with the theory lies in the fact that it has become more and more controversial as it gains publicity and attention. The basic concept behind this theory is that the earth was made with a balance of “greenhouse gasses”. These gasses are naturally occurring within the atmosphere and they essentially make the planet habitable by keeping it warm.
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
Americans use over 500 million plastic straws every single day—that’s enough to circle the earth’s circumference 2.5 times (Ives et al 2017). By 2050, there will be more plastic debris in the ocean than fish (Kaplan 2016). These staggering statistics are unacceptable and it is our duty to find a realistic, sustainable solution to the issue.
Much of this trash ends up in the ocean harming not only marine life, but us too. However, this is not only happening in America it’s happening all over the world with China at 8.82 million metric tons of mismanaged waste. All this waste if caught in a gyre, can lead to one of the garbage patches. This has been happening since we started using plastic but it the garbage patches were discovered in the early 1990’s. We keep throwing trash away that keeps being misplaced, then it ends up in the oceans with the rest of the trash. I propose multiple solutions, to enforce plastic bag ban and to enforce recycling. California has banned the use of plastic bags, meaning that if you do use them a fine will be put in place. Environment California explained how before the plastic bag ban California used up to 19 billion plastic bags each year with less than five percent being recycled. However, we can change that. By using less plastic bags we harm the ocean less. Another solution is to each week collect each household’s trash, per pound of trash found in the recycling bin provided by the city should be a $11 fine. Tiffany Edmonds, Solid Waste Management Department spokeswoman, explained why they started the fine “ It is an attempt to change behavior. The fine covers the cost of sending a garbage collection truck to the house to pick up the contaminated recycling bin” this will encourage people to recycle. Since the plastic
Each year there is an increase in demands for plastic bags, and therefore more are shipped, creating further environmental pollution concerns. This increase in demand has lead to the phenomenal upsurge in the use and misuse of plastic bags globally, both in developed and developing countries. Statistics show that 4 to 5 trillion plastic bags are produced per annum, whereby North America and Western Europe account for nearly 80% (Geographical, 2005; Reusable Bags, 2005). Cheeseman (2007) states that approximately “380 billion plastic shopping bags are used in the United States annually”; in turn, only 0.6% of this is recycled.
After a bill that would ban plastic bags in California was shot down, Adam B. Summers, author of, “Bag Ban Bad for Freedom and Environment,” explains how plastic bags should not be banned. He uses statistics, ethos, logos and diction to support his claim. Summers uses these devices to create a stronger argument. Summers overall purpose of his passage was to express his view that plastic bags should not be banned and the effects banning or not banning them would have on the environment. By using statistics, Summers creates a more credible argument.
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.
As you can see, banning plastic bags have many benefits for not only you, but also the environment. It will save animals, prevent toxins from entering into the air, and encourage people to use reusable bags. Motherjones.com states, “Californians alone throw away 14 billion (plastic bags) a year, creating 123,000 tons of waste and untold amounts of litter.” So, please ban plastic
To many, plastic bags are seen as malevolent and criminal, and heavy campaigns have been pushed into our communities to ban the use of them and enforce those beliefs, but in actuality, plastic bags aren’t as horrible as we make them out to be for
The upcoming elections is drawing near—thus many people in California are deciding which of the bills should be suitable for it. Out of the propositions, I picked 67 and 63 as they peaks my curiosity. Plastic Bags is constantly being used—only once by many Californians and it’s damaging to wildlife such as animals. Thus, I would vote YES on Proposition 67 because it is time to move away from plastic bags and started focusing on recycled and reusable bags. Even if there’s an increase of sales by .10 cents, should not mean much anyways as many Californian consistently paid multiple taxes anyways. Plastic bags; however, only decompose after 450 years—a handful of extra pennies being charged fails in comparison to the longevity of dangerous materials onto the environment.
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.
Picture this: A person goes out to the store to purchase a couple of necesites. Those necesites then get put into a plastic bag as per usual. They get home and take everything out of the bag. They then trash the bag because it is no longer needed. The plastic bag then ends up in some landfill where it is blown away into the middle of the ocean. The plastic bag then goes on to danger the marine animals. Plastic bags should be banned from stores because there are other ways people can carry their things, they are dangerous to marine animals, and cause pollution.
The concept of global warming has become one of the most widely debated and controversial topics of our time. Scientists learned long ago that the earth’s climate has powerfully shaped the history of humanity. However, it is only in the past few decades that research has revealed that humans have a significant influence on the climate as well. A growing body of scientific evidence indicates that since 1950, the world’s climate has been warming, primarily as a result of emissions from the burning of fossil fuels and the destruction of tropical forests. More importantly, an article titled "Global Warming" published in the New York Times shows that methane, a gas that is emitted from landfills, livestock and oil gas facilities,
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.