What’s So Bad About Plastic Bags? Plastic bags are not biodegradable. They clog waterways, spoil the landscape, and end up in landfills where they may take 1,000 years or more to break down into ever smaller particles that continue to pollute the soil and water. Plastic bags also pose a serious danger to birds and marine mammals that often mistake them for food. Thousands die each year after swallowing or choking on discarded plastic bags. Finally, producing plastic bags requires millions of gallons of petroleum that could be used for transportation or heating.
Consider a Personal Ban on Plastic Bags Some businesses have stopped offering their customers plastic bags, and many communities are either considering a ban on plastic
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Article 2 Definition of Terms
Section 3. Definition of Terms - For the purposes of this Act:
(a) Agricultural waste shall refer to waste generated from planting or harvesting of crops, trimming or pruning of plants and wastes or run-off materials from farms or fields;
(b) Bulky wastes shall refer to waste materials which cannot be appropriately placed in separate containers because of either its bulky size, shape or other physical attributes. These include large worn-out or broken household, commercial, and industrial items such as furniture, lamps, bookcases, filing cabinets, and other similar items;
(c) Bureau shall refer to the Environmental Management Bureau;
(d) Buy-back center shall refer to a recycling center that purchases of otherwise accepts recyclable materials from the public for the purpose of recycling such materials;
(e) Collection shall refer to the act of removing solid waste from the source or from a communal storage point;
(f) Composting shall refer to the controlled decomposition of organic matter by micro-organisms, mainly bacteria and fungi, into a humus-like product;
(g) Consumer electronics shall refer to special waste that includes worn-out, broken, and other discarded items such as radios, stereos, and
Since we already discussed electronics recycling, this consideration is for the waste management of municipal solid waste (MSW) – or everyday items. MSW is the everyday things we use and throw out in the office. This can include items such as packaging, grass clippings, old furniture, bottles, food scraps, and batteries. According to the EPAs annual report on MSW, Americans throw away about 4.3 pounds of waste per person, every day. Preventing waste should be considered as well as recycling and composting.
Wasting is something we’re all fond of doing; it has become a very popular issue in my city. Whether arising from lack of time to consume, or greed driven. The council is stopping land fill, and having household waste collected in groups i.e. Glass, metal, food waste, plastic and paper. This assures quick delivery to recycling plants to be materially
Fish and birds could be harmed from accidentally eating the plastic particles, or absorbing substances that leach out into the water. The main problem is the accessibility to freshwater organisms that can be easily confused as natural food.
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?
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
First of all, with a ban on plastic bags, it will encourage people to use reusable bags. Reusable bags has a benefit to not only you, but also the environment around us. Some shops charge people for plastic bags, but gives money to you when you shop with a reusable bag. This means that not only are you helping the environment, you are also saving a large amount of money. Also, you
Do you know that it will take 1000 years for a plastic bag to decompose? Our world is the most friendly planet for human beings and every other living thing. We should never take our planet for granted because there is no other like this one and in order for us to keep our planet safe and sound, we should get rid of plastic bags. The other most effective way to keep our planet safe is to recycle every plastic bottle that we used. Every plastic product should not be thrown to the garbage because plastic bottles will take several decades to decompose in soil.
Plastic bags begin as crude oil, natural gases, or other petrochemical derivatives. By some estimates almost 12 million barrels of petroleum oil are used to make 100 billion plastic bags. One solution is to stop using plastic bags. Plastic bag bans are spreading across the country with over 100 community bag bans across 16 states. Hawaii right now is the only state in the nation to adopt a full statewide ban. Internationally,19 countries from Bangladesh to Ireland have passed bans. Reducing plastic bag usage and shoppers to use reusable bags will help decrease our demand for a new fossil fuel and reduce our environmental impact. As a nation we need to begin to move away from the concepts of single use and waste. Plastic is made from oil.
Summers’ facts and examples in this article to support his claim that banning plastic bags would be bad. A fact that he uses in his article is that the bill would have prohibited grocery stores and convenience stores at least $2 million in gross annual sales. People often debate that plastic bags hurt the planet and marine life. However, according to the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency, plastic bags, sacks, and wraps make up about 1.6 percent of all solid waste materials. Out of that little percent, high-density polyethylene (HDPE) bags, the most common plastic grocery bag, only make up about 0.3 percent of them.
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
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
The EPA originally defined solid waste in the Resource Conservation and Recovery Act as “any garbage, refuse, sludge from a waste treatment plant, water supply treatment plant, or air pollution control facility and other discarded material....”, and later adjusted its definition to include mining by-products and recycled materials. The American Mining Association felt that the EPA had superseded its boundaries by altering the RCRA’s original definition of solid waste.
- Plastic storage bags can kill animals in the oceans like dolphins, turtles and whales. It is easy for wildlife to swallow and eventually causes death.
Using these plastic bags are increasing the dangers of thing that are happening in the world.
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.