The Environmental Effects Of Plastic Shopping Bags

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

Furthermore, the Shore Protection Act is applicable to the transportation of municipal and commercial waste in coastal waters aiming to minimize debris from being deposited into coastal waters from inadequate waste handling procedures by waste transporting vessels (Laws That Protect). The Center for Biodiversity had petitioned the EPA to

Associated quantification of the environmental impacts When evaluating the environmental impact of polyethylene we need to take into consideration the input materials, and the amount of energy and emissions/wastes generated by the production processes. Although polyethylene presents fewer environmental hazards than other polymers, its production requires both hydrocarbons and chlorine; chlorine makes plastic’s impact on the environment even greater that it would if only hydrocarbons were required (Frosch & Gallopoulos, 1989). The use of non-renewable resources, chlorine and the energy-intensive nature of the production cycle itself together with the worldwide large-scale production of polyethylene and derivates, approximately 80 million metric tons per year (Piringer & Baner, 2008), make the environmental and human safety impact of polyethylene significant.

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

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.

“Bag It” Documentary Review Every time my family and I go grocery shopping we end up having numerous plastic bags after unloading the food. For the most part we save these bags, keeping them underneath the sink in case we need to use them for something else later on.  However, we have done such a great job at saving these bags that they have begun to take up space. As such we have recently started throwing most of them in the garbage.  After watching the Bag It documentary in my English class I begin to realize how much plastic we actually end up throwing away just in these plastic bags, and how wasteful it is.

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

General Purpose: To Persuade 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.

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

The Plastic Bag Takeover 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

Hinton 1 Bridgette Hinton Professor Ouwehand English 110/120 MW 2:20 Research Paper 16 April 2012 Essay III How Plastic Pollution is Out of Control Many individuals underestimate the amount of plastic we use each day. According to the article “Plastic Bags Wars”, “the world consumes 1 million plastic shopping bags every minute”. Plastic bags, along with many other types of plastics, have become a leading source of pollution worldwide (Doucette). Captain Charles Moore, founder of the Algalita foundation states that we use two million plastic bottles in the United States every five minutes. Discovered by Charles Moore in 1997, the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch” is a prime example of the amount of plastic pollution that enters the

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.

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.