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Negative externalities of plastic bags
Conclusion for banning plastic bags
Negative externalities of plastic bags
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Plastic bags are used around the world by the billions. Approximately 380 billion plastic bags are used in the Unite States alone every year. In the city of Brownsville the plastic ban ordinance became effective on January 5, 2011. Therefore according to former Mayor Pat Ahumada, the ban has eliminated 350,000 bags per day. The litter problem resulting from plastic bag usage is becoming increasingly difficult and has costly negative consequences.
Therefore, with the information and research obtained it is acceptable to say that banning bags is a good idea overall. The banning of plastic bags will help the environment tremendously. According to statistics it takes an estimated 12 million barrels of oil to make as many bags as we use. Thousands of marine animals and more than 1 million birds die each year as a result of plastic bag pollution. It is said that even when plastic bags photo-degrade in landfill, the plastic never goes away, and that toxic particles can enter the food chain when unsuspecting animals ingest them. Yes, banning plastic bags seems like a great idea reading ...
Cities, towns, streets, everything has plastic litter all about and this too has repercussions. Source F tells us that there is a multitude of litter and plastic bags are the most easily spread. Plastic bags are light so they can be blown all about and can get stuck on things such as streets and fences. Since plastic bags are so versatile in their spreading Source B tells us that they can often clog drainage systems causing floods later on. Causing problems for us as humans, a bigger reason why plastic bags should be removed or banned. Generally plastic lying all about can really make an area look horrendous. Source C reports a high amount of plastic items. With all this junk lying about it makes our cities and beaches look dirty and ragged. What better motivation to get of plastic when it hurts us as humans. Plastic bags cause way too much problems compared to their ability to aid
The article Plastic bags are Good for you, by Katherine Mangu-Ward was written to explore the pro’s and con’s of three different types of bags. Which is better between plastic, paper, or reusable bags has always been a debatable question with an opinionated answer. In the article Mangu-Ward characterizes the cause and effect relationships which have lead to the unpopularity of plastic bags in terms of guilt.
Which means their obviously bad for the aquatic marine life environment & are cause many different forms of damage for them & us as one. On p.g. 23 of The New York Times upfront magazine “Birds,fish, sea turtles, & others are getting tangled in plastic bags or mistake them for food & choke”. Someone else might argue that they could the plastic bags in landfills instead of oceans. But that counter- argument is flawed because you’re just polluting by burning plastic which is bad on our part we’re not doing our part to support & taking care of the earth. Plastic in the ocean isn't just bad for plants & animals but for humans too because of the food chain some of us eat animals as a meat source such as aqua marine life like fish. If the fishermen catch fish that have been eating plastic then it's in our food supply if we eat that fish it's gonna be bad for us so many will end up getting sick from the plastic inside of the fish then what will we do our aqua marine food supply will go down the drain we couldn’t eat the fish since it's basically contaminated with plastic that we’re dumping there instead of trying to fix it & getting rid of plastic bags for good for the good of the earth. We’re causing damage towards the earth by dumping all that plastic into the ocean which damages our water supply it’ll poison us although we clean the water it depends on how big the plastic particles are, it’ll make us sick & sense it’s been lying in the oceans could bring in new pathogens &
Melanie Scruggs recently wrote an article titled “Cost will be too great if Houston doesn’t recycle” about the dangers that Houston may face if they continue to put recycling as a top priority. I believe that Melanie Scruggs does an amazing job describing the issues that we are facing and poses an effective argument on why we should recycle. Melanie Scruggs graduated from the University of Texas at Austin, and she was awarded a Plan 11 Honors degree. (TCE 1) Melanie then joined the TCE in 2012 and she served as a organizer, field manager, program staff member, and a program director. Melanie then moved back to Houston around 2013 where she now serves on the board of the Houston Clean City Commission, the League of Women Voters, as well as the Houston Peace and Justice Center.
Every year, an estimated 8 million tons of plastic waste enters our environment, severely polluting oceans, beaches, forests, and even the towns and cities we live in. In the ocean alone, it is believed that 5.25 trillion pieces of plastic pollutes the waters (“Plastic Statistics”, Ocean Crusaders).The majority of plastic pollution can be traced back to single-use items, such as grocery bags, bottles, and plastic packaging. According to United Nations Environment, “At the rate we are dumping items such as plastic bottles, bags and cups after a single use, by 2050 oceans will carry more plastic than fish…” (“UN Declares War on Ocean Plastic”, UN Environment). This pollution is a major problem and endangers not only the environment, but human
Since paper bag manufacturing requires the use of a large amount of wood. That could lead to deforestation, loss of animal habitats, soil erosion and increase of temperature in the atmosphere. When people do think about the pros and cons of the type of bag, they are usually limited to thinking about cost and ease in use. Plastic bags are cheaper to make by 85 percent than paper bags, and they are also much lighter and can carry up to 1000 times their weight. This is not the true cost that comes along with the production of plastic bags though, the true cost is our health and environment. Plastic bags require 1.62 lbs. of petroleum to make a thousand bags (Interplase.com, 2015). Petroleum is not only a scarce source of nonrenewable energy, but its thermal capacity escalates the greenhouse effect, making our atmosphere unwantedly warmer. When paper bags are deposited into the environment, wither on water or on land, it takes very little time to degrade and leaves no harmful trace, while plastic breaks apart but does not disappear and slowly accumulates in soil. This delays the uptake of water by plants and many land animals to choke and die on it. Though plastic bags may be much more appropriate in its strength, looks and cost. On the contrary, lives should be a priority over money and
In larger cities such as New York City and Cleveland, Ohio, there are trash police, also called the green police. The local governments of several larger cities have placed computer chips on recycling and trash bins. These computer chips allow the government to monitor and observe who is participating and to what extent with the recycling. Some cities use the chips to figure out areas of the community that have low recyc...
Paper and Mesh Bags. Purchaser packs of potatoes and onions are about the main create things now gathered in paper sacks. The more tough work pack has significantly more extensive utilize. Notwithstanding potatoes and onions, cabbage, turnips, citrus, and some claim to fame things are gathered in work packs. Sweet corn may at present be bundled in work sacks in a few markets.
Plastic or paper, is a choice that people face when going to the grocery stores. Plastic bags are often the choice that is made. A controversial issue in the world today is the use of plastic bags. Plastic bags are used because of the convenience they give, by being able to carry several items at once. However, in the article, “Banning Bans, Not Bags”, Jennifer Schultz claims, “Plastic bags clog up local waterways, litter roadways, and get swallowed up by unsuspecting fish” (6). Plastic bags are used once, then are discarded or, littered all over the place. When they are littered all over they become problems for more than just humans. These plastic bags pose a big hazard for animals on land and in especially the ocean. Humans eat land and
Though plastic waste has been a nagging problem for civic authorities, with thousands of tonnes of garbage generated
This essay will discuss the various harmful effects of plastic bags, and demonstrate the risks that these bags impose on humans, animals, and the environment. It will also discuss a series of suggested solutions that could help reduce plastic bag usage. Although plastic bags appear to be fragile and light, their negative environmental effect is devastating. Plastic bags may cause large amounts of pollution at every step of their limited life cycle, from the extraction of raw materials, production, transportation, and recycling or disposal. Plastic bags can be defined as the most damaging form of environmental pollution.
Many people jump to the conclusion that paper bags are better for the environment without knowing the facts. Since plastic bags are preferred by customers and plastic bags actually do not hurt the environment as much as paper ones do, consumers should feel at ease when choosing plastic. Plastic bags are less harmful to the environment than paper bags because it takes more water to make paper bags, it takes more energy to make them, and the resources to make paper bags are limited. The misconception is that only paper can be used.
made from oil and natural gas. Using plastics to replace packaging materials such as metal
In the 1870’s, plastic was discovered in the United States when John Wesley Hyatt was trying to create a different material to make billiard balls (Manrich, 3). Little did he know it would majorly evolve into material we use everyday. However, plastics are now taking over our landfills. The average American throws away one-hundred and eighty-five pounds of plastic a year (Popescu, 121). The answer to decrease this statistic is easy: recycling. I believe that recycling will help eliminate littering and the growth of landfills, while also creating jobs for the unemployed. Not only does recycling plastic help eliminate littering, but also reuses the plastic so there is not a production of additional unneeded plastics. The
Saillant, Catherine. "L.A. Starts 2014 with Its New Plastic-bag Ban." Los Angeles Times. Los Angeles Times, 31 Dec. 2013. Web. 14 Mar. 2014.