Thursday, November 29, 2012
Trading In Plastic for Cloth: The Effects of Plastic Bags
UCID: 10082318
COMS 369 LO3
In 1998, the
country of Bangladesh was stricken with one of the worst floods in its history.
The 60-day flood covered almost two thirds of the entire country and
approximately 1000 people lost their lives. The damages were extensive: “25
million people were left without homes”(Actionaid, 1999); 2 million tonnes of
rice were lost (Actionaid, 1999); “26,000 livestock were lost”(Actionaid, 1999);
20,000 schools and educational facilities got damaged (Actionaid, 1999); and
16, 000 km of roads were flooded (Actionaid, 1999). Although Bangladesh
normally experiences floods, the degree of devastation was substantially larger
then most of the regular floods. The government of Bangladesh concluded that the
main culprit behind the severity of this particular flood is the plastic
shopping bag (“Greener footprints” n.d.). Stray plastic bags had blocked the
main drainage systems all around the country, which caused it to go underwater.
As a result, in 2002, Bangladesh became the first country in the world to ban any sort polythene plastic bags. Instead they promoted the
use of the eco-friendly jute bag. Jute bags are composed of 100% biodegradable
jute fibre (“Jute & Eco Friendly Natural Jute Bags” n.d.) and are highly
reusable. Thus solving Bangladesh’s drainage problem and decreasing the
countries environmental foot print.
Every
year the average Canadian uses and throws away 272 plastic bags. 272 plastic
bags multiplied by the population of Canada results in over 9 billion plastic
bags. Worldwide, nearly 3 trillion bags are produced, used and then thrown
away. Realistically, how long does the average person use a plastic bag? Most
of the time, plastic bags are used for the average span of 5 minutes meant for
transferring groceries to a person’s vehicle, and then to their home. When plastic bags are thrown away, their 5
minutes of use can lead to a 1000-year process called photodegradation because unfortunately
the non-renewable materials found in plastic bags are not biodegradable.
Photodegradation is a chemical reaction of plastic with the natural sunlight.
The sunlight breaks down the toxins found in the plastic into smaller
substances leading to the contamination of nearby soil and water. Plastic bags
can be found in landfills, on the ground and in the oceans. Every day,
livestock and marine animals ingest these toxic contaminants.
The toxins of plastic have been affecting the wildlife in
and out of the water for many years. “More than a million sea birds and 100,000
marine mammals die every year from ingestion of or entanglement in plastics”
(Mueller, 2010). As an example, in 1998 a pelican was found dead in southern
Australia. Upon examination, his cause of death was due to the ingestion of 17
plastic bags. This pelican was named “Pete” and soon became a mascot for the
awareness of plastic in the ocean. His body was preserved and put on display at
Fitzroy Falls, informing new visitors of the cause of his death and severity of
plastic pollution in the ocean ("Planet ark-plactic reduction," 2011).
Today, another tribute to Pete the pelican stands in South Carolina in the form
of a statue. This statue is made entirely out of plastic marine trash; it
represents all the different types of non-biodegradable trash that other
animals like Pete are subjected to on a daily basis.
So what about recycling plastic bags? Although recycling
seems like a solution to the plastic bag problem, there are many downfalls that
come along with it. The amount of heat that is needed to melt the plastic in
the bags consumes a lot of energy. The excessive energy can result in more
pollution in the air. Even though recycling is one
step that consumers can make towards a cleaner environment, there is another
action that can take it one step further.
It would be impossible to boycott all plastic products,
however, there are simple things that we, as commercial consumers, can do to
reduce the negative impact that plastic has on the environment. We can trade
the plastic shopping bags that we gather everyday and trade them in for a
reusable shopping bag. These reusable shopping bags do not necessarily have to
be the jute bags produced in Bangladesh, but they can be simple and durable cloth
bags that we can use over and over again for years. Gradually, people around
the world are beginning to become concerned about the negative consequences of
plastic bags. Countries like Italy, France, and Rwanda have passed laws to completely
ban the production, the distribution and the use of plastic bags. Similarly,
cities like Los Angeles and Mexico City have adopted laws to phase out the use
of the plastic bag and clean up the environment.
I
myself got to experience a plastic bag ban first hand. I grew up in the city of
Fort McMurray and although many people frown upon the city because of the oil
sands, in 2009 the municipality passed a bylaw to ban all single use plastic
shopping bags. At first the transition from plastic to reusable bags was
challenging and many people became frustrated at the law. Either because they
would forget their reusable bags or they wouldn’t want to pay extra money for
new reusable bags. However, after the transition period the majority of the
Fort McMurray population got used to the idea of reusable bags. As examples,
people started adapting to the change by keeping reusable bags in their
vehicles, in their purses and on key chains. The people of Fort McMurray have
gracefully accepted this bag ban.
Today,
even though I find myself in Calgary, a city that has not adopted any laws
about plastic bags, I still carry around reusable bags on my shopping trips. I
continue to use these reusable bags not out of habit, but because of my new
awareness of the negative consequences that plastic bags have on the
environment. I encourage audience members and readers to stop and think the
next time they go shopping. Think of the unintentional floods, think of the
suffering animals, and think of the pollution to the environment. If
individually, every person took the small step to switch from plastic shopping
bags to reusable shopping bags, the flood victims, the inflicted animals and the
environment would thank us.
Resources
Wagner, J. (2012). Health guidance. Retrieved from http://www.healthguidance.org/entry/14901/1/The-Effects-of-Plastic-Bags-on-Environment.html
Greener footprints.
(n.d.). Retrieved from http://www.greenerfootprints.com/plastic-bag-facts/
Actionaid. (1999). After the flood: Official Damage Statistics of Bangladesh Flood 1998. Retrieved from http://relieftweb.int/report/bangladesh/after-the-flood-official-damage-statistics-bangladesh-flood-1998
Jute & ramp; eco friendly natural jute bags. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.alburyenvirobags.com.au/Jute-Story.php
Envirosax. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.envirosax.com/plastic_bag_facts
Mueller, J. (2010). How many marine mammals did your plastic grocery bag kill today. Retrieved from http://www.care2.com/causes/how-many-marine-mammals-did-your-plastic-grocery-bag-kill-today.html
Planet ark-plactic reduction. (2011). Retrieved from http://plasticbags.planetark.org/about/wildlife.cfm
Actionaid. (1999). After the flood: Official Damage Statistics of Bangladesh Flood 1998. Retrieved from http://relieftweb.int/report/bangladesh/after-the-flood-official-damage-statistics-bangladesh-flood-1998
Jute & ramp; eco friendly natural jute bags. (n.d). Retrieved from http://www.alburyenvirobags.com.au/Jute-Story.php
Envirosax. (2004). Retrieved from http://www.envirosax.com/plastic_bag_facts
Mueller, J. (2010). How many marine mammals did your plastic grocery bag kill today. Retrieved from http://www.care2.com/causes/how-many-marine-mammals-did-your-plastic-grocery-bag-kill-today.html
Planet ark-plactic reduction. (2011). Retrieved from http://plasticbags.planetark.org/about/wildlife.cfm
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