Student Article High School Science Journal Author: Laurie Recksieck

The Effects of Plastic Bags on Our World

August 05, 2007

Paper or Plastic? Once a common question, but now you must request a paper bag for your groceries. With the recycling bins in front of stores, and the plastic industry’s claims that plastic gives off 70 percent fewer emissions, consumes 40 percent less energy, generates 80 percent less solid waste, and releases 94 percent fewer waterborne waste than paper (National Geographic), people have been lulled into thinking that plastic is an acceptable ecological alternative to paper or cloth bags. Plastic bags are apparently more convenient, in fact 80 percent of the nation’s groceries are carried in plastic bags; this is up from 5 percent in 1982. (Sierra Club) While they are convenient, plastic bags are anything but ecological.

      Petroleum and natural gas, both nonrenewable resources, are required in the production of plastic bags; the drilling for these resources adds to the devastation of delicate habitats and ecosystems throughout the world.  The energy used to construct and transport these bags depletes resources and manufactures global warming and highly toxic emissions. (Reusable Bags) A 25 percent cut in the environmental impact of plastic bags in the UK alone could reduce the emissions of the green house gas carbon dioxide by up to 58,500 tons a year. This is the equivalent of taking 18,000 cars off the road. (Stop Global Warming)  An estimated 8 billion pounds of plastic bags end up every year in the US landfills; it takes a bag up to a thousand years to degrade. The only way to get rid of plastics is to burn them, but that creates the problem of additional harmful dioxins and other toxic gases escaping into the atmosphere. (Capmel) Although it is possible to recycle plastic bags, according to Ban the Bag campaigning, only .5 percent of the bags are actually recycled, due to the fact that it is cheaper and more efficient just to make new bags.

      Making and disposing are not the only environmental issues with plastic bags. The littering of these bags kills hundreds of thousands of marine animals a year. The bags, mistaken as prey such as a jellyfish, are swallowed, resulting in choking or blocking of the intestines, a horrific death. This also happens on land: while forging for food, animals such as cows or goats ingest the plastic.  In addition, plastic bags strewn everywhere are an eyesore the world does not need.

      What is being done to reduce the amount of plastic bags produced and used? Ikea in the United Kingdom is working with the Environment Agency to reduce the use of plastic bags, pinpointing this as a way each person can help with pollution and global warming.  They are now charging a nickel for every plastic bag a customer will use.  In addition, the bags that they offer will only be biodegradable. While they raised the price on plastic bags, they have lowered the price of their “Big, Blue Bag”, reusable bags to encourage their customers to use reusable instead of plastic bags. Ikea hopes that these movements will lead to 20 million less plastic bags being used in 2007. (Ikea) In 2002 Germany’s government started charging for their bags; this led to a 70 percent decrease in the amount of bags utilized. Japan’s government has passed a law that cautions can be given to sellers if they don’t do enough to conserve. (Enn)

      Still not enough is being done.  If every person in New York City alone used one less grocery bag per year, waste would be reduced by 5 million lbs. and $250,000 saved in disposal costs. (Sierra Club) If every person could use paper bags, made from a renewable resource and easily recycled, or even better, reusable bags, we could greatly reduce landfill, possible cancer risks and global warming, all in one simple step.

Works Cited 

“Ikea to Reduce Plastic Bag Consumption by 20 million”. Ikea United Kingdom

March 3, 2007. <http://www.ikea.com/ms/en_GB/about_ikea/press_room/press_release/national/plastic_bag_campaign.html> 

“Plastic Bag Pollution!”. Capt. Mel Berman’s Fishing Florida Online Magazine March 6, 2007. March 6, 2007. < http://capmel.com/Plastic%20Bag%20Pollution.htm> 

Roach, John. “Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment?”. National Geographic News September 2, 2003. March 6, 2007. <http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2003/09/0902_030902_plasticbags.html> 

“Save Oil, Save Trees: Reuse Your Grocery Bags!”. Sierra Club March 5, 2007. <http://www.sierraclub.org/bags/> 

Tabuchi, Hirok. “Japan Tries to Cut Down on Plastic Bags”. Environmental News Network June 12, 2006. March 4, 2007. <http://www.enn.com/today.html?id=10651>  

“UK Retailers Agree To Cut Plastic Bag Use”. Stop Global Warming March 2, 2007. March 4, 2007. <http://stopglobalwarming.org/sgw_read.asp?id=111755322007 > 

 
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