Both types of bags utilize natural resources to be created. Plastic bags are made from petroleum, a non-renewable oil product. “Plastic is a by- product of oil refining and accounts for four percent of the worlds total oil production” (“Paper vs. Plastic,” par. 16). While four percent might not seem that much, it amounts to twelve million barrels of oil a year. The oil is then manipulated into polymers. Polymers are simple molecular configurations of carbon and hydrogen atoms that link together repeatedly to form chains (Wiseman 119). Polyethylene, one of five types of polymers, is used to create plastic. Besides the fuel burning machinery used to acquire the oil, electricity, which is produced through the burning of fossil fuels, is the main energy source used in the manufacturing of polyethylene plastics.…
This is one of the many problems associated with the urban pollutant, but if they were to be completely banned, there would be significant implications. For example, in the state of California, manufacturing jobs would be jeopardized. According to Fox, “Plastic bags are not as bad as some Americans might think: ninety percent of Americans reuse their plastic bags and cotton grocery bags have to be used 131 times before their contribution to global climate change becomes lower than that of a plastic bags used just once.” This is one example of how the ban of plastic bags would not be beneficial. To add more to the idea of consumers bringing their own bags to grocery stores, there are positive and negative connotations associated with either side. Many people believe that fabric bags are environmentally friendly, last longer, and are reusable; however, there is a downside. Since stores do not offer complementary bags that are reusable, they are more expensive for the consumers when compared to plastic bags. With that being said, if a customer forgets their bag, they either have to carry their groceries by hand, purchase more reusable bags, or find alternatives. It soon becomes a cycle of the accumulation of reusable bags––just like plastic…
The strongest and best reasons supporting the argument that reusable bags should be put into mandatory use are that they save landfill space and wildlife, save trees, and are cheap to buy. You may ask, why does this matter? The reason is simple. If we want to help preserve our planet and protect wildlife, if we want to help protect our planet for our children, and if we want to keep our planet clean for years to come, reusable bags should be put into mandatory use. Though it may be a small contribution to the environment, every bit helps, and in an ever more polluted world, the environment needs all the help it can…
For doing this what we do is cut the sheets of polyethylene and align the sheets in an appropriate way so that with a binding machine we can seal strips together making our bag. Sometimes store logos may be added after or packed in a specific way. Although that we have the bag already made, the bag after several uses it has to be disposed. I would say that most of the people are aware that plastic bags when disposed will take a huge time until they are fully decomposed, I could read from the reference that actually the plastic bags never fully decompose, they just keep turning into smaller pieces, it does this because polyethylene is unable to do biodegradation it just keeps breaking down due to photo degradation that takes place due to the interaction with ultraviolet radiation from the sun. If we throw them there will be them forever but what else can we do when we are done using them, if we do nothing the plastic bags will keep piling up polluting our environment. Over the last decades they have been burned, this is a huge mistake given that plastic bags come from natural gas which contain hydrogen and carbon, when this bags are burned they produce dioxin and many other substances that when inhalated can cause cancer plus carbon dioxide emissions. Recycling day after day is seeming a more viable way out, new technologies make that polyethylene can be recycled, but…
Problems associated with plastic bags include use of non-renewable resources (such as crude oil, gas and coal),[2] disposal, and environmental impacts.…
Consumers should have to pay a fee when they use plastic shopping bags. Charging a modest fee for plastic bags will not cause any serious economic harm for anyone. Those who cannot afford to keep paying the fee can simply just buy a cheap reusable bag for a few dollars. Businesses will additionally earn extra revenue from collecting these fees. Also, charging this small fee could cause many shoppers to stop using plastic bags which would mitigate the environmental damage that is caused by these bags. While plastic bags only account for .3% of the U.S. municipal waste stream, they can have further negative effects on the environment. For example, they can injure or kill any animals that are caught in them and could therefore damage various ecosystems.…
Plastic bags have been used on a daily basis since 1977 (Williamson, 2003) as a means of carrying items such as groceries as they are not only convenient but also cheap. However, the over-use of plastic bags has posed significant threats to the environment in recent times as they are non-biodegradable and also a threat to wildlife. The primary reason for this concern is that plastics bags are not re-used, but simply disposed of in landfills. These problems have both social and environmental impacts that are of global concern. This essay will begin by illustrating the problems associated with plastic bags, followed by the various ways in which society can hope to resolve this dilemma.…
Plastic bags are made from thermoplastic which is made from oil. China has banned the use of plastic bags and has reduced the amount of oil consumption by 37 million barrels of oil yearly. If the United States would do the same it could lessen the oil consumption it has and the dependency they have for foreign oil. When plastic photo degrade they break down to a toxic petro-polymers and eventually find their way into the soil and water ways contaminating them. These microscopic particles enter the food chain and then enter us from the food we eat. It takes $4000.00 to recycle just one ton of plastic bags that can be sold only for $32.00…
Some businesses have stopped offering their customers plastic bags, and many communities are either considering a ban on plastic bags or have already implemented one.…
Diego Rodrigues Mendes Alves Course: Paper or plastic Paper or Plastic? Can we answer the question? Why should we be worried about the kind of bag we use to carry our purchases? We have to make so many decisions when we are shopping that we should not have to be worried about how we will carry our things home. However, if you want to help the environment and our society to decrease the wasting of materials and pollutants, and as a consequence improve our quality of life, you should be concerned about the kind of bag you are using. According to the Plastic Industry Trade Association, the plastic bag was introduced to the market in 1957. In 1966 plastic arrived in grocery stores and at the end of 1996 four out of five grocery bags were plastic. After 56 years, plastic bags are in almost every grocery store, supermarket, restaurant, diner, shoe, clothing store and every department of stores that we have available in our society. According to the Environmental Protection Agency, more than 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the United Sates of America every year. Yet, a traditional family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store. How about paper bags? According to Forum Garden, the paper bag was invented in 1860. In 1869, the Union Company of Pennsylvania developed a better paper bag machine (Forum Garden). From that era, paper bags were used to carry groceries and small things. Of course, the consumption of goods in that time was very little compared with today. Plastic took over the market right after its invention and since 1966 plastic bags are the main bag used worldwide. Why? In the marketplace, what is less expensive usually reigns as businesses look to cut costs and this case was not an exception. Companies spend less money making and using plastic bags than paper bags. But most of the time, our society is not concerned about which one has been used for two main reasons. First, people just need bags to put their…
Next time you do the shopping and carry home the things in a plastic carry bag, think and realise that you are contributing your share to a deadly plastic pollution whose ill effects are irreversible and capable of reaching out to many generations to come. Plastic is one of the major toxic pollutants of our time. Being composed of toxic chemicals and most importantly a non biodegradable substance, plastic pollutes earth and leads to air pollution and water pollution. There is no safe way to dispose plastic waste.…
Plastic bags are very common in this modern world and have been used widely in our daily life especially in shopping purposes. Due to its highly convenient, cheap and strong features, plastic bags appeal to many people either customers or the seller as the most effective way in delivering goods (such as foods) from the store to home (Kinnon, 2008). Although plastic bags are very convenient to use, there are several drawbacks that come from the usage of it mainly towards the environment and social aspect and this is getting worsen with the overuse of it. From this, plastic bags are being questioned whether the usage of it should…
proves that plastic bags damage nature, they kill animals, they don’t only create environmental problems, but also reinforces the perception of a wasteful society.…
Planet- Plastic bags may be cheap and durable to use but not at the cost of our Planet. Even A single…
Amongst the myriad of literature on the issue of plastic bag usage, multiple perspectives have been brought up and discussed. In this critique, I will be highlighting some of these issues discussed and provide my analysis on the article.…