Plastic bags, first introduced in 1950’s, was a convenient way to carry goods and food in and out of stores. Now, Stores around Austin may not offer plastic bags at the checkout counters. Mayor of Austin, Lee Leffingwell, and two other City council members proposed a plastic bag ban. This plastic bag ban is a win-win situation for the city of Austin. There will be a cost benefit and an even more significant impact on the environment. Plastic bags cost the city around $850,000 a year and Austinites consume about 263 million plastic bags a year. The plastic has littered roadsides, clogged sewer drains and is affecting wildlife as particular animals become entangled in the plastic bags or ingest them. Also, it is important that our local government took initiative with the ban because area grocers such as HEB, Randalls, Wal-Mart, Target, and Walgreens, pledged that they would have a 50% reduction of plastic bags sent to landfill in 2009 and fell short. The amount of plastic bags was only reduced by 20 percent.
Some people don’t believe that the switch from paper to plastic isn’t that much better for the environment. An HEB spokeswoman, Leslie Lockett, claims that that “paper bags require more energy and fuel to produce and transport, they take up more landfill space, and they still take a long time to degrade.” Although paper bags may cost a little more to produce, its damage to the environment won’t be as critical as plastic. The main benefit of paper over plastic is its biodegradability. Although plastic bags have been very convenient for consumers for decades, I believe that people will eventually switch over to using reusable bags. The plastic bag ban is not only a local issue, it’s a global one. A few countries around the world such as Bangladesh, China, India, Australia, Greece, Ireland, Italy, Israel, South Africa, etc. have taken a stand against plastic bags. The Great Pacific Garbage Patch would also see possible decreases in size. The source of pollutants to the ‘garbage island’ in the middle of the pacific is from land-sources which contain many plastic bags. These plastic bags decompose within a year of entering water, leaching toxic chemicals. These toxic chemicals will hurt our marine life and fishing industries if the ‘garbage island’ were to explode due to poor plastic regulations. Thus, it’s critical for our local, state, and national government to help reduce the effects of pollution by plastic bags one step at a time.
Over the recent years, I have heard more and more talk about the negative aspects of plastic bags. Chris Kim pretty much illuminates his agreement in his blog, "No More Plastic!" It is an interesting fact that Austin alone can consume around 263 million plastic bags a year costing about $850,000. That alone is a big percentage but only small in comparison to the country in whole. Every year, the United States citizens will throw away 100 billion plastic bags with only 1 percent to 3 percent every being recycled. This irresponsible use of plastic bags leads to Chris's point about the negative aspects out-weighing the positive ones. Plastic bags pose a serious threat to birds and marine mammals that often mistake them for food. Thousands die each year after swallowing or choking on discarded plastic bags. As if that wasn't enough, the non-biodegradable quality in plastic bags causes a seriously negative impact on our environment. They clog waterways, spoil the landscape, and end up in landfills where they may take 1000 of years or more to break down into even smaller particles that continue to pollute our soil and water. I agree with Chris fully on the matter that something needs to change when regarding to plastic bags. We need to do everything we can to sustain a clean environment for our generation and ones to come.
ReplyDelete