Every year, around 500 billion plastic bags are used for shopping around the world. And it is estimated that 10 million tons of plastic are discarded in the ocean every year. To help combat this waste, several U.S. states have enacted bans on plastic shopping bags.
The two main types of direct harm to wildlife are entanglement and ingestion. Animals can become entangled and drown.
Plastic bags
are often ingested by animals that cannot distinguish them from food. As a result, they clog their bowels, leading to death from starvation. Plastic bags can block drains, catch birds and kill cattle.The World Wildlife Fund has estimated that more than 100,000 whales, seals and turtles die each year as a result of eating or being trapped in plastic bags. In India, it is estimated that about 20 cows die a day as a result of ingesting plastic bags and the bags obstructing their digestive systems. It is also very common in Africa for sewers and drainage systems to become clogged with bags, causing serious cases of malaria due to the increase in the population of mosquitoes that live in flooded sewers. The term white pollution was coined in China to describe the local and global effects of discarded plastic bags.
in the environment. Unlike reusable cloth bags, plastic bags can take a lifetime to biodegrade. During that time, their light weight allows them to be transported long distances, causing environmental damage along the way. It's no secret that our dependence on plastic has turned into a crisis.
Every year around 500 billion plastic bags are used for shopping around the world. It is estimated that 8 million tons of plastic end up in the oceans every year. In addition, according to National Geographic, if the plastics industry were a country, it would be the fourth largest emitter of carbon in the world. Yes, the production of these products pollutes our atmosphere and releases toxins into the air, but environmentalists focus primarily on what happens when a plastic bag is discarded. When plastic bags are improperly disposed of, they pollute waterways, reach oceans and clog sewers.
Once in the ocean, marine animals can mistake plastic for food or become entangled in it. Banning plastic bags will reduce garbage pollution and energy consumption. There will be fewer amounts of toxic chemicals in the water and soil, and our animals will be kept safe and sound. Single-use plastic bags only take 20 years to break down (much less time than most plastics), but this isn't necessarily something good.
Other critiques of the ban on plastic bags say that the bans are unlikely to solve anything and divert attention from “real” solutions. Problems related to plastic bags include the use of non-renewable resources (such as crude oil, gas and coal), difficulties during disposal, and environmental impacts. If you're interested in banning plastic bags in your city or state, there are a lot of steps you can take. Fifteen states of Arizona, Colorado, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Michigan, Minnesota, Mississippi, Missouri, North Dakota, Oklahoma, Tennessee, Texas and Wisconsin have laws that prohibit cities and counties from enacting their own plastic bag bans, laws that are being enforced to varying degrees of success.
The way many of these changes began was by writing letters or going to talk to local businesses and persuading them to stop using plastic bags. Several microbial species colonize plastic particles increasing their harmfulness, and plastic particles driven by winds form garbage patches in various parts of the oceans. Not only do plastic bags add to the great Pacific garbage patch, but they can also be washed ashore around the world. Despite the success of these efforts, it has been stated that the ban on plastic bags has unforeseen consequences on the environment.
Unlike the rest of the United Kingdom, the English tax does not apply to paper bags or bags made from other natural materials.
