In a couple of my previous posts, I pretty much bashed on plastic whenever I had a chance. Well, it’s quite damaging to the environment, yet, we can’t do a lot about not using it. In a modernized society, it is part of our everyday lives. I can’t imagine a day without touching plastic.
Plastic is great! It’s durable, can be molded into just about any shape or form, and has multiple functions. So much can be done with plastic, if you’re reading this, chances are, you’re using a device in an area that has access to the Internet. In such a setting, all you have to do is simply look around, there’s probably plastic around. You’re probably touching it right now.
Like all good things, too much of it is bad. For example, vitamin C, people say taking it will keep you healthy. I recently found out that too much vitamin C can cause diarrhea. My doctor said that to me when I went for a physical check up, she was grilling me on vitamin supplement intake. Apparently, it has other side effects as well, here’s what the Mayo Clinic says.
Diarrhea, that’s what the world is having with plastic pollution. Uncontrollable amount of plastic waste is getting washed out into the oceans and causing a lot of concern. Plastic waste doesn’t stay in their own form once out in the ocean like glass bottles. Glass bottles stay intact, a record of a recovered message in a bottle was first thrown into the sea in 1913. The bottle was recovered in 2014, 101 years at sea. LINK
Plastic breaks down under long exposure under the sun, it “photodegrades.” It doesn’t disappear though. The smaller pieces still slosh around in the ocean and eventually come together from ocean currents. One such congregation places is the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. There’s one in every ocean, the one in the Pacific is the largest of them all. It’s one gigantic soup of degraded plastic pieces that scientists don’t know how to track or clean. Full environmental impact is still not known. There are many theories, such as sea life eating them and in turn messes up the ecosystem, therefore the food chain, and our food supply.
Faced with such dire scenarios of our near future, environmental groups got politicians to pass laws to ban single-use plastic bags. It’s one of those items that are extremely abundant in the trash world. Tons get thrown out everyday, not only into trash receptacles for the landfills, but onto the streets, on high ways, directly thrown into the waterways, the oceans, etc. There are so many plastic bags, people don’t know what to do with them. I have a part of my closet dedicated to hold plastic bags that I keep for trash bags. There’s a smaller section where I hold plastic bags that I don’t know what to do with. They’re too small for my garbage can. There’s simply no other uses for them. When I’m out and about, I keep an eye out for plastic bag collection bins, they can sometimes be found in large pharmacies or supermarkets.
On Sep. 30, 2014, California became the first state to ban single-use plastic bags. LINK
On Nov. 17, 2014, Baltimore City Council banned single-use plastic bags. LINK This one is quite interesting, it might get vetoed. The veto is more of a political action than an environment issue. Here’s one of those times when politics became more important than the issue at hand.
With single-use plastic bags banned, what can shoppers use? They can bring their own bags. I normally decline the plastic bag when I go shopping. If I have a backpack, I throw them in. It can get quite heavy if there are liquid items, such as milk, orange juice, etc. A small price to pay to carry a heavy load for a few blocks with one fewer plastic bag used. Other times, I will bring my own bag. What if I bought too much stuff for me to carry in my arms and I do not have a backpack or my own bag? The answer is the store-supplied paper bag!
If one step back and take a moment to think about this. Paper bags, paper, paper comes from trees. Wouldn’t this mean more trees will be chopped to make paper bags? California requires that 40% of the paper bags must be post-consumer products. What about the 60%?
There is an organization in San Francisco suing against the ban, called Saved the Plastic Bag. Their website has a bunch of interesting information. For one example, carbon dioxide emission. Paper bags, as with most organic compounds that degrade or decompose, such as dead animals, carbon dioxide is released into the atmosphere. The estimated amount of paper bags that will replace plastic bags will emit annual carbon dioxide estimated to be equivalent of 92,280 passenger vehicles. According to this theory, switching solely to paper bags will make things worse for us. The site also went on to say that the U.S. and California governments are working on keeping carbon dioxide from being released from landfills. Plastic bags are said to last a very long time. During that time, nothing is released into the air.
What does this mean for us? We’re in a “damned if you do and damned if you don’t” scenario. Others will call it a “Catch-22.” Use plastic bags, they can potentially go into the ocean and add to the patch. Or use paper bags, they go into the land fills and release carbon dioxide into the air. Carbon dioxide is largely blamed for global warming.
I believe it comes down to responsibility. If we try our best to not use store bags, whether paper or plastic, then there’ll be less waste. Sometimes I see people buy one single small item, such as a bottle of water, and ask for a bag. That’s silly! What’s the point of carrying a bottle of water in a bag when it can be carried in the hand? The hand is needed to carry something anyway. If we do our part and pitch in to the recycling effort, then less waste, paper or plastic will end up in the landfills or oceans.
Another thing that we need to be responsible is to do our own due diligence and don’t rush to conclusions. When passing these laws banning single-use plastic bags, did the law makers do their own research? Did the environmental groups perform research on the alternative?
Do you know that they can turn plastic bags and other waste plastics into diesel fuel?
If you’re going to try this at home, do so at your own risk:
tklliang 