Should plastic bags be banned from grocery stores 2.doc

8/18/2019 Should plastic bags be banned from grocery stores 2.doc

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Should plastic bags be banned from grocery stores?

• I support this, because plastic bags are wasteful and often break. Although people need a bag of some sort to help carry their groceries, plastic

bags are a poor solution. They are wasted in large quantities, every single day.

Also, they break under the slightest pressure. There are more sustainable

methods of carrying groceries, such as using paper bags or material bags.

• aper is better than plastic but...

lastic is not biodegradeable by any means. !ees can"t be placed on them

because corporations got smart and slipped into a bill that charging any sort of a

fee for single use plastics is illegal and that they can sue that city#state that putsa fee on them. Thus, a complete ban is the only thing probable. Statistics show

plastic bags are recycled at a rate of less than $%& while more than '%& of

paper bags are recycled. (owever it takes more resources making paper bags

than it does pastic. lastic is made from petroleum) a product of oil. *ou protest

oil independence but refuse to give up your plastic bag? +ainess factors plenty

into the banning of plastic bags. If -uropeans can do It, why can"t the states?

eusable bags made from recycled products are fantastic. I"ve carried two one

gallon bottles with a few other Items in one bag without having an issue. They"re

much sturdier than plastic bags as well as more pleasing to the eye. I"ve never

gotten dirty looks bringing my own bag and they fold up easy so I can even packthem in my purse. There are reuseable bags out there that are compatible to

you. *ou /ust need to do your research. They come in all sorts of shapes, colors

and designs. (onestly, I think education is key. I moved to 0onterey, 1A and they

have reward systems for people who 2*32. 4orking on a plastic bag ban 5among

other things6, this county is considered one of the most -co friendly towns in the

state. The documentary 72ag It7 is great for people to better understand plastic

bags and the real reality of disposable plastics. emember, we don"t inherit the

world from our grandparents, we borrow it from our children.

• they suck

aper is better all the way around. I reuse both kinds but the plastic is too 8imsy

and never rots. Those trendy 7reusables7 are not practical for large families who

shop biweekly. 9et a clue. *ou use less bags with paper they hold more and have

more re:uses. lastic /ust uses more 7oil7::look at what that is doing for everyone.


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• *es i think grocery bags should be banned for animal reasoning

yes i belive that grocery bags should be bannned because they are dumped in a

land ;ll for hundreds and or thousaond of years. Also animals could me hungry

and eat the plastic and die and that is animal crulelty which I personaly am not

that fond of. Also paper bag could make less polution and you can reuse them

and they can hold more and not break i also belive that they dont break as easy.

I also belive that colth bags are the best source of all because they can hold a

ton of food and never break also they can be reasued many time and you can

spend money one time to buy a cloth and get a discount which actualy save you

money insted of spending money on paper bag. 0ore about paper bags are that

you can recycle them which goes to make more so you are actualy reusing them

so it is like the some as buying a cloth bag because you are reusing them over

and over again. And all you have to do to keep the cloth bags is put them in the

back of your car and whenever you go to the store you /ust take them in the

store with you and then you have them and then when you get home you can

empty them and put them back in your car to reause them. And if you are buying

cold or hot food and you want to keep the food cold or hot you can buy a cold or

hot bag and that you can even use for regular temputure food and it will still stay

that temputure and that that bag can be washed out and use it as many times

and you want and it will never break down. And the last thing i have to say is

that the amples includeusing them inside a bathroom trash can, picking up animal waste and storing

items you have nowhere else to put. lastic bags are more ecient for their

original purpose and can be used for more purposes.

• I think plastic bags should be banned from grocery stores. aper bags, thoughmore e>pensive, are a more environmentally friendly alternative.


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lastic bags can harm the environment because they interfere with wildlife and

pollute the earth. They are not biodegradable, so they will be around for a long

time. In my opinion, paper bags make more sense because paper is much easier

to break down and serves the same /ob. Alternatively 7green bags7 o@er

reusable, biodegradable bags to shoppers.

• 4hy not) how inconvenienced would we really be if we had to use reusable bagsor paper bags?

lastic bags could be easily replaced with paper or reusable. 4hen I was in

-urope over % years ago, you paid for your bags to promote the use of reusablebags. 4e are so backward here when it comes to consciously taking care of the

environment. I have seen plastic bags 8oating through the air in remote areas of

the southwest. All this could be prevented by using paper or recycled, reusable

bags.

• *es, plastic garbage bags should be banned from grocery stores because theycreate too much trash.

I believe it would be good to ban plastic bags from grocery stores and go back to the

traditional paper bags. Plastic bags create a lot of trash and many people are just not willing

to take the time and effort to recycle them. I find that many of the plastic bags used at stores

today are so flimsy that two are needed for some heavier items, so this just creates more

waste. Paper bags are biodegradable and they have many uses around the house, and because

they are larger than plastic bags, they hold more groceries.

• lastic bags should be banned from grocery stores because they are made fromto>ic and non:recyclable materials.


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It is so much more environmentally friendly to bring your own bags when you buy groceries.

These reusable bags are now sold at most stores and are very cost effective. A plastic bag

harms the earth and all the living things in it. Not to mention the fact that plastic really isnt

something that breaks down naturally.

• I believe banning plastic bags from grocery stores is the only way to stop themfrom being used, which is necessary if we want to clean up the environment andland;lls.

!anning plastic bags from not just grocery stores but all stores will go a long way toward

helping clean up the environment and lessening the burden they make on landfills. These

bags are not as biodegradable as paper and can not be recycled as easily. They often become a

ha"ard to drivers when they are left along the road to fly and billow around.

• lastic grocery bag should be banned as plastic is quickly ;lling up our garbagedisposal sites, and is harmful to our environment.

Since plastic does not decompose like other materials, it should be banned as

grocery bags. Bust our house alone, with only two people living in it, must collect

thousands of plastic bags every year. 0ultiply that by all of the households in the

world and it is overwhelming. 9rocery stores could help the situation somewhat

by not using so many sacks when they bag your groceries. To me it seems that

they could use half as many as they do. ecycling has helped with the problem,but I know there are thousands of people out there who never recycle no matter

what.

• The ma/ority of plastic bags are not recycled and instead sit in land;lls, whereasthe alternative is better for the environment and economy.

There are so few plastic bags that are actually recycled and turned into usable products. #ost

are tossed into the garbage and will sit in landfills slowly breaking down and taking up space.


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The alternative of fabric bags are a reusable option that are better on the environment.

$rocery stores can reduce their costs by selling reusable bags and not spending the money on

producing plastic bags. They will also be providing a service to the environment.

• lastic bags should not be banned from grocery stores, because they are usefulproducts that are needed by customers.

I think that it is right for grocery stores to encourage its patrons to bring reusable bags into

the shop. #any offer discounts for using these bags. %owever, plastic bags are still needed

for those who do not wish to bring in their own bags. #any folks reuse and recycle these

plastic bags. They use them as small trash bags, doggy scoop bags, and they use them to wrap

smelly baby nappies in. Also, some customers simply collect them and return them to thestore to be recycled. I have even seen some nifty crafting ideas that use grocery bags to make

reusable sandwich pouches. Plastic grocery bags should not be banned, because they serve

many useful purposes.

• lastic bags should not be banned from grocery stores) it makes no sense to banthem.

lastic bags have been used in grocery stores for a very long time. It makes no

sense to /ust ban them. They are very convenient, too. Some people say it is a

waste of plastic, or bad for our environment) but plastic bags can be recycled

and then reused in the future. Also, many people, including myself, reuse the

plastic bags and hardly ever throw them out. It would make no sense to ban

plastic bags from grocery stores.

• Co, because putting a recycling system into place would suce.

There is no need to ban the use of plastic bags. I think what needs to be done is

to use the same system that a lot of northern states use for aluminum cans. And

that is to impose a small ta> on the product to ensure that it gets returned and

recycled. And, with plastic bags, the stores can impose a small fee, as in a ta>, to

force the consumer to either return the bag and#or reuse the bag. If the

consumer brings back the bags for reuse, then they do not and should not have

to pay the fee. This is a simple way to solve the problem.


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• lastic bags should not be banned from grocery stores, because there is no validalternative to a plastic bag yet.

Plastic bags provide a useful function at a grocery store, whether it is to carry your food all

the way home, or just from your car to your kitchen. A single person can carry several plastic

bags with their handles, but you would be hard pressed to carry more than two paper bags.

Nevermind the fact that paper bags can tear easily, especially if they are holding wet food, or

if it starts to rain. &loth or other reusable bags are not a valid option, because store owners

look at you like a thief if you enter a store with an empty bag. &loth bags are only valid for

casual shopping. No one is going to walk into a grocery store with a do"en reusable bags intheir pocket, or drive around with them in their trunk all the time.

• Co, plastic bags should not be banned because there is no product available toreplace them.

If you do not have a car a plastic bag is your best friend. 'ou can carry a do"en or more

plastic bags if they are light enough, but you would be hard pressed to carry more than two or

three paper bags because they must be held from the bottom. A paper bag has no resistance to

rain or damp foods. If you bring in your own reusable bag the stores treat you like a shoplifter

and then you have to wash your grocery bags to prevent cross contamination. Plastic bags are

bad for the enviroment but there is no point in jumping the gun and banning them before

there is a valid alterantive.

• eople should make up their own minds if they want to be environmentallyfriendly.

!anning plastic bags does not make people more responsible. People have to carry home

groceries, and stores that want to offer full service will always offer some kind of container to


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make this easy for their customers. Also, the evidence that plastic bags are worse for the

environment that the more bulky paper ones is very thin. &onsumers should make up their

own minds, and government should stay out of it.

• I chose no because one cannot carry groceries in a carton or paper. lastic bagshave the ability to withstand thrust.

I Totally agree that plastic bags are not eco friendly, harmful to the environment

and more over ;lled with to>ins. 2ut they can be recycled like papers, can alsobe cost e@ective for e>ample think what will happen to all the trees if we started

using papers etc instead of plastics earth would run out of trees

• lastic bags do not need to be banned from grocery stores.

Plastic bags are useful to have around((they are not a single(use item. If you save them, you

can reuse them to carry large batches of items or bring them along if you work the tables at

farmers markets or conventions that offer dealers tables )such as card shows or comic book

cons*. They can be double(bagged and they make it easier for you to pack away a great

amount of product for your customers+

• lastic bags are a convenient, reusable, and ine>pensive way to tote groceries.

lastic grocery bags are convenient, reusable and ine>pensive. 4ith built in

handles, they are an easy way to tote groceries. 0ost bags are reused as trash

can liners, lunch bags, and for toting many other things. A ma/ority of grocery

stores provide recycling drums in the front of their stores for customers to

recycle bags. ather than making plastic bags illegal, a better option that some

grocery stores like Droger use is to provide a E.%F deduction from a customer"s

grocery bill for each reusable bag they bring to the store.


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• lastic bags may be bad to make for the atmosphere, but they come in handyfor grocery bags.

lastic bags are good to use as they are accessible and very easy to have

around. They come in handy when you run low on paper bags and can

sometimes be used as trash bags as well. They are very convenient and not too

much money is used to produce them

• lastic bags should not be banned from grocery stores.

Plastic bags should not be banned from grocery stores because there are many options to

deter their use and to make them more eco(friendly. Plastic bags in grocery store should be

made from recycled plastic to make them more eco(friendly. There should also be charge for

plastic bags, or credit from bringing your own bag, at all stores to promote the re(use of

plastic bags or the use on non(plastic bags. There are many things that can be done without

getting the government laws involved in this.

• lastic bags are an inferior tool that can be removed through social change, butnot through legislation.

The law is a great way to teach people what we already believe but it does not

have the power to change people"s belief systems though inconvenience or

other. 4hat was used before plastic were paper bags, which are easily stated as

worse for the environment than plastic bags are. The garbage is ugly, true, butwhat we would get in its place would be worse than what we are legislating

against.

• lastic bags should not be banned because they are not only a convenience, butsometimes a necessity.

The alternate to plastic bags would be either paper bags, canvas tote bags, or

bo>es. 4hile all three are good alternatives for the average person, there are

others who depend on the plastic bags to transport their purchases. It makes it


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much easier for the elderly, or for those with certain medical issues to grip the

8e>ible handle of a plastic bag. I do think that stores should o@er the other

choices though, and let the consumer decide which is best for them, whether it is

for environmental reasons, safety reasons, etc.

Should plastic bags be banned?

*es, because...

environmental damage lastic bags for use by consumers in

supermarkets and other stores

should be made illegal. In the


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amounts of 13 into the

atmosphere. eusable cloth bags

sound like a great idea but unless

you are a granny carrying one bag

home, they are absurd do you

honestly tell me that you plan tobring $% or more canvas bags

everytime you go out to shop? even

so base on the people using the

canvas bag would also end up in the

land;ll which makes it even worse

than plastic bags because it is way

thicker and consumes even more

space than a cheap plastic bags.

lastic bags are light, cheap, and

biodegradable. And in a well

engineered land;ll plastic bags

actually generate useable energy by

decomposing quickly into

recoverable methane. Some land;lls

5eg, ochester, 0n6 actually are able

to put useable power back into theelectrical grid from the methane they

reclaim. The plastic is also

recycleable, where plastic recycling

is available. -verywhere.It is

enviornmentally irresponsible to use

anything but the plastic bags.utting

a blame on an ob/ect won"t solve

environmental problems, the blame

should be on the people.

*es, because... The 9reat 4aste

lastic bag production uses

almost $% percent of the world"s

annual oil supply. 3nly G.'

percent of this number are

recycled. This means that much

of the planet"s precious natural

resources are being used to

produce plastic bags that many of

us maintain are unneccessary.

The chemicals and compounds

that go into making plastic bags

could also be utilised in a far

more e@ective manner. These two

factors show that plastic bag

production is a waste of

resources, which could be being

used in a far more e@ective way.

Co, because...

yes but if we are to get rid of

plastic bags we would not have a

/ob be able to travel or even see

this write now because your

computer has a lot of plastic in it

and if you do ;nd a substitute for

plastic then what would it be and

how do you know that its not

more harmful than plastic if you

choose something like paper or

cardboard it could be a ;re haard

to the products useing it such as

planes or computers and most of

the machines to make paper likeit is or metal like it is contain

plastic in them and there are

many chemicals that go into

paper to make it white also a lot

of paints and paint has a lot of

chemicals in them as well as

plastic. Also we would probably

not survive as a 1ILI+IM-J human

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being without them any protien

we could get we would have to

eat directly becasue plastic

packageing is the only way tokeep it fresh and you also would

not be a vegetarian because

there would be no other way to

get protien I strongly think that

plastic should not be banned.

*es, because...Con:biodegradable

An estimated $N billion plastic

bags are given to 2ritish

consumers. 4e do not need this

many plastic bags in the world.

The pollution caused by their

creation alone is enough to

warrant a ban on their

manufacture and their use. In

addition, they do not degrade well

in our rubbish dumps, so they will

remain on this planet forever

more. 4e cannot have this

accumulation of plastic bags and

the only way forward is to ban

their distribution and use.

Co, because...

Ireland has seen a F%%& increase

in black bin liners since the ta>

was levied against plastic bags.

These black bin liners are

designed to hold more in them

than the plastic carrier bags and

therefore they are thicker. They

use far more oil in their

production and due to their

thickness they take even longer

to degrade. (ow can the ban,

therefore, be seen as having a

positive e@ect on the

environment?

*es, because... They litter our streets

Cot only do plastic bags ;ll up our

land;ll sites where they will

remain forever more, but people

throw them into the streets. They

accept plastic bags when they do

not need to and once out of the

shops take their items and litter

the streets with the unwanted

plastic bags. Animals can caught

in them, motor accidents are

caused, and many end up in

trees. As a society, this shows

that we do not need plastic bags

if we are willing to /ust throw

them away. lastic bags should be

banned and replaced with bags

that we would not so readily

disregard.

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Co, because...

This is an argument against a

society"s attitude towards

consumption. 2ut the war against

plastic bags is not worth the

relatively little gain, the problem

will remain long after a ban on

plastic bags is placed on people.

Instead we need to recognise our

dispoable society and start

looking at the bigger picture.

Instead of picking on the smallfeatures of the problem, we need

to get to the roots. And here, the

roots is not the plastic bag, but

our attitude towards

consumption.

*es, because...lastic bags su@ocate

and kill

lastic bags can and have killed#

5have been used to kill6 many an

animal 5including human beings6

and they only have one singular

use5carry things6 for which, they

can easily be substituted 5with

other bags6 for.-/ A baby was

deliberately su@ocated with

plastic bags in this particular

caseK-0/

Co, because...

4ell if Animals have to die, /ust

force them to mate as much as

you can until they are over

populated, then if some are killed

it will be ok, and the same thing

for children. If each couple has

atleast $% children, then out

population will be atleast ;ve

times of what it is. -ssentially

people do not seem to be

bothered about ruining animals

lives, or often even those of other

human beings through other

forms of pollution so why be

bothered about plastic bags in

particular?

*es plastic bags can cause

damage but why are people

throwing plastic bags in forested

areas and other wildlife habitats.

The civic agencies should be

making sure that plastic bags do

not get to such places, those they

gater from streets should be

recycled or reused which is

possible meaning we really need

an improvement in infrastructure

to solve the problem.

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*es, because...4ildlife concerns

lastic bags often end up 8oating

in the seas: the home to many

mammals, ;sh and invertebrates.

3ne species that is at great risk

from plastic bags is the already

endangered +eatherback turtle

5amongst others including the

9reen turtle, see the article

below6. Turtles often mistake8oating plastic bags for /elly;sh:

their only food source. The

tragedy is that once they eat the

plastic bags, they can get caught

up and wrapped round the gut or

in the throat, causing su@ocation

and starvation.

Co, because...

even if we are to ban plastic bags

the litter that gets into the ocean

won"t stop the animals will /ust

get trapped in the other items

that we replace plastic bags with

such as cloth it could rap around

them and smuther them almost

G%& faster than any plastic bag

couldand any heavier items couldsink to the bottom and kill ofthem

plant life the animals thrive on

plus most turtles will realie the

di@erence between the plastic

bags and /elly;sh as soon as they

startchewing on it and most of

the time when they are close to it.

(unter scho;eld

*es, because...Spread Awareness

2y banning plastic bags, not only

will we reudce all the

environmental issues such asanimals, litter and land;ll, we will

also spread awareness globally

and even potentially nationally.

!or e>ample, say Australia bans

plastic bags, in a couple of years

time, all these issues would be on

their way to being resolved and

America"s government might

think 74ow, we didn"t realise this

was such a big issue= And look, '

years ago Australias land;ll was

over8owing with plastic bags that

do not break down and now the

small perentage of cloth bags that

do go in land;ll 5not many go in

because cloth bags are so

reusable6 are gone very quickly

because they break down into

what is not unhealthy for the

environment= 0aybe we should

ban plastic bags too so we can



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recieve such a great e@ect=7 And

the -ngland may copy, the !rance

and Bapan and 1hina and 2rail

etc etc. Jo you see what I mean.eople realise it is a big enough

issue to make a law and see this

great e@ect and actually 1A-=

Co, because...

2y banning plastic bags you are

not getting rid of all the

enviromental issues. There is still

smog and pollution from e>hausts

and factories. *ou can"t wipe out

all enviromental issues by

banning plastic bags. I think that

our world faces bigger problems

then plastic bags in land;lls.

There are so many other thingspolluting our earth. 4e face

problems with over population,

starvation and over use of

electricity. Are we going to ban

the use of electricty? (ow about a

certain amount of food per

person? All I"m trying to say is

that we should try to focus on the

bigger problems in the world.

0aybe then we can talk about

proper recycling and ways to

clean up our land;lls. "Til then,

-nglishgirl.

*es, because...-nvironment

destroyement

*es, plastics use must be

banned .Throwing poly bags

plastics could make the soil

unfertile 5soil pollution6. this is

very bad. we need fertile soilcaue it helps plants to grow,

which is our food. Animals also

need soil cause it make plants to

grow and animals eat plants.we

can say they indirectly depend on

soil. burning plstics cause very

polluted gases which could make

our lungs weak on breathing

them, also can cause many lungsdiseases like asthama. daily more

than ' crores poly bags are

thrown. so, we can do a little work

to avoid plastic like we can use

paper bags instead of poly bags.

try a lot to avoid plastic.

Co, because...

we then we should /ust not throw

poly bags around, i have never

seen anyone throw them, and

there are many people who help

clean them up if there are any

lying around. not many people



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burn plastics these days, infact in

some countries it is banned.

*es, because...aper

aper can be reused. If all you do

is put cans in it, its not dirty. They

can be reused. I have many bags

that i reuse. They are very useful.

All you do is grab some before

leaving and you"re set.

OOO 4ithin the united states the

are more trees grown than cut

down every year. Americans plant

roughly $.' billion trees. 3ur

aper companies are committed

to the Sustainable !orestry

Initiative which is an organiation

that understands the need to usetrees as resources and does its

best to keep trees alive in the

world so that they can always

e>ist. emember, without trees,

paper companies would be

without a /ob. why would they

want that? They are not mindless

idiots.

Co, because...

aper make the tree population

deminish very quickly. Cormal

paper does enough anyways.

*es, because...

ta>es may well reduce the

number of plastic bags that are

handed out and used by

consumers however a reductioneven by P%& would still leave

more than a billion bags a year

used in 2ritain, this still seems

like an aweful lot plastic bags

added to those that are already in

the oceans and spread across the

land. Some rich ones didn"t even

care of the ta>,so ban it is better

than adding ta>. If we ban it,they

can"t buy any plastic bags n they

will buy recycle bags.

Co, because...Co need to ban, add a

ta>

lace a restraint where people will

feel it most, their pocket. 2y

placing a ta> on plastic bags you

are not limiting peopleQs choice

but you will ct down on plastic

bag use. This can be seen in

Ireland where a $'p ta> has

caused a reduction of P%& on the

plastic carrier bag use-/. The

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revenue gained would also be

valuable to the government who

could put it towards

environmental issues already

caused by the use of plastic bags.

This is a much more e@ective way

of dealing with the problem.

*es, because...

0ost people already have bags,

whether they be "a bag for life",

old style shopping trolly bags,

rucksacks etc. There would be

little need for consumers to buy

new bags any more regularly than

they do now and certainly no

need to buy new bags to replace

the plastic bags now used. These

bags are mostly used because

they are free and more

convenient than consumers

carrying their own bags to the

shops as well as back again.

Co, because...imum pro;ts.

*es, because...

4hy should we not be free to

make nuclear bombs? 4hy should

we not be free to kill another

human being if they annoy us?

4hy? 2ecause some things in life

are more important than "choice".

4hy? 2ecause we live in a society

where our actions have

implications upon everyone else.

It would not be fair for some to

strive to keep the environment

clean whilst those with money

show a blatant disregard /ust

because they can a@ord to.

Co, because...!reedom of choice

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4hy should we not be free to

chose to take a plastic bag? As

with everything else there must

be a market price for plastic bagsthat includes the cost of making

them and the cost to the

environment in the monetary cost

5therefore providing revenue to

clear up the leftover plastic bags6,

at this particular price there will

still be some people who are

willing to pay the cost for the

convenience of /ust being able to

pick one up with the shopping, orif a shopper has forgotten to bring

their own bags with them they

should be able to buy plastic bags

at the shop. There is no need for

an outright ban on plastic bags.

*es, because... It is a lamentable and rather

devastating re8ection on the current

state of human apathy that

somebody should argue that helping

to reduce the negative impact of

human beings on the environment is

an 7unwarranted inconvenience7.

Indeed, it is an inconvenience that

we should have to replace fossil

feuls, or drive hybrid cars, or improvehome insulation. If things were easy

or convenient, you can bet that

consumers have already adopted

that process. Jon"t worry though, if

we keep going the way we are none

of us will be around to apologise for

our collective naivity and arrogance.

Co, because...people forget their re:

useable bags

e:useable bags may sound ideal.

(owever, do people actually

remember to bring them

shopping each time they go? If

they do not, what happens is that

they have to buy more re:useable

bags which means that more

plastic is being used. *es, the idea

is that they are not disposable

and so do not ;ll our dumpster,but the reality is, after a few

times of forgetting to bring your

reuseable bags, you will have

accumulated many of them.

-ventually, you people will throw

them away, /ust like they did with

plastic bags. A ban on plastic

bags seems like an unwarranted

inconvenience when you look at

the long term consequences.

*es, because...

If you have#had a cloth bag or a

relatively sturdy durable plastic

bag already, with longevity, so

that can be used be and reused

over and over5without getting

torn or damaged or ineciently

disposed like a standard plastic



18/42

bag6 .Then you will not have to

buy "carrier bags" every time you

went to the market. If plastic bags

are banned, people will buy nicebig bags that are much more

useful. Since this would only be a

one:time purchase the costs in

the long:run will be signi;cantly

lower for shoppers and

supermarkets alike5in monetary

as well environmental terms.6

Co, because...1auses e>pense to

consumers in a time of

recession

Instead of letting people pay for

what they buy, the banning of

plastic bags in reality will lead to

people having to pay to carrytheir purchases out of the store.

lastic bags are cheap to produce

so supermarkets are willing to

give them out for free. To ban

them would mean that

supermarkets would charge for

the more costly forms of carrier

bags. This is putting an additional

;nancial strain on families who do

large grocery shopping trips. In a

time of a recession, surely the

policy of banning plastic bags

should be left aside.

*es, because...

I sometimes forget that the

protection of plastic bag

manufacturers is more important

than attempting to clean the

planet we live on. I forget that, so

long as the workers in the plasticbag industry are 3D, we will not

su@er any environmental

damage. -conomic conditions

should not impact upon the

manner in which we address a

problem that is contributing to the

destruction of our planet. To

believe that the livelihoods of a

few workers is more importantthan preventing environmental

damage is a ludacrous sentiment

that deserves signi;cant criticism.

Co, because...causes loss of /obs

The production of plastic bags is a

big industry. There are factories

which produce the bags and

distribute them. +et us not forget

that these factories may cause

poolution, but they also have a

vast amount of sta@ policing the

production. In the time of a

recession we should not be



19/42

looking to thwart thriving

industries but save them. !actory

workers are ;nding it increasingly

dicult to get work in this day

and age and the ban of plastic

bag distribution would only make

their plight for employment even

tougher.

*es, because...

*ou might as well argue that a

very small percentage of the

human population has A.I.J.S or

S.A..S or 1ancer. Should we stop

;ghting disease, since most

people at any particular point in

time, are healthy? If we let the

sale and purchase and inecient

disposal of plastic bags5including

large black garbage bags6

continue then more will be

produced to be sold and

ineciently disposed in the

future.If we stop production and

sales, here and now, then one

more environmental

haard5e>isting and in the

making6 will be checked o@ the

list. As we all know, demandcauses sales and production. Stop

buying and#or using plastic bags

and production R sales will

eventually cease.

Co, because...eople can and do

recycle plastic bags

To argue that plastic bags once

2ACC-J will be replaced by more

plastic bags. Is almost as

redundant and 5o>ymoron:ic6 as

my posting the same rebuttal

against this ACJ the ne>t C3

point.

lastic bags are being labelled as

part of our disposable culture.

(owever, the reality is, people do

re:use their plastic bags of their

own accord. 0any people will use

them on their future shopping

trips, or hand them into recycling

centres, and many people use

them as bin liners. Ireland has

seen a F%%& increase in the

purchasing of black bin liners

since their plastic bag ta> was

introduced in %%-/. This means

that the free white plastic bags

are merely being replaced by

larger blag plastic bags which

have to be paid for. The banning

of plastic bags is not all as

proponants would have you

beleive.

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*es, because...

*ou might as well argue that a

very small percentage of the

human population has A.I.J.S or

S.A..S or 1ancer. Should we stop

;ghting disease, since most

people at any particular point in

time, are healthy? If we let the

sale and purchase and inecient

disposal of plastic bags5includinglarge black garbage bags6

continue then more will be

produced to be sold and

ineciently disposed in the

future.If we stop production and

sales, here and now, then one

more environmental

haard5e>isting and in the

making6 will be checked o@ the

list. As we all know, demand

causes sales and production. Stop

buying and#or using plastic bags

and production R sales will

eventually cease.

Co, because...the environmental war

needs to be won elsewhere

lastic bags are being vili;ed for

harming the environment when

the reality is that they make only

a small percentage di@erence. In

the


21/42

if you are to ban plastic bags

humans as a race will lose a lot of

technology because plastic bags

are used for more than /ustsupermarkets plastic bags are

actually used to build and support

structures when architects are

making them without plastic bags

it would be very hard for us to

make houses they are used to

package up areas on walls so they

can see through the plastic when

they are making the wallsso they

know they did not block anything

important banning plastic bagswould cause most people with

brocken walls have to pay a lot

more to get them ;>ed as well as

the price for house will raise

plastic bags should not be

banned.

(unter Scho;eld

*es, because...

So what did we carry our

shopping in before plastic bags?

eusable bags= 0ost people have

rucksacks, shoulder bags etc that

could be used for shopping. It is

/ust lainess that means that they

take the plastic bags o@ered by

supermarkets. All you have to do

is carry $:F with you at all times.

Co, because...so what do we carry

our shopping in?

one of the world biggest and

stupidest ideas of mankind= how

the hell do we carry our shopping

home if we catch the bus? take

the trolley home and then never

return the trolley= 2I++IACT=

S-3es of cereal, and $%

cartons of cream cheese=



22/42

Co, because...what if u bought them

and u livd far away and you

frove to the shopping centre

and you F got youor plastic

bags

4hat if you live far away from the

nearest suppermarket and and

you frogot your green bags that is

also creating polution and is veryanoying=

*es, because...

If "The over:packaging of

merchandise creates far more

clutter than plastic bags", then

wouldn"t having no plastic bags to

add to that clutter make it a

whole lot less clutter?

Co, because...other packaging

The over:packaging of

merchandise creates far more

clutter than plastic bags. 4here

does all that "garbage" go ? It

goes into the land;ll sites.

*es, because...

most of the products made with

plastic are not e>actly the 7really

essential 7commodities and

moreover they didnt e>ist during

our ancestors time , they never

had any 7diculties of present

time7 technological development

upto an e>tent is okay ,but furtherof it leads only to sorrow and

devastation. It will not a@ect the

products. 4e are talking about

plastic bags. Cot any plastic.

Co, because...products making

we need plastic. we use plastics

for making container, toys, a c,

and may more needful things.

plastic must be banned only in

poly bags or on throwing plastics

we must hav to pay ;ne. but dont

use very much. actually, plastic is

very useful substance. it hav

many advantage.

*es, because...

Is infrastructure really the

problem? It is because we think

that it is someone else"s problem

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that we misuse the plastic bags.

0ost people don"t even care

about that the misuse so why

bother to teach them when wecan save the environment, and

/ust get rid of them completely=

4hich should come ;rst) the

-arth"s environment, or puny little

plastic bags?


24/42

has it"s uses, but we could reduce

and replace plastic shopping

bags, for e>ample, with cloth or

brown paper. 3ur aim should be

to seek alternative measures.

*es, because...

The intention would be for people

to use reusable bags as much as

possible rather than paper bags

so as to avoid any problems with

land;ll.

If you are intending to use $%

bags why bother with bags at all,

you are obviously driving. 2e

radical /ust use the trolley without

bags and put everything into the

boot of the car without any bags=

Co, because...lastic bags is the

best both in environment and

economy

lastic bags are the best thing

both for the enviornment and for

cost.

aper is the absolute worst thing

for land;llsK studies have shown

that after % years paper is still

clogging land;lls= And paper that

is burned adds huge amounts of

13 into the atmosphere.

eusable cloth bags sound like a

great idea but unless you are a

granny carrying one bag home,

they are absurd do you honestly

tell me that you plan to bring $%

or more canvas bags everytime

you go out to shop? even so base

on the people using the canvas

bag would also end up in the

land;ll which makes it even worse

than plastic bags because it is

way thicker and consumes even

more space than a cheap plastic

bags.

lastic bags are light, cheap, and

biodegradable. And in a well

engineered land;ll plastic bags

actually generate useable energy

by decomposing quickly into

recoverable methane. Some

land;lls 5eg, ochester, 0n6

actually are able to put useable

power back into the electrical grid

from the methane they reclaim.

The plastic is also recycleable,

where plastic recycling is

available. -verywhere It is

enviornmentally irresponsible to

use anything but the plastic bags.

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25/42

1an you improve this point? 1lick

here to strengthen it.

*es, because...

1auses ollution In The 0aking 3f

lastic 1an educe the

atmosphere and causes global

warming=

Co, because...Able To 2e % mile per day

round country lanes and only

collect appro> eleven lots of

recycle waste in a very e>pensive

and thirsty lorry, the end result

being sorted and transported to

di@erent parts of the uk, again in

thirsty e>pensive lorry"s. It

defeats the ob/ective. And of

coarse they are following the very

e>pensive rubbish lorry)s and the

food waste lorry"s. 3h dear what a

waste.

Co, because...Co they are usefull.

eople line their waste bins with

them and ;ll them with rubbish

before putting them in the bin or

sack. 4ithout them people would

have to buy bin liners. 3h dear

what a waste.

Co, because...its not bout the plastic

but how we use it....

its not bout the plastic but how

we use it.....

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26/42

Reasons We Should Not Use Plastic Bags(armful to Sea and 4ildlife

• 1ne major reason not to use plastic bags is because plastic adversely impacts both land and

sea wildlife. #any animals, especially birds, are strangled and killed by plastic bags. 2omeanimals even eat the plastic bags which can lead to health problems and even death. The bagsend up cluttering beaches and lakes, destroying the beauty of the landscape.

Jepletes Catural esources

• Plastic bags are made from polyethylene which is derived from natural gas and crude oil.

These resources are vital for other needs and plastic bags are not the most important need.1nce these resources are used up, they are gone so they are considered non(renewable naturalresources. A lot of resources go into the production of one plastic bag that may only be usedone time.

+and;lls

• Plastic bags can take up to ,333 years to degrade back into the soil. This causes a huge

amount of litter to clutter up landfills and even high way roads across America. The landfillsare already filled with garbage, diapers and who knows whatever else. Plastic bags just add tothe mess.

(aards

• Plastic bags can be ha"ards to infants and small children because of accidental suffocation.

2mall children often get into things they shouldnt touch, and many households are drawers

filled with plastic bags from grocery shopping. 4eeping the plastic bags out of the home isthe only way to reduce this risk. Paper is a safer alternative and paper bags break down muchfaster than plastic.

roduction of lastic 2ags

• Plastic bags are made from oil by(products. Nuclear electricity is used to make plastic bags.

The power for the process comes from coal power plants, and machines produce these bags5uickly.

roduction of aper 2ags

• Paper bags are made from trees. To make paper bags, a large amount of water, electricity,

fossil fuel, chemicals and man power is needed. It is a lengthy process to make paper bags.

$.lastic Jisposal

o lastic can be recycled, go to the land;ll or be burned as trash. ecycling ofplastic bags is good for the environment because it can easily be melted down.

aper Jisposal

o aper bags can be recycled or taken to the land;ll. The recycling is long, and thebag is changed back into pulp by using many chemicals.


27/42

1onclusion

o roduction and recycling of paper bags takes longer, requires more energy andcontributes to water pollution. lastic bags, however, use low amounts of energyand are easily produced and recycled. lastic is a better choice.

lastic 2ags and 0isinformationI /ust read the best article I have seen on why banning plastic bags is not the

answer. I have gotten many requests for reusable bags from clients over the

years : and I still do not provide them. 4hile I do use reusable bags for my

groceries, I do not believe they are the answer for the drycleaning industry. In a

nut shell, the 7reusable garment bags7 are made of pressed ;bers, not woven :

so they don"t last. They will not survive multiple washings and the idea of

putting clean clothes back in the dirty bags does not make sense. 4hen these

bags wear out : or are discarded : they end up in land ;lls and they take more

energy to create than the plastic. These bags cannot be used for any other

purpose than laundry 5unlike grocery bags6.

eople who know me are surprised by my position on plastic because of my

feeling about conservation and the environment. 0y biggest challenge with

drycleaning when I returned to the industry was the plastic= . . . . I found a

solution, for me and my clients. 4e collect the plastic and sell it to a


28/42

5including retail, grocery store, and garment bags6 use up only %.G& of land;llspace. lastic garment bags make up a small percent of this ;gure.

•

• Jue to misinformation relentlessly spread by the media, many peoplebelieve that plastic bags kill many sea mammals and seabirds each year. The

San Bose 0ercury Cews stated in an editorial, 7lastic bags kiss an estimated $million seabirds and $%%,%%% other animals every year, whether from eating thethings or getting tangled in them.7 Cot true. The +ondon Times e>posed thismyth. The report on which the myth is based mentioned discarded ;shing tacklethat included ;shing nets, not plastic bags. Javid Santillo, a marine biologist at9reenpeace, told the Times, 7It"s very unlikely that many animals are killed byplastic bags.7

•

• Jue to misinformation, some people believe plastic bags are notrecyclable. Cot true. Special plastic bag recycling bins have been installed inlarge supermarkets, retail stores and drycleaners throughout the country, or

bags can be taken to local recycling centers or returned to the manufacturer.Lirtually all of the plastic bags deposited in those bins are recycled and madeinto new plastic, plastic bags, or composite lumber.

•

• Jue to misinformation, some people believe that paper bags are better forthe environment than plastic bags. Cot true. aper bags result in between .%:G.G times more greenhouse gasses than plastic bags.

•

• Some people believe that items labeled or stated to be 7green7 are green.Uuestionable.

•

• An editorial in the +ondon Times stated, 7There is a danger that the greenherd, in pursuit of a good cause, stumbles into misguided campaigns. . . . . 0anyof those who have demonied plastic bags have enlisted scienti;c study to theircause. 2y e>aggerating a grain of Truth into a larger falsehood, they spreadmisinformation and abuse the trust of their unwitting audiences.7

•

• eusable garment bags ads state that they 7protect the clothes better, aresafer, are so much better for the environment, save drycleaners thousands, arewaterproof, are water:resistant, breathable, better, much safer, cheaper.7 4ell,let"s see.

•

• 0r Jry 1leaner, with your cleaning processes and skills, you renew the lifeand put freshness into your customer"s cleaned garments. !inished packaginginto a polyethylene garment bag showcases your professional work and marketsthe ;nished product. It becomes a walking advertisement of your skills thatothers can e>pect if they bring their garments to you for cleaning. -veryone cansee the professionally cleaned ;nished product hanging from your slick rack.

The garments and bags sparkle as they hang, the garments are clean,identi;cation is easy, the customer is happy, and the garments are now clearlyprotected. A clear advantage of disposable poly garment bags is the guaranteeof a clean, clear bag every time.

•


29/42

• 0ost reusable garment bags are made of solid, opaque cotton, nylon ornon:woven polyprpylene material, making it impossible to see the cleanedgarments within. The marketing of your cleaning skills stays hidden.Identi;cation of the enclosed garments is not an easy task, unless one likesconstantly opening and closing the reusable bag.

•

• Taking dirty clothes to the drycleaner in the reusable garment bag 5now adirty hamper bag6 makes it necessary for the cleaner to not only clean theclothes but also the reusable bag. Some reusable bags that are not e@ectivelycleaned can have a negative e@ect on human health and the environment due tobacterial growth. 0any bags require hand washing if one really wishes them tobe clean, which is time:consuming for the drycleaner or the bag owner.

•

• 0ost reusable bags are manufactured and imported from 1hina, and manyhave been found to contain lead, mercury and other heavy metals. ic

materials in reusable shopping bags. Uuestions have also been raised as towhether or not the lead could be spread in land;lls when the bags are discarded.

•

• eusable garment bags that wear out quickly also take up space inland;lls. 0ost are not biodegradable or compostable. All the di@erent materialsused in their construction 5ippers, drawstring closures, see through frontpockets, etc.6 make trying to recycle some of them an e>pensive nightmare atbest, and may not be economically possible at all.

•

• -arly last year, the press editorial board told (ailey residents to vote

no on the legislationK

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• 7...the move to ban plastic grocery bags will have consequences that will

defeat its purpose. aper bags have a greater negative impact on the

environment and cost retailers more even though they degrade in a far

shorter time. The additional cost will show up in higher prices for food and

goods.7

• There"s another way to reduce plastic bag litter that will help create more

/obs, not hurt e>isting onesVand that"s by supporting comprehensive

recycling plans and the growing plastic bag recycling industry. Sign our

petition today to oppose bag bans and support recycling as the real

answer to plastic waste.

• I believe that a bag ban is the wrong choice for (ailey. Instead, I support

the real solution to our plastic wasteK recycling.

• 1omprehensive recycling solutions let us recycle all their plastic bags and

wraps, not /ust the ones from grocery stores.

• In addition, the plastic bag manufacturing and recycling industry supports

more than $' /obs right here in IdahoVand a bag ban would put those

/obs at risk. In these economic times, we should be working to create new

/obs, not /eopardiing e>isting ones.

• !inally, bag bans take away choice at the grocery store. 3ur citiens and

policymakers should be focused on the important issues like education

and creating /obs, not telling us how to carry home our groceries.

• A bag ban isn"t the answer for me or my family, and it"s not the answer for

(ailey. I support recycling, not bans, for our plastic grocery bags.

• #assing in their millions, crucified and shredded on barbed wire fences, plastic

bags have come to be dubbed 6roadside daisies6 in 2outh Africa. 2ome now even

mournfully refer to them as the countrys national flower. Thousands of miles away in

the metaphorical plughole at the heart of the Pacific 1cean, a spinning mass of plastic

detritus, which includes countless carrier bags hanging limp in the water like jellyfish,

revolves in perpetuity. And in &hina, which last year saw the closure of one of the

worlds largest plastic(bag factories, with the loss of 03,333 jobs, due to the

governments concern about 6white pollution6, an estimated 733m carrier bags are still

handed out to shoppers every day.

• Plastic bags are one of the most recognisable symbols of our modern throwaway

culture. In the decades since their introduction 8 the first plastic 6baggies6 for bread,

sandwiches and fruit were introduced in the 92 in :;< 8 their use has become

ubi5uitous across the planet. 1ne million are handed out every minute, according to

http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/plasticbagshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/plasticbagshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/pollutionhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/pollutionhttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/plasticbagshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/plasticbagshttp://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/pollution


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=e Are =hat =e >o, the not(for(profit group that was the driving force behind the

Anya %indmarch(designed 6Im Not A Plastic !ag6 reusable carrier that briefly 8 and

somewhat ironically 8 became a must(have accessory in 033avidson, the

=elsh environment minister, said that many shoppers were still failing 6to embrace

the environmental message6 despite a raft of measures by supermarkets and other

retailers to encourage us to use fewer of them. 1ne solution now being given serious

consideration by the =elsh authorities is the introduction of a ;p levy on every

plastic or paper bag handed out to shoppers in the principality. Any revenue raised

would be ring(fenced for local environmental projects, the minister said. )2he also

admitted that a small number of shoppers might be tempted to shop across the border

in Bngland to escape the ta?.*

• Bvidence from across the world suggests that such a politically bold move would

produce a dramatic drop in the number of bags being used each year in =ales. In

0330, Ireland introduced a ; euro cents ta? on each plastic bag 8 the so(called6plasta?6 8 and within a few months a :3C reduction in the number of bags being

used had been recorded. In total, the ta? is thought to have led to a billion fewer bags

being used each year in Ireland. The ta? persuaded shoppers to bring their own

reusable bags with them on shopping trips, or to re5uest far fewer bags at the

checkout.

• !ut the scheme has had its critics. =hile it was true that the ta? led to a dramatic drop

in the number of bags being handed out in shops, it also triggered a D33C increase in

the number of bin liners and black refuse bags being purchased. The ta? also

encouraged an increased reliance on paper bags which, according to a number of life(cycle analysis studies that have compared the environmental performance of various

types of bags, re5uire more energy to manufacture and release more greenhouse gases

when degrading following their disposal. And while it is commonly accepted that

plastic bags are a genuine blot on the landscape )and seascape*, they only represent a

tiny fraction of the waste stream by weight or by volume. Eor e?ample, in the 92 they

account for less than half a percent of domestic refuse.

• The implication 8 e?pressed or otherwise 8 of such criticism is that we are either

largely wasting our time pursuing such tactics in attempting to eradicate plastic bags,

or that we are allowing ourselves to be distracted by what is, relatively speaking, a


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fairly minor environmental woe. ames Fovelock, the climate scientist, has referred to

the current obsession with plastic bags as 6rearranging the deckchairs on the Titanic6.

Patting ourselves on the back about how few plastic bags we each now use allows us

to ignore far more pressing environmental issues such as, say, climate change,

overpopulation, rapid species e?tinction and the depletion of resources such as freshwater. Todays war on plastic bags is certainly worth fighting, but not if it is at the

e?pense of these other concerns.

• 6Its the carbon content of what goes into your plastic bags, not the plastic bags

themselves, that we should be worrying about,6 says &hris $oodall, the author of

%ow to Five a Fow &arbon Fife, and Ten Technologies to 2ave the Planet. 6This is

33C more important than, say, the amount of oil used to make one plastic bag.

Plastic bags are a litter issue 8 yes, they certainly cause great damage to marine life 8

but they are fre5uently seen as a carbon issue. They are not. They are an easy target

because they are one of the most visible environmental problems. !ut this doesnt

make them the most important environmental issue. #any assume that recycling is

the answer to the waste problem, rather than simply consuming less. Its not an easy

message for many people to accept. =orrying about plastic bags also gives the

illusion that small steps make a difference. This kind of radical change in thinking

will take a generation.6

• $oodall says that the various efforts to reduce the use of plastic bags 8 be it through

government legislation or the voluntary efforts )spurred on by high(profile campaigns

by the likes of the >aily #ail* by supermarkets to reduce their customers reliance onsuch bags 8 are invariably littered with unintended conse5uences. As has been seen in

Ireland, plastic bag ta?es often lead to a rise in the number of bin liners being

purchased. 6This plastic is much thicker and will prove to be a greater environmental

ha"ard than thin plastic bags,6 he says.

• The widespread belief that biodegradable 6plastic6 bags made from, say vegetable

starch, are the panacea is also misguided, says $oodall. 6Ive still got a load of these

bags sitting at the bottom of my allotment two years later.6

•

And introducing a plastic bag ban or ta? doesnt necessarily produce lasting results. In033


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• All eyes are now on 2eattle. In a weeks time -G August/, its citi"ens will get to vote

on whether to introduce a 03(cent levy on plastic bags. It represents one of the first

occasions when an electorate has been asked if it wants such a levy rather than having

it imposed on them by elected politicians. Its currently too close to call, but the

lobbying for both sides of the argument has been intense. 1ne local paper reportedthis week that the American &hemistry &ouncil, the lobbying arm of the plastic

industry that includes members such as >ow &hemical, B??on#obil and some of the

leading plastic(bag producers, had already spent almost H.Dm trying to defeat the bag

ta?, whereas environmental groups had raised about HG3,333. As a result, some of the

6yes6 camp are now trying to dress up the battle as a vote against the influence of big

oil.

• !ut while 2eattles levy might not 5uite be in the bag just yet, there is already talk in

some 5uarters about how an outright ban on all plastic bags is the ultimate goal. %af

Blgar, a campaigner for Eriends of the Barth &ymru, welcomes the moves by the

=elsh Assembly to consider a plastic bag levy, but believes the ne?t logical step

would be a complete ban. 6'es, we would support such a step,6 she says. 6&harging,

say, ;p for a bag is a great disincentive and a first step, but, ultimately, we all need to

be bringing reusable bags with us to the shops.6

• Perhaps we need a dose of even more radical thinking how about a ta? on leaving

home without a reusable bagJ Think this is going too farJ Barlier this year, a !eijing(

based ecologist provoked a torrent of online abuse and ridicule when his suggestion 8

that tree planting be funded by a levy on individuals and businesses 8 was interpretedin media reports as a ta? on breathing.

• K This article was amended on 0 August 033: to clarify that while the scientist, iang

'ou?u, proposed an environmental ta? on businesses and carbon(producing city

dwellers, he did not propose 8 as our original article said 8 a ta? on breathing. This

has been corrected.

Are We Saving Earth by Banning Plastic

Bag?P%

rate or 8ag

!y bekae

>espite all the shoutout from many environmentalists to reduce plastic bags consumptions,

are you seeing any different in common daily plastic useJ how do this effect youJ NoJ is it

importantJ is it not importantJ

Plastic plays significant roles in our environment, social, as well as economical dimension.Plastics consumption has wide range in our life, from packaging, transport packaging, to

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components in cars, building materials, electronics, furniture and new technology. =e )still*

need plastics.

Please note I use two different terms here, dont mi?ed up plastic and plastic bag. =here I

mention plastic it is plastic in general, and plastic bag is only a small part of plastic

production. Plastic for all plastic products namely everything that has plastic component from

product components such as housing for electronic products, component in cars, components

in bulding materials,component in electronics, toys, packaging such as plastic bottle, plastic

bags.

See all ' photos

Now lets discuss about

plastic bags and plastic

bag bans

In public debate, plastic

bag has a bad image due

to irresponsible littering

behavior in human societies. This littering caused health and pollution problems, especially in

developing countries where the garbage and recycling systems are not getting a proper

priority.

Is plastic degradableJ it actually degrades very slowly over a long long time, thus generally it

is non degradable. 2ince plastic is not degradable once ended in land or water, it will stay

there, it will break to smaller pieces over a long time but it still remains. Thus irresponsible

plastic littering is also seen as unnecessary waste and unsustainable use of plastic.

Fets see some facts on plastic production and recycling

A. Production

Lvery roughly estimated, source polystyrene producerL To produce kg plastic we need 0kg

oil e5uivalent for material and energy use during production.

$lobal plastic production in year 033M is about 0D; million tones. )Plastic Burope #arket

esearch $roup, 033


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for electronic component, plastic for furniture, plastic for housing, plastic for tire production,

etc.

AndO, how many percent of this ;C accounts for plastic bagsJ

LL 2ource Feben und 9mwelt mit 4unstoffen, !A2ELﾧ

... how many ercent o! global oil consumtion goes !or lastic bags?The answer is less than "# o! total global oil consumtion$

2ome news or articles will claim that reducing plastic will reduce global oil consumption. I

am not sure if this is a significant amount since we are talking about 0C.

Another thesis we can pull is saving or banning plastic bag, is not going to reduce global

plastic production because plastic bags is less than 0C from overal global plastic production+

B. Recycling

#ost plastic bags are

made of polyethylene.Plastic recycling in city

urban areas has proven to

be difficult. >ifferent than

glass, paper and metals,

which are easier to process mechanically, it is often labor intensive and cost intensive )not

cost effective* to sort plastic waste.

Eor e?ample, recycling Polystyrene is rarely cost effective. %owever the overall plastic

recycling systems are problematic, not only of plastic bags, isnQt itJ =hat I am saying is that

maybe we should pay more attention on all plastic waste, instead of just blaming plastic

bags.

Plastic recycling is improving and hopefully getting better and better. #any people confused

the concept of down(cycling with real(recycling.

ecycling plastic bottles into plastic bag is called down%cycling. Thus, many plastic bags are

down(cycled products. Another e?ample of down(cycling is one way plastic bottle that will

be cycled into flanel jacket.

Recycling a lastic bottle into another new bottle with more or less the same &uality' is

called real re%cyling. PE( systems claims to use this system. Even though PE( isrobably using new material )which is oil* to rocess the roduction o! the new bottles'

they claim at least not to have lastic waste.

Seeing !rom raw%material use+ ,own cycling is not so good' while real%recycling is good.

2o when companies claim to 6recycle6 their plastic waste, I always 5uestion whether they

mean down(cycling or re(cycling.

%owever, down(cycled plastic which cannot be down(cycled anymore will normally be burnt

and will be converted into energy. In developing countries, that is not the case yet, they just

burnt it in incinerators without using the energy from it.

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-. s Biolastic and s Paer Bag

1f course each product is promoting its own benefits and goodness. There are always

advantage and disadvantages of each product.

• lastics are generally lighter than paper, thus easier and less costly to

transport after production, means less fuel 5which mean less 13 waste, less

oil used6.lastic production needs also less energy than paper.

• 2ioplastic bag is degrading much better than plastic bag, but it still costs a

lot of energy on production.5the energy used to produce bioplastic may

come from oil as well6

• aper production is one of the most polluting industries since it involves lots

of chemicals and uses relatively a lot of water and energy. ecycling paper

needs also a lot of energy and chemicals because old papers have to be

cleaned, de:ink, etc. ecycled papers need usually W%:%& paper waste, and

the rest would be new materials. Cew materials in this case are often virginpulp, originally from three.

In developing countries like &hina and India there is a new emerging trend of banning plastic

ban. According to thedailygreen.com ﾧ, &hina will save millions barrels oil every year though

plastic bag ban ) barrel;:Ftr*. %owever, there are many debates stating this ban goes

flimsy as enforcement is not strong enough.

So what is the real roblem with

lastic bags? What is the solution?

Is it littering problemJ then it is our

awareness to be changed. =hy

making a ban on plastic bags when it

turns to be flimsy enforcement

anywayJ

There are still millions of plastic produced each year. If plastic bag littering is the problem,

we should work on the awareness problems. !anning plastic bag without strong law

enforcement does not bring a lot. In &hina there is plastic bag ban since 033eveloping countries are still smoking our earth with their &1(0 waste from

their factories.

I am also annoyed when sometimes it heard as if plastic bag is causing more problems than

other environmental problems such as what I mentioned above. >ont get me wrong I am just

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5uestioning the priority here. >o you get the impression too that to some countries it is more

important to ban plastic bag instead of enforcing laws to reduce &10J

!anning plastic bag, which could urge the use of other material such as paper, or bio plastic

may also lead to another environmental problems. The paper comes from woods, and you

cannot total 33C recycling paper. I worked in paper industry so believe me I know. To

produce a new paper, depends on its grade, it is common to use up to G3C used paper, the rest

will be a fresh raw material. It means if we use more papers, there will be more trees cut, so

who knows whether it may lead to forest deforestation or not.

Attitude might be the answer !or our earth roblems. A sustainable use o! everything.

No unnecessary use o! materials and energy.

Promote our earth$

Promote /R )Reduce' Reuse' Recycle* for everything we use in life.)e.g. less fuel, less

electricity, less paper, avoiding unnecessary use of plastic and plastic packaging, multiple useof reusable shopping bag, bring your plastic to recycler*.

Promote that we can do more than 0ust minimi1ing lastic bags. Promoting less oil

consumption means less fuel which accounts for ;3C oil consumption. It does not help our

world if we succeed banning plastic bag but using unnecessary fuel. It is irony if there are

environmentalists who fight against plastic bag and privately using cars instead of public

transportation. 2aving our world is more than just avoiding plastic bag+

Attitude might be the answer !or our earth roblems.CewsK lastic:bag ban full of holes

•

3ur view on the environmentK lastic:bag ban full of holes : 3pinion :


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Improperly discarded plastic bags make an unsightly spectacle of the landscape, which more

easily camouflages other litter such as plastic drink bottles, plastic foam cups and cigarette

butts that fly easily out of car and truck windows. The bags environmental impact is smaller

than their visual statement. Also, we tend to remember our outrage at the sight of those bags

caught in trees and brush more readily than we remember how useful they are when used

properly.

The ones that come back from the grocery store make it safely into the house, where they are

reused as budget trash can liners, lunch bags and pet poop picker uppers. In the home

environment the bags usually are disposed of safely in a trash can or R better R the

recyclables bin. =e have no idea how many bags can be wadded and stuffed into one bag for

storage or recycling. =e just know its a lot.

Plastic bags from a convenience store or fast food restaurant are much more likely to end up

as litter, which is no reason to ban convenience stores or fast food restaurants.

Plastic bags make a minuscule dent in landfill space and, according to a 033: =all 2treet

ournal article, were found to be only a tiny fraction of the street litter in 2an Erancisco, less

pervasive than chewing gum and cigarette butts.

The heavily touted alternatives, paper bags and reusable shopping bags, pose their own problems. Paper bags are more costly and less environmental to manufacture, and arent as

strong as plastic R especially when wet. A joint study by the 9niversity of Ari"ona and

Foma Finda 9niversity in &alifornia found that reusable grocery bags tended to harbor

dangerous germs and that most users werent aware that the bags needed to be washed to

prevent this problem.

That doesnt negate the reusable bags as a solution. Preventing the germ problem by washing

the bags is easy enough.

The local 2urfrider Eoundation promoted reusable bags at the an. 7 &ity &ouncil meeting,

also urging a plastic bag ban. The council is scheduled to discuss a ban at its Eeb. 0 meeting.

=hile we share the sentiment that inspired the call for a ban, bags dont litter, people do. !ut

since the bags, unlike guns, have no 2econd Amendment protection, maybe well find out

whether a bag ban will solve &orpus &hristis trashy people problem.

1ommentaryK 2anning plastic bags means bruised groceries


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Since plastic bags have been banned in local supermarkets, I"ve been returninghome with bruised groceries in even more bruised bags. I"m not alone) most ofmy friends and their parents have been ad/usting poorly to coming home withshaky armfuls instead of bagfuls of groceries.

4hile conserving the environment should be paramount to beinginconvenienced, I can"t help but think there"s a better option, especiallyconsidering the holes in this one.

The plastic bag ban states that in San Bose retail stores, single:use plastic bagsare not provided, but customers can pay $% cents e>tra per paper bag or gobagless. This, ideally, should push customers to use reusable bags, but astestament to the human condition, I am too lay and resort to lugging mygroceries through the back door.

4hat"s really unfortunate about this situation is the fact that this ill:timed

government intervention has little standing on reducing littering. 0ore prevalentthan a couple stray plastic bags are litter like newspapers and fast:food /ointpackaging.

lastic bags make up such a negligible amount of the littering problem, andbanning them causes troublesome inconveniences that could be remedied ifenvironmentalists targeted their intentions toward a problem

Documents

Should plastic bags be banned from grocery stores 2.doc