We read here advantages of plastic bags. Now let’s find out what are the disadvantages of these bags. Plastic bags have a habit of flying everywhere. Not only does this look horrific and untidy but they pose a serious danger to birds and other animals that often mistake them for food. Thousands die after swallowing or choking on discarded plastic bags each year and the worst about plastic bag is that they are not biodegradable. They clog water ways, spoil the landscape and may take 1000 years or more to break down in to small particles.
So will banning them make cities and oceans cleaner and help the environment? This question is common these days and in discussion by several. Some cities have already banned plastic bags while others have adopted taxes on them.
Plastic bags are source to carry purchases mostly. Once they have been used they became part of trash. The real problem is lack of awareness of dealing with them. Before Olympics 2008, china cracked down on plastic bags by banning ultra thin bags. This was a positive step taken in favor of environment. A number of European countries have bag taxes in some form and policies are there to reduce the use of plastic bags.
Imposing taxes, or pricing plastic bags at retail store and other markets affect not only the retailers and big markets but also the consumer behavior. On a daily routine, plastic bags play an important role and help carry things bought. Though paper bags are also in use but comparatively plastic bags’ usage is still at large and approximately 500 billion and 1 trillion plastic bags are used worldwide each year.
One thing that goes in the environment favor is many stores and markets introduced green bag policy where buyer purchases the bag and can reuse it by bring it again. More and more people around the world are getting aware of environmental issues surrounding plastic bags. The only thing is how best countries can create awareness of minimizing or recycling of plastic bags use and introducing the best alternates.
