Original Article
Plastic Bag Ban: Boon or Bane?
Somewhere between 500
billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. (Let’s
Really Talk Plastics, 2011) Millions of these end up in different bodies of
water, increasing the already huge amount of water pollution present in rivers
and oceans. The alarming amount of plastic garbage that could be seen
everywhere- plastic bags caught in trees, stuck in sewers, floating in rivers
or drifting aimlessly through the wind, have caused various environmental
organizations and local and national government units to keep a close eye on
the issue. At least 90 cities and towns in the Philippines have passed
ordinances banning or regulating the use of plastic bags, with several more
local government units (LGUs) poised to follow suit before the end of the year,
according to EcoWaste Coalition. (Yap, 2013) Plastics
may have a negative impact on our environment, but banning plastics is not the
solution to a cleaner environment.
Plastic bags have
been receiving such a bad press because of its negative impacts on the
environment. One of the disadvantages of using plastics bags is that it is very
difficult to recycle. It takes a long process to be able to recycle plastic
into a new form, and even then, the quality will not be as good as new
(Zaleski, 2008). It has also caused a lot of problems both in land and water.
Plastic bags that are thrown away improperly causes clogged sewers, which lead
to flash floods in the metro and other towns, while those thrown in bodies of
water cause unsightly piles of garbage in rivers, seas and oceans and destroy
the coral reefs where most sea creatures live. Moreover, these plastic bags
could be ingested by sea creatures such as sea turtles and dolphins which would
lead to poisoning and ultimately, death.
However, the public
should also be informed that plastic bags are not all that bad. There are
various benefits in using plastics in packing. For instance, using plastics for
perishable food items such as meat and fish extends its shelf life. They are
also more weather friendly compared to paper bags because it can withstand the
rain. Plastic bags are also very reusable. A single plastic bag can be reused
at least a few more times for carrying items and it could also be used as trash
bin liners (Cagape, 2009). Plastic bags do not really contribute as much
pollution to our environment as what the media would like us to believe. In
fact, compared to paper bags, they are much more eco-friendly. This can be
proven in the manufacturing process of plastic and paper bags. The production
of plastic bags requires much less energy consumption and water than the
production of paper bags. While almost 4000 liters of water are used for the
production of a thousand paper bags, only about 200 liters are used for the
production of the same amount of paper bags, and the amount of energy used and
greenhouse gases emitted increase twice as much when manufacturing paper bags
compared to plastic bags (Let’s Really Talk Plastics, 2011).
Plastic bags are not
really the problem here; it is how people throw them away that cause all these
problems that the world facing today. The lack of discipline in observing
proper waste management is the real enemy. The different local government
units, therefore, have to find a solution to this problem, and banning plastic
bags is not one of them. A good alternative to the banning of plastic bags is
by taxing bags purchased in establishments. That way, people would be forced to
reuse their plastic bags a number of times before disposing it. Some countries
and towns have already implemented it and they received a positive
response. By taxing plastic bags, the mindless consumption of these bags
will be reduced, just like in Ireland, where the government introduced the PlasTax,
wherein the public have to pay $0.15 dollars for every plastic bag they would
use. When this regulation was implemented, the country saw a dramatic decline
in the consumption of plastic bags where approximately a billion fewer bags
were consumed annually, and the government was able to raise funds worth $9.6
million for environmental-friendly projects (Reuse It, 2013).
Plastic bags are more
earth-friendly than most people think. It is reusable, and the manufacturing
process does very little harm to the environment compared to other packaging
options like paper bags. The key to a cleaner and greener environment is not
the banning of these bags; instead, it is proper waste management and
discipline. It is the most effective solution; for people to be responsible
with their garbage and observe proper waste separation and recycling actions,
so that bags flying around in our natural environment and oceans can be avoided
(Let’s Really Talk Plastics, 2011). The local government units should really
think twice before deciding to eliminate plastic bags, because it will only
trigger more problems to arise.
Responsive Essay
Plastic Bag
Should Be Banned
According to “Plastic Bag
Ban: Boon or Bane?” essay that written by Patricia Galang on December
15, 2013 shows that banning
plastics is not the solution to a cleaner environment because of plastic have various benefits and more
earth-friendly. For example, using plastics for perishable food items such as
meat and fish extends its shelf life. It is reusable and the manufacturing
process does very little harm to the environment compared to other packaging
options like paper bags. The key to a cleaner and greener environment is not the
banning of these bags; instead, it is proper waste management and
discipline. Based on the statement of the writer, I disagree with her idea
because of many the bad effect of plastic on human, plant, animal, and
environmental.
Many
disadvantage of using plastic, before explain it I explain about plastic first.
Plastic is a term of a polymeric material
of oil which is a non-renewable resource. The majority of plastics have
polemers of hydrogen, carbon, nitrogen, chlorine and oxygen or sulfur for the
backbone. The backbone of the chain is the part that function as a linking of a
big number of repeating units. Plastics are organic liquids which dissolve in
big qualities into solid polymers. This effect the chain to be regardless of
the disappearance by a liquid of oil. (PVC) or (V) or (DEHA) : Polyvinyl
chloride used for wrap, some types of plastic compress cooking oil, peanut
butter jars and bottle like, window cleaner bottles and detergent. (PVC) is
famous to be connected with liver cancer. (DEHA) is related to the harmful
effects on bone structure, spleen, body weight , liver and kidney. (ukessays,
2015) Based on this, first reason why I
disagree with the writer’s idea because of
the bad effect of plastic on human. Plastic contains chemicals that
cause damage to the nervous system and immune system and some genetic diseases.
If the plastic exposed to high temperature is produced from the melt poisonous
substances called dioxins, causing this article some tumors, birth defects,
genetic mutations, and cause gas. The manufacture of plastics resulting
chemicals substances, such as oxide, ethylene, gasoline and Alaakslin
destruction of the nervous system and immune system and certain types of
cancers, kidney disease. (ukessays, 2015)
The second
reason because of the bad effect of plastic on plant. Bags and volumes of
plastic if stabilized volumes and bags on the plants to prevent the arrival of
sufficient light to also prevent them from breathing at night and hinder its
growth, if you reach this material to the soil to prevent it from breathing and
ventilation, may reach hundreds of years, because most microorganisms can not
analysis of plastic materials, plastic bags that need to be 1000 years to
decompose in the soil. because they contain chemical analysis difficult.
The third reason because of the bad effect
of plastic on animals. Some sea mammals get caught in the bags and aren't able to
come to the surface to breathe and drown. (Audet) Sometimes animals, birds, or
fish ingest pieces of a plastic bag that block their digestive system and
causes them to die. There are numerous ways that these bags pose a threat to
animals. On BBC news by Kinver
(2013), so-called microplastics may be able to transfer toxic pollutants and
chemicals into the guts of lugworms, reducing the animals' functions.
The fourth reason because of the bad effect
of plastic on environment. Throwing
plastic bags could make the soil unfertile which is described as soil
pollution. We need fertile soil to help plants grow and provide enough food for
all of us. Animals also need soil because it makes plants grow and animals will
eat those plants. This is a part of natural food chain. Plastic contains
some chemicals that are difficult to Nhalilha and constitute a threat to the
ocean environment and living organisms. Plastic factories produce a great
amount of green house gases and carbon dioxide which lead to significant
increase in global warming that can change many species habitats therefore
their numbers will decrease. Another fact that most kind of plastic diffuse
toxic pollutants to the atmosphere, besides burning plastic generate toxic
fumes fuse with the air. In addition these toxics can leak to the soil and
groundwater and cause contamination of soil and groundwater which makes it
impossible to grow the plants. These harmful chemicals have the ability to
conflict with hormones in the body which is a major reason of many disease and
faultiest in cells functions.
In other side, some people agree if plastic
should be managed, not banned. One reason that plastic film bags are widely seen as an
environmental nuisance is that most are non-biodegradable. But if they were manufactured from a biodegradable material — such as the bioplastics that are now
being produced in some European countries — the main reason for banning them
would disappear. (Casanova, 2012) The answer to the problems associated with
thin plastic bag use is not a ban, but better management. The 3Rs — reduce,
reuse and recycle — of solid waste management (SWM) also apply to plastic bags.
Managing plastic bags means knowing how to use and store them properly so that
they can be reused many times, and knowing how they can be recycled when their
useful life has come to an end. The government also create law that regulate
the price of plastic. Every persons using plastic after buying in the market,
they will have purchased the plastic. This is solution for reduce using of plastic. That way, people would be forced to reuse their plastic
bags. For eample, government of Indonesia have apply it in Indonesia.
To sum up, we have known that after all
plastic bags are used, they will be bad wastes of the world. We can
do little work to avoid plastic as much as possible, plastic should be banned.
So, I disagree with banning
plastics is not the solution to a cleaner environment. Plastic have many bad
effect or disadvantage on human, animals, plants, and environment.
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