1) Paper
or plastic a simple choice that has important environmental consequences. Can
be hard to know for sure which one has a smaller impact because plastic bags
are such a presence in everyday life, can be easy to overlook the damage they
caused today. we're going to look at the environmental impact of plastic bags
as well as the alternatives in order to understand what kind of choices we have
as consumers in an environmentally unethical system.
2) The
first plastic bakelite was originally invented in 1907 but it wasn't until the
1960s that plastics specifically polyethylene became cheap and efficient to
make plastics. Soon after the 1960s plastic bags exploded in popularity because
it was marketed and made as a single-use product. They're cheap manufacturing
costs allowed them to become the default choice at supermarket checkout
counters, but the problem is the cheap price doesn't account for the
environmental costs of using plastic bags.
3) According
to a study conducted by the English Environment Agency resource extraction and
raw material production account for 60% of the environmental footprint of
plastic bags. In other words 60% of the bags environmental impact happens before
we even put our groceries in them. Although post use impact accounts for less
than half of a bags total environmental impact it is also the part of the bags
life that consumers can most easily control it's estimated that the US alone
throws away 100 billion plastic bags annually. Only a fraction of which gets
recycled in general most of these bags make their way into waterways and float
along ocean.
4) Currents
until they make it to the five oceanic gyres that are created by circular
currents and these plastic bags could take well over 500 year to degrade. The
bags don't maintain their original shape however instead they slowly break down
via Sun, water and microbial erosion to smaller bits called micro plastics
which can be fatal to marine life. While, considering the adverse effects of
plastic bags it would make sense then to buy a cloth reusable bag or opt for
the paper bag.
5) Right
well the answer isn't so simple in the same study by the English Environment
Agency they found that the real environmental cost of a bag whether plastic
paper or cloth is heavily rooted in the production side of the product plastic.
Actually has the smallest environmental impact out of those three materials so
in order for the quote unquote longer life bags to have a smaller environmental
impact.
6) They
need to be used multiple times for paper, the study claims that it needs to be
used three times in order to equate a single use of a plastic bag. For cloth
that number skyrockets to 131 uses this definitely shouldn't be taken to mean
that single-use plastic bags are the best option.
7) When
possible we should avoid using them but for those of us who already have a
drawer full of plastic bags in our home we're using is key for mitigating the
negative effects of that plastic. There is no need to go out and buy a brand
new reusable tote, if you already have usable plastic bags at home. Buying new
reusable bags every time you go out to the store just perpetuates the problem
reducing the use of plastic bags has rightfully been a focus of environmental
initiatives.
8) But if
we zoom out they are a small part in a much larger environmental picture for
example it takes 40 times more energy to make a hamburger than it does to make
a plastic bag. Even more frustrating only 100 companies are responsible for 71
percent of all carbon emissions. Since 1988 our choices as consumers are
important but we also face imperfect options based on production side decisions
so reducing your plastic bags shouldn't be viewed as your sole contribution to
climate change mitigation it's a small alteration.
9) We need to go hand in hand with other actions like reexamining how much food you're buying from that very same grocery store. So you don't end up throwing away five pounds of vegetables at the end of the week. In short, the bag you choose matters but not as much as how it came to be there what you put in it and how you use it.
Abundance of information
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