Introduction :
Plastic bags, though useful in many ways have proved to be extremely harmful to the environment due to one single reason – they are non – bio degradable, which means they ‘ do not decompose easily making their disposal a huge challenge. Our soil takes almost 5000 years to decompose one plastic bag. Burning them also does not help as it releases poisonous gases into the atmosphere. Despite its extreme harmful effects, plastic bags are extensively used today because they are light weight, convenient, durable and economical.
Plastic bags are the hash one pollutants of land and ocean. Banning them would mean that we will forever be free from the extreme damages it causes on our environment. Our lands and oceans will have a lot less litter in them. The adverse health effects it causes on humans, animals and marine life is irrevocable.
Banning them will tread us on a much healthier journey. Plastic bags are manufactured using petroleum and produced in quantities of trilions per year. Such huge volumes of petroleum can instead be directed towards more important basic necessities like automobile fuel.
Banning plastic will mean that we will have to find a more organic material as an alternate. A well known alternate for plastic bags are paper bags. The commodity paper is extensively used today and hence is already under mass production, causing a huge toll in our environment by the number of trees being cut down for this sake.
Now introducing paper bags will only adverse this. In the case, introducing any other organic material as an alternate for such an extensively used product will only mean a greater depletion of the already minimized natural resources.
Conclusion:
We can either look at the cons of banning plastic bags as a problem or opportunity. On realizing the need, the problem of having less natural resources can turn into an opportunity to create more natural resources by planting more trees. Such a way that plastics have become an inevitable component in our day to day life. Plastic bags have shops or vegetable shops. But, the actual scenario is, instead of making our lives easy, these plastic bags are the root cause of various issues like environmental pollution, illness in humans and animals, etc.
Problems of using plastic bags :
The plastic bags that we rely on for our every purchases at every store are perilous for the environment. The problem of using plastic bags is much more serious than it actually appears. Various studies report that these plastic bags are the major cause of water pollution. Additionally, these plastic bags make our fertile agricultural land highly infertile by occupying the underground and avoiding the uptake of minerals by the plants.
The increased use of plastic bags makes the disposal of them a herculean task. As plastic is not biodegradable, it takes almost 5000 years for the degradation to take place. The plastic bags can clog our waterways and is also a very harmful toxin for the aquatic life. Plastic bag wastes cannot be even disposed of through incineration as the process releases harmful gases that can deteriorate the atmosphere.
On a large scale, plastic bags should be banned as they can be dreadful to wild and marine life as well. Many times, these bags are mistaken for eatables by birds and animals. The plastic, which is consumed sometimes, this could even lead to the death of these animals by suffocation.
Above all, there are some external costs linked to these plastic bags. In addition to the costs linked to the production and buying of these plastic bags, there are other costs, such as :
- Environmental costs
- Resource extraction
- Resource depletion
- Loss of quality of life
- Economic loss.
- Wildlife loss
Conclusion:
Plastic bags are banned in most of the countries globally. However, we must understand that mere ban can never help to sort the hazardous effects of the plastic bags. It is f high time that we realize the importance of our precious environment and avoid things that can degrade our environment. So, let’s go green and healthier life.
