Anna McWhirter

Mrs. Carroll

7/12/19

English 112

Cutting Out Plastic

Plastic waste problems from the excessive use of plastic bags is a growing topic of conversation

in the United States. Every grocery store and department store have plastic bags at their checkouts.

These single use plastic bags flood landfills, oceans, the streets, and kitchen trash cans. They are almost

never recycled or disposed of in the correct places. They end up in landfills where they pile up on top of

each other and never degrade because it can take up to hundreds or one thousand years for a plastic

bag to fully break down. They end up in the ocean where they destroy the lives of sea animals by

choking and killing them. Lastly, they are extremely toxic to the environment because of the pollution

and chemicals.

Reusable bags are becoming increasingly popular. Chains stores like Food Lion, Target, Ikea, and

H&M are carrying their own cloth reusable bags. Stores are beginning to push the sales of their own

reusable bags more and more. Stores like these are taking baby steps in battling the world’s plastic

waste problem. One reusable bag can replace at least three plastic bags which is a great step in reducing

plastic pollution. Considering the state of our current environmental status, switching to reusable bags is

the way to go. Banning plastic bags could help impact the environment in many positive ways.

The first reason all states should switch to reusable bags is because plastic bags are not bio-

degradable. One plastic bag can take almost one thousand years to break down. Not just in the United

States, but across the globe as well, a ridiculous number of plastic bags are made every year “4 to 5
trillion plastic bags—including large trash bags, thick shopping bags and thin grocery bags—are

produced globally each year,” (Abdul 4) Billions of those bags are thrown away, but not recycled. There

is at least 15 billion pounds of plastic waste and around 1.3 billion pounds gets recycled. Less than 10%

of all plastic bag waste gets recycled. That is one of the biggest concerns of using plastic bags. At least

one hundred billion plastic bags out of the roughly 4 trillion made, are thrown into landfills. Some

companies tried to make a clean plastic bag, but they failed. The alternative plastic bags take too long to

decompose. They are supposed to take a maximum of 3 years to decompose, but that does not always

happen. When hundreds of thousands of the newer alternative plastic bags are piled on top of each

other it makes the breaking down part not as effective. “But whether it actually happens seems to

depend a lot on where the "biodegradable" plastic ends up. If it gets buried in a landfill it probably won't

degrade at all because there is no light or oxygen” (Pearce 2).

Secondly, when plastic bags clutter up the oceans, they put sea animals at risk. They are

everywhere in the ocean and animals get caught in them. When an animal gets caught in a bag, it can

strangle or choke them. An animal’s neck can easily get caught between the two handles of a plastic

bag. Another risk is that animals eat the plastic bags. In the ocean, a plastic bag can resemble food, so

the animal chokes on the plastic bag and dies. The quote” Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed

every day by discarded plastic bags - a dead turtle with a plastic bag hanging from its mouth isn't a

pleasant sight but mistaking plastic bags for food is commonplace amongst marine animals.” (Jacobsen,

1) proves that it’s easy for plastic bags to trick marine life. Millions of pounds of plastic bags make their

way into the ocean and that’s why it raises so much concern “There are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter

floating in every square mile of ocean.” (Katharine, 1) Humans go through plastic bags so fast and

nothing is done about it and the oceans and sea creatures suffer because of it.

The last reason to switch to plastic bags is because of how harmful they are to the environment.

Not only does it take a very long time for a plastic bag to break down, but when it does it releases harsh
chemicals and dyes into agriculture, water, and sewer systems. It takes a lot of energy to make plastic

bags which contributes to more air and water pollution in the atmosphere. Plastic bags are mass

produced and all the factories that make them create more air and water pollution. Plastic bags are

made up of chemicals, oil, and other valuable and non-renewable sources “Plastic bags start as crude oil,

natural gas or other petrochemical derivatives, which are transformed into chains of hydrogen and

carbon molecules known as polymers or polymer resin. By some estimates nearly 12 million barrels of

petroleum oil (or fuel equivalents such as natural gas) are used to produce 100 billion plastic bags.”

(Food Fuel Future, 1) There is already a fossil fuel scarcity and the dangers of using too many is already

known. To continue to use something that contributes to fossil fuel pollution does not make any sense.

Banning plastic bags and switching to reusable bags would be much more beneficial to the

environment. By making the switch, the 4 to 5 trillion bags that are made every year would be

completely erased. That would mean no more over crowded landfills, less waste in the oceans, and

fewer threats to marine life. There would be less chemicals invading our soil and water systems. It would

also mean that there would be less energy needed and fewer greenhouse gases. It would make it easier

to conserve natural resources, oil, and fossil fuels. Overall, using reusable bags over plastic bags is a

much healthier option for the environment. Finding an alternative to plastic bags is the next best thing.

Cutting down or cutting out single use plastic waste and pollution is the one and only true solution.
Foodfuelfuture. “The Plastic Bag Problem.” Sustainable America, sustainableamerica.org/blog/the-

plastic-bag-problem/.

Gamerman, Ellen “An Inconvenient Bag.” The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2008.

https://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/aboutthebag/pdf/articles/archive/WallStreetJournal_09-26-08_1.pdf

Jacobsen, Sharon. Plastic Bag Pollution.

www.dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/PlasticBags/Articles/Googobits_07-21-05.pdf.

Logomasini, Angela “Plastic Bag Bans Are Bad for the Environment.” WebMem Competitive Enterprise
Institute, November 8, 2011

http://www.cei.org/sites/default/files/Angela%20Logomasini%20-
%20Plastic%20Bag%20Bans%20are%20Bad%20for%20the%20Environment%20-
%20WebMemo.pdf

Mieskowski, Katharine. “Plastic Bags are Killing us”

http://ecoleaders.colostate.edu/Data/Sites/15/documents/2014/9_25%20Plastic%20Bags%20are%20Kil
ling%20us.pdf

Pearce, Fred. Exposing False Environmental Claims. Guardian, 18 June 2009,

http://www.icpe.in/pdf/Biodegradable%20plastic%20bags%20carry%20more%20ecological%20harm%2
0than%20good.pdf