The plastic bag problem EXAMINING THE CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES & EXPLORING POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
The plastic bag problem EXAMINING THE CATASTROPHIC CONSEQUENCES & EXPLORING POSSIBLE SOLUTIONS
Table of contents 01 Introduction 02 The Problem with Plastic Bags 03 As Litter 04 As Pollutants 06 As Toxins 08 As a Waste 10 Exploring Alternatives 12 Paper 14 Bioplastics 16 Reusable 17 The Solution 19 Works Sited
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
“Every plastic bag you have ever used in your entire life… still exists in some form today, and will exist long after you’re dead.” STEPHANIE BARGER , E XECUTIVE DIRECTOR E ARTH RESOURCE FOUNDATION
Plastic bags are all around us.
This book is a small journey into the effects of plastic bag pollution, aiming to raise awareness and inspire action. I hope within these pages you will find power in knowledge and make a commitment to rethink your life style and everyday choices for the sake of our planet and our future.
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
01 THE PROBLEM WITH PL ASTIC BAGS
They travel home with us when we go shopping, tightly package the foods we eat and protect the products we buy. They also adorn our metal fences, cling to bushes and trees, drift down roads and sidewalks, clog city storm drains and swirl slowly, about our ocean waters. Since their introduction into supermarkets in 1977, disposable plastic bags have become “the most ubiquitous consumer item on the planet� (MIESZKOWSKI) . According to Vincent Coob, founder of reusablebags. com, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide every year; 100 billion in the United States alone. With only 2% of that total ever being recycled, as plastic bags are dumped into either landfills or oceans, they become a menace to wildlife, a toxin within natural ecosystems, and even a threat to our own health (LOHAN) .
PLASTIC BAGS BECOME LITTER
Plastic items, of all kinds, present a destructive and costly form of litter, pollution and waste throughout the planet. Plastic bags, in particular, pose a significantly greater problem due to their light weight construction; making them airborne and easy to carry around the globe. As litter, plastic bags have become commonplace in Antarctica and other remote and desolate areas. According to David Barnes, a marine scientist with the British Antarctic Survey, plastic bags have gone from being rare in the 1980’s and early 1990’s to being everywhere in Antarctica today (WEST) .
R ACHEL CEMANSK Y, HOW STUFF WORKS , INC .
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
03 THE PROBLEM WITH PL ASTIC BAGS
“Plastic bags have been banned in Bangladesh since 2002, after being found to be responsible for the 1988 & 1998 floods that submerged most of the country.”
“There are 50,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean.” UNITED NATIONS ENVIRONMENTAL PROGR AMME
The biggest problem with plastic bags however, is that like all other forms of plastic, it never biodegrades.
ARE POLLUTANTS
No natural process can break it down. Instead, plastic photodegrades, meaning it breaks apart into smaller and smaller pieces of toxic plastic particles called microplastics or ‘nurdles’ (SILVERMAN) . In landfills, it can take between 500 and 1000 years for a single plastic bag to disintegrate (WEST) . Within lakes, waterways and oceans, plastic breaks down more rapidly, but quickly begins to soak up nearby toxins (like a sponge) that are often mistaken for food and fatally ingested by many animals. According to the Blue Ocean Society for Marine Conservation, every year plastic bags, and other plastic refuse, kill more than one million birds and 100,000 sea creatures, including countless types of fish, whales, dolphins and sea turtles that either ingest them or become hopelessly entangled within them (MIESZKOWSKI) . Plastics go on to outlive their prey and are released back into the environment as a continued, and increasingly more toxic, threat.
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
05 THE PROBLEM WITH PL ASTIC BAGS
PLASTIC BAGS
“Forty one species of fish have been reported to ingest plastic debris globally.” DR . CHELSE A ROCHMAN , SCHOOL OF VETERINARY MEDICINE , UC DAVIS
PLASTIC BAGS ARE TOXIC
Nurdles are competing with legitimate food sources in our oceans. Research done near the Central Pacific Gyre found that for every 6 pounds of plastic in their samples they only found one pound of plankton. Nurdles are great mimics due to their size, color, and shape. Furthermore, they are great at absorbing and concentrating toxic chemicals. The pollutants absorbed are often 1,000,000 times more concentrated on a nurdle than they are in ambient sea water. EXCERPT: MIESZKOWSKI, KATHARINE. “PLASTIC BAGS ARE KILLING US�
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
07 THE PROBLEM WITH PL ASTIC BAGS
As fish and other marine animals eat plastic, it enters and contaminates the food chain. In a study published in 2013 by Nature, Scientific Reports, scientists looked at the tiny plastic particles that fill our oceans, and how they affect fish at the bottom of the food chain. The study found that chemicals do transfer from the plastic to the fish, increasing glycogen depletion (an early sign of liver degeneration & disease) and tumor development (RENTER) . Dangerous toxins, including some that have been linked directly to cancers, birth defects, hormonal imbalances, immune system disorders and childhood developmental issues, have been found in fish consumed by humans (BARRY) .
“Plastic bags are made from natural gas or petroleum with all the consequent environmental impacts of harvesting fossil fuels.” K ATHARINE MIESZKOWSKI, “PL ASTIC BAGS ARE KILLING US .”
PLASTIC BAGS ARE A WASTE
Plastic resins are made from non-renewable natural resources such as petroleum and natural gas. In the United States alone, an estimated 12 million barrels of oil is used annually to make plastic bags that Americans use an average of twenty minutes, and then throw ‘away’ (LOHAN) . Plastic bags further our dependence on oil and are a senseless and unnecessary waste of non-renewable natural resources.
The 2010 BP Oil Spill harmed or killed approximately 82,000 birds of 102 species, approximately 6,165 sea turtles, and up to 25,900 marine mammals. The spill also harmed an unknown number of fi sh, and an unknown but likely catastrophic number of crabs, oysters, corals and other sea life. A CENTER FOR BIOLOGICAL DIVERSITY
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
09 THE PROBLEM WITH PL ASTIC BAGS
In the name of convenience, we are endangering wildlife, destroying the environment and poisoning our own bodies.
“Eliminating the use of disposable plastic bags is about more than just the environment, it is about health, sustainability, economics and focusing on what kind of quality of life we want.” STEPHANIE BARGER , E ARTH RESOURCE FOUNDATION
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM :
E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
E X P LO R I N G A LT E R N AT I V E S
While there’s no single solution to the plastic waste problem, when it comes to shopping bags, there are alternatives.
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“It takes 14 million trees to produce the 10 billion paper grocery bags used every year by Americans.” NATUR AL RESOURCES DEFENSE COUNCIL
PAPER BAGS
Americans have been carrying groceries in brown paper bags since Francis Wolle, in 1852, patented his automated paper-bag-making machine. Then, as now, the process of manufacturing is inefficient and environmentally destructive. In the US alone, approximately 14 million trees are cut down every year in order to create the 10 billion bags used. And, while most industrial timber comes from sustainable, managed tree farms, in the end paper products are the single largest contributor to America’s municipal solid waste, constituting 29 percent of the country’s annual garbage stream and half of all landfilled material (TARANTOLA) . Additionally, production and shipping of paper bags contributes to global warming and air pollution. In order to produce one single ton of paper pulp, three tons of wood and thousands of gallons of fresh water are required.
Paper bags, just as their plastic counterpart, carry significant environmental costs. The costs, however, occur at different ends of their life cycles. Paper bags are more readily recycled, reused, and composted, than plastic. Nearly 80% of Americans have access to recycling programs. In 2010, nearly 63% participated, making it the most recycled material (TARANTOLA) . Paper also break down faster. Usually, bags will biodegrade within a month when buried in an aerobic environment.
E X P LO R I N G A LT E R N AT I V E S
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THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
BIODEGRADABLE & COMPOSTABLE BAGS
A second viable alternative comes in the form of bioplastics. While conventional, synthetic plastics are derived from fossil fuels, bioplastics are made from renewable resources such as starch from corn or soy. Biodegradable and compostable bags cost more than synthetic plastic bags, but are produced using much less energy and are designed to break down in only four to twelve weeks (WEST) . They may however, contain a number of unknown chemicals necessary for their production, and since they come from corn or soy, attribute to the use of farmland, continuously sprayed with petroleum-based pesticides and fertilizers. They also incur the same environmental and energy costs to transport and distribute as synthetic plastic bags. What’s more, just because these bags are labeled as ‘biodegradable’, if thrown into a landfill they will not biodegrade. Landfills are designed to “entomb” waste, preventing exposure to air, moisture and sunlight, all essential to the break down process. Biodegradable plastic bags may, in the end, continue to litter our environment, endanger wildlife, and poison our bodies, just as synthetic plastic bags are.
“Bioplastics is just replacing one problem for another and doesn’t address what is wrong with our throw-away culture.” STEPHANIE BARGER , E XECUTIVE DIRECTOR E ARTH RESOURCE FOUNDATION
Globally, bioplastics make up nearly 331,000 tons (300,000 metric tons) of the plastics market. That may sound like a lot, but it only accounts for less than 1 percent of the 200 million tons (181 million metric tons) of synthetic plastics the world produces each year. ROBERT LAMB,“WHAT IS CORN PLASTIC?
E X P LO R I N G A LT E R N AT I V E S
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THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
“A switch to reusable bags provides the greatest environmental benefits.” AECOM TECHNICAL SERVICES ECONOMIC IMPACT ANALYSIS REPORT, 2010
REUSABLE BAGS
SO WHAT DO WE DO NOW?
In the end, reusable bags may be the best alternative. By switching to reusable bags we not only begin to reduce global pollution and protect our environment, but we also make a decisive and important move away from the use-and-toss, disposable culture we are so deeply steeped into. The shift to more sustainable living is not difficult. You can do it. We all can.
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E C ATA S T R O P H I C I S S U E S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
17 E X P LO R I N G A LT E R N AT I V E S
Last, but certainly not least, is the reusable bag. Today, there is a wide range of reusable bag options on the market. Reusables are heavier and more durable bags, constructed to have a long life. Often, they are made of more than one material to give the bag added strength and durability, and sometimes also to have a more appealing look. Every reusable bag, whether fabric or plastic, has an environmental impact. On a life cycle basis, stronger, heavier bags—no matter what material they are made from— require more resources and thus leave a greater footprint. Refer to the reusable bag guide The Plastic Bag Alternative published by Plastic Matters to learn about the advantages and potential disadvantages associated with many types of reusable fabric and synthetic bags.
“In order to minimize what you send to the landfill, you need to reduce, reuse, divert to compost and recycle.” STEVE MOJO, BIODEGR ADABLE PRODUCTS INSTITUTE
Make a change. Start today.
SOURCES
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Barry, Carolyn. “Plastic Breaks Down in Ocean, After All — And Fast.” NationalGeographic.com. National Geographic Society. 20 August 2009. Web. 2 April 2014.
E X P LO R I N G A LT E R N AT I V E S
Lamb, Robert. “What is Corn Plastic?” HowStuffWorks.com. Discovery Communications, Inc. Web. 30 March 2014. Lohan, Tara. “The Great Plastic Bag Plague.” Alternet.org. 4 September 2007. Web. 2 April 2014. Mieszkowski, Katharine. “Plastic Bags Are Killing Us.” Salon.com. Salon Media Group. 10 August 2007. Web. 2 April 2014. Renter, Elizabeth. “Fish Eat Plastic from Polluted Oceans, Travels Up Food Chain and Harms Humans.” NationofChange.org. Nation of Change. 29 November 2013. Web. 3 April 2014. Silverman, Jacob. “Why is the world’s biggest landfill in the Pacific Ocean?” HowStuffWorks.com. Discovery Communications, Inc. Web. 30 March 2014. Tarantola, Andrew. “Paper or Plastic? Try Neither.” Gizmodo.com. 13 November 2011. Web. 8 April 2014. West, Larry. “Paper, Plastic, Or Something Better?” About.com. Web. 3 April 2014.
THE PLASTIC BAG PROBLEM : E X A M I N I N G T H E P R O B L E M S & E X P LO R I N G P O S S I B L E S O L U T I O N S
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