In the modern world, the use of plastic bags has become a highly controversial subject. While plastic bags are efficient and convenient, they also cause massive environmental problems.
There is a growing divide between both the advocates and critics of the use of plastic bags. Communities should heavily limit the use of plastic bags and pursue more environmentally friendly options.
Mankind invented plastic bags for the convenience of carriers and packers. However, plastic bags have started contributing to serious issues such as global warming, environmental pollution, and energy consumption.
Plastic bags have also begun to have detrimental effects on wildlife across the planet. A recent study by the University of British Columbia found that “93 percent of beached northern fulmars had bellies full of plastic” (Source B).
The use of plastic bags has a negative effect on wildlife. If mankind recklessly continues to use plastic bags, it will eventually destroy the earth through ignorance.
Human beings should pursue more environmentally-friendly alternatives to plastic bags. Plastic bags are made from nonrenewable resources, such as fuel, which can have detrimental effects long-term, potentially leading to the depletion of important resources.
Plastic bags are also notoriously hard to degrade. Some estimates say that the process can “take up to 500 to 1000 years in landfills” (Source F). Such a long process is massively detrimental to the environment, as even one plastic bag can have effects that last nearly a thousand years.
In an era of high prices and energy scarcity, plastic bags are costing considerable natural resources, only to be thrown away like useless garbage.
Due to their low weight, plastic bags can easily catch the wind and blow away, making confinement and recycling difficult. To avoid pollution, many groups implore people to reuse plastic bags to maximize their efficiency.
Companies have begun to tax the use of plastic bags, which can also cause detrimental economical impacts. A 20-cent tax on plastic bags in Colorado “raised $44,826 in fees in a span of a year” (Source E).
In modern society, plastic bags have become more prevalent than ever before. Despite this massive usage, controversy over the use of plastic bags has endured due to the substantial environmental problems they cause.
Many critics of the use of plastic bags bring up the massive negative impact they have had on the world. If mankind wishes to halt this growing environmental issue, then different methods should be employed to limit the use of plastic bags.
