Essay on ban on polethene Why not essay
Answers
For one, plastic bags litter the environment. Forests, rivers, lakes, and oceans are littered all over the world. Wind carries these bags everywhere. We are destroying our own planet and most people don’t even realize the harmful effects of these bags. They also overfill landfills, taking up room that can be used by other trash. Americans use over 380 billion plastic bags a year.
For two, these bags kill our wildlife. They kill not only marine animals, but also animals on land. Many species are already becoming endangered as it is. These bags are adding to the death toll of animals, and it could increase their chances of being endangered, or even extinct. About one million mammals and sea birds die per year due to ingesting plastic bags. They are mistaken as food. The animals die a slow and painful death, usually by choking. 100,000 marine mammals die per year by eating these plastic bags.
Introduction
Plastic bags are a major cause of environmental pollution. Plastic as a substance is non-biodegradable and thus plastic bags remain in the environment for hundreds of years polluting it immensely. It has become extremely essential to ban plastic bags before they ruin our planet completely.
Countries that have Banned Plastic Bags
Many countries around the globe have either put a ban on plastic bag or levi tax on it in order to restrict its usage. Tanzania, Kenya, Uganda, South Africa, Morocco, Malaysia, Bangladesh, Taiwan, England, Germany, Hawaii, New York, Italy, Scotland, Rhode Island and Maine are among some of these. These measures have brought down the usage of plastic bags to a large extent. However, the problem hasn’t been solved completely because the implementation of these measures hasn’t been as successful.
Black market for plastic bags exists in some of these countries and these toxic bags are still being circulated illegally.
Reasons to Ban Plastic Bags
There are numerous reasons why the government of various countries have come up with strict measures to limit the use of plastic bags. Some of these include:
Waste plastic bags are polluting the land and water immensely.
Plastic bags have become a threat to the life of animals living on earth as well as in water.
Chemicals released by waste plastic bags enter the soil and make it infertile.
Plastic bags are having negative impact on the human health.
Plastic bags lead to drainage problem.
Public Must Support Plastic Bag Ban
While the Indian government has imposed ban on the usage of plastic bags in many states, people are still seen carrying these bags. Shopkeepers stop providing plastic bags to the shoppers for a few days every now and then but switch back to them as the government doesn’t take any strong measures to stop their production and distribution. It is time we must contribute our bit to make this ban a success.
We, the educated lot of the society must take it as our responsibility to stop the use of plastic bags and ensure that those around us stop using these too. Here is how we can support the government in this direction:
Keep a Tab
We are so accustomed to using plastic bags that it is difficult to stop their usage completely all of a sudden. In order to be successful in this mission, we must keep reminding ourselves about the harmful effects of the plastic bags on our nature and keep a tab on their use. Gradually, we will become habitual to doing without these bags.
Seek Alternatives
There are many eco friendly alternatives to plastic bags. Instead of taking plastic bags to carry our grocery items and other stuff, we can carry a reusable jute or cloth bag each time we head to the market.
Reuse
We should reuse the plastic bags we already have at home as many times as we can before throwing them away.
Spread Awareness
While the government should spread awareness about the harmful effects of plastic bags and the need to ban them by way of advertisements and hoardings, we can also spread awareness through word of mouth. We can educate our house help, car cleaner and kids in the society about the environmental problems caused due to plastic bags and urge them to stop its use.
Conclusion
The problems caused due to plastic bags have often been overlooked and underestimated. This is because people do not look at the long term effect of these small, easy to carry bags they use in their everyday life. They keep using these bags owing to the convenience they offer completely ignoring the fact that these bags have adverse effect on the environment and are a threat to life on earth.