letter to editor on ban on polythene
Answers
We dispose of so many single use products—razors, toothbrushes, papers, coffee cups, plastic silverware, packaging and plastic bags are just some. Products that are used once and that will linger for much longer than our own lives, our children, grandchildren and great grandchildren. Every plastic item ever made still exists today. Plastic bags take between 400 and 1,000 years to break down. Even then, it doesn't fully decompose. So when you throw away plastic, there is no "away."
Plastic bags are produced by non-renewable sources such as crude oil and natural gas. Only 5 percent of plastic bags are recycled across the country. More than 1 million bags are used every minute worldwide. The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store. Yes, some people use them as garbage can liners and for pet waste, but it's unlikely that they use this many. This is one thing that we could go without in our community.
Countless cities worldwide have recognized that the plastic bag pandemic can be changed through jurisdictions. Some countries where cities have taken action (whether it be bans or taxes on bag usage) are England, Mexico, India, Bangladesh, Rwanda, Italy, Ireland, Australia and the Philippines. In addition, 178 jurisdictions are in the United States. Our own capital, Minneapolis, has proposed to ban disposable plastic bags and have a five-cent fee on paper bags. This goes into action April 2017.
Bemidji is a beautiful place. It's time to be educated about sustaining our environment and moving forward. Banning or taxing plastic bags would only be one step, but with this one step, less physical waste is being produced, fewer plastic bags dwell in our streets, lakes and trees; fewer nonrenewable sources are used to produce the bags, and money is saved by businesses. This could be the start of more changes to come. It may be difficult to remember reusable bags on trips at first, but the use of reusable bags could easily be incorporated into our society's culture.