Question

What effect do plastic bags have on the environment?

Answer 1

Disposable plastic bags are an environmental problem for several reasons.

First, they are manufactured from oil, creating further demand for environmentally damaging oil extraction.

Second, they do not quickly and harmlessly biodegade, and due to their disposable nature build up far more quickly than they break down. This causes a waste problem.

Third, due to their lightness and shape, they are readily prone to be blown or washed away to places outside the waste management stream. They get caught in trees and waterways.. They are unsightly, but more importantly they are frequently hazardous or lethal to wildlife (choking, suffocation, internal blockage).

Probably billions have ended up in the sea, to break up into tiny pieces and causing widespread harm when ingested, at all levels of the food chain. Even while whole they are hazardous - turtles, for instance, mistake them for jellyfish, and may die upon eating them.

Back on land, bags can block drainage systems, and thus contribute to localised flooding.

Despite all this, disposable plastic bags are by no means the greatest threat to our environment. Some have argued that paper bags actually carry a bigger ecological 'footprint' (felled trees, higher energy input to manufacture, heavier weight in transit) despite the fact that paper readily biodegrades.

Plastic bags are a legitimate target for criticism, however, since completely unnecessary. The reusable bag has been around for millenia, and does the job as well if not better.

At the very least, disposable bags ought to be used a second time as bin liners, which also ensures that they end up in the managed waste stream, rather than causing havoc to wildlife.

Answer 2

Answer:

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