…We Should Lose Our Reliance On Plastic Shopping Bags
1. Coming on to the market only 25 or so years ago, plastic shopping bags are ubiquitous. So much so, it could be argued we use way too many. Some estimates show that our addiction results in over 500 billion bags being used per year! That’s almost 1 million bags per minute!
2. Plastic bags don’t just appear out of thin air. According to Reuters, it takes 12 millions barrels of oil to produce the 100 million plastic bags that are used in the United States each year. Do the math for the global consumption of bags and you quickly realize that a lot of oil get diverted to make our shoppings trips a little more convenient. If the math is correct, that’s 60 billion barrels. A 2005 study notes that the manufacturing of plastic bags accounts for 4% of the world’s total oil production!
3. Most bags are made of single-use, high-density polyethylene, which requires between 400 and 1,000 years to fully decompose. While the total volume of bags in landfills is likely small relative to the total volume of garbage produced, the fact that they will still be around long after the planet runs out of oil and we are all long gone is frightening. And think of all of the bags that are strewn across the landscape - in South Africa, they used to be called “national flowers” because there were so many on the streets and in the fields.
4. The environmental impact of moving away from plastic bags is significant. The same study quoted above figures that if half of Ireland’s 1.23 million shoppers (who now face a PlasTax) switched to cotton, 15,100 tonnes of CO2 emissions would be saved per year. This is the equivalent of one person driving around the world 1,800 times!
5. Each high quality reusable bag used has the potential to eliminate approximately 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime. While it may cost you a bit of money to buy a reusable bag, consider it goodwill toward society.
February 12th, 2008 at 11:48 am
Whenever you buy anything in Ireland, they will give you a paper bag. Only if you really need a bigger (sturdier) bag, they will get you one, but you will have to pay for it!
February 12th, 2008 at 1:59 pm
Apparently this has lead to a 95% reduction in the use of plastic bags in Ireland. Amazing!
February 12th, 2008 at 3:30 pm
its pretty easy to jump on the anti plastic bandwagon but as typicall you are ignoring the facts. damage done to the environment, air quality, water, forests by producing paper. ever seen a paper mill in production? plastic bags are not inherently evil and by the way are manufactured from resin produced as a by product of natural gas refining not from oil. plastic bags weigh much less than paper bags and it is much more efficient to transport plastic bags using significantly less fuel than paper until american consumers embrace bringing their own bags to shop with, recycling plastic bags is the way to go as these can be remade into new bags over and over and over again using less energy and raw materials than what it takes to produce new ones. only by embracing all 3 Rs can we really make a difference. we’ve been recycling our left over bags for years along with all types of other other Pet products. and no, I do not work in the plastic industry, just a concerned recycler that hates to see the inflamatory soundbites bantered about that have little or not truth to them.