Why Are Plastic Bags Such A Problem?

They are:

Landscape eyesores are only part of the problem across the globe. Plastic litter is responsible for a litany of environmental and infrastructure woes, including:

• Clogging sewage systems.

• Killing sea and land animals such as sea turtles and cows that eat the bags and choke or starve to death.

• Contaminating soils and harming marine life as bags degrade into small plastic bits that absorb concentrated amounts of dangerous compounds such as PCBs.

• A byproduct of a non-renewable resource (petroleum);

• Not accepted by most residential recycling programs;

• Not often returned by consumers to supermarkets for recycling.

Returned bags can be recycled into other bags or used for fence posts, railroad ties or highway materials such as road signs and barrier barrels.

Several cities and countries around the world, including Mumbai, India; Ireland; and Bangladesh have either banned or taxed plastic bags. Last month, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to require large supermarkets and chain pharmacies to switch to biodegradable plastic bags made of cornstarch or paper bags. Supermarkets have about six months to make the switch, pharmacies about a year. - from USA Today.com

Look at the sufferings of animals due to plastic bags.

Operation to remove plastic from gut of a green turtle.	Green turtle gut contents including blue plastic bag and red balloon.	Freedom for one rehabilitated turtle - how long will it survive?
Images courtesy Tarongo Zoo, Sydney Australia

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