In watching the “Battle of the Bag”, several problems were brought to light that are caused by the ‘wonderful’ plastic shopping bag. Locally, the bags produce litter that roams the streets and gets stuck to fences, vehicles, wildlife and any number of other things. The ones that are disposed of go straight into landfills to remain plastic for the next 400-1,000 years due to their extremely slow disintegration process.
What struck me the most was the total number of plastic bags that everyday people use over the course of one year, which was demonstrated in the video by the family of four that would wind up using close to 1,000 bags. That amount of ‘indestructible’ plastic would have a heavy impact on the earth because what we do locally has a global impact.
There are efforts currently in place to attempt to slow down or stop entirely our use of plastic shopping bags by consumers as well as shops. In the town of Modbury, one local activist took it upon herself to talk everyone into not using plastic bags and providing all shoppers with a reusable option while in other towns people are using legislation to make it illegal for retailers to use plastic bags. Others along seashores are also attempting to clean up the damage that has already occurred by physically removing the bags and plastics from accessible areas. In yet another way to act locally, Sharon Jacobson reminds us to re-use bags or recycle whenever possible along with many other options in her July 21, 2005, article “Plastic Bag Pollution”.
While some cities, states, and countries are making plastic shopping bags illegal it will not have the desired effect unless everyone participates. Places like China, India, and Kenya are making a difference globally by acting locally; however, everyone should participate in the reduction or ban in order to remove an unhealthy product from our everyday lives. While it is true that plastic bags have made our lives easier and at times the convenience makes them a simpler choice, we have to reevaluate our priorities and really see what effects our actions have on the planet and others. Plastic is not something we need to survive.
