Plastic_Should_Ban

SHOULD PLASTIC BAGS BE BANNED' Plastic bags are an environmental disaster; they are unsightly, they decimate wildlife, are filling the oceans and are made out of oil so help cause global warming. We use billions of plastic bags every year. Should they be banned' 1. 2. 3. 4. 5. 6. 7. 8. 9. environmental damage Repairing the Damage The Great Waste Non-biodegradable They litter our streets Plastic bags suffocate and kill Wildlife concerns Spread Awareness Environment destroyement Add a new Yes point All the No points 1. No need to ban, add a tax 2. Used as a marketing ploy 3. Freedom of choice 4. people forget their re-useable bags 5. Causes expense to consumers in a time of recession 6. causes loss of jobs 7. People can and do recycle plastic bags 8. the environmental war needs to be won elsewhere 9. Loss of Technology 10.so what do we carry our shopping in' 11.what if u bought them and u livd far away and you frove to the shopping centre and you 4 got youor plastic bags 12.other packaging 13.products making 14.PLASTIC BAGS DONT HARM THE ENVIRONMENT 15.NO,need to ban just reduce the use of plastic 16.Plastic bags is the best both in environment and economy Add a new No point Should plastic bags be banned' Yes, because... environmental damage No, because... Plastic bags for use by consumers in supermarkets and other stores should be made illegal. In the UK alone, over 13 billion plastic bags are handed to consumers each year, representing a substantial proportion of all floating marine litter[1]. More than this, plastic bags are responsible for the deaths of huge numbers of marine species, who mistake the bags for food. Consumers must accept that it is hugely wasteful, massively unethical, and potentially deadly to continue using plastic bags. Supermarkets must be told by the government that continued supply of plastic bags will result in large fines, whilst those supermarkets who remove all their bags can be rewarded. Of all the sins of supermarkets, it is hilarious that plastic bags are the main cause of people's concern. From sweat shops, to over production; things which have much more disasterous consequences on the environment and people than misely plastic bags. The reality is, the environment argument is a smokescreen for people to moan about litter. A more diligent approach to parenting and teaching would solve this problem more effectively. Vote on this point: environmental damage See history of changes to this point Should plastic bags be banned' Yes, because... Repairing the Damage No, because... Charging consumers for using plastic bags should not result in profit for the supermarkets. Instead, any supermarkets who refuse to totally ban plastic bags, and charge their customers for using the bags (eg. 10p for bag), should be made to pay a fine to local governments. This revenue should then be used to repeal some of the damage supermarkets reap on the local economy, environment, and society. If shops and supermarkets are to be encouraged to ban plastic bags then they may well need economic encouragement to do so. This may well be simply from not having to pay for buying the bags in the first place. Having the money paid for plastic bags going to anyone other than the supermarket that sells them would be complex and involve waste through bureauracy Plastic bags are the best thing both for the enviornment and for cost. Paper is the absolute worst thing for landfills: studies have shown that after 20 years paper is still clogging landfills! And paper that is burned adds huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. Reusable cloth bags sound like a great idea but unless you are a granny carrying one bag home, they are absurd do you honestly tell me that you plan to bring 10 or more canvas bags everytime you go out to shop' even so base on the people using the canvas bag would also end up in the landfill which makes it even worse than plastic bags because it is way thicker and consumes even more space than a cheap plastic bags. Plastic bags are light, cheap, and biodegradable. And in a well engineered landfill plastic bags actually generate useable energy by decomposing quickly into recoverable methane. Some landfills (eg, Rochester, Mn) actually are able to put useable power back into the electrical grid from the methane they reclaim. The plastic is also recycleable, where plastic recycling is available. Everywhere It is enviornmentally irresponsible to use anything but the plastic bags. Putting a blame on an object won't solve environmental problems, the blame should be on the people. Repairing the Damage Should plastic bags be banned' Plastic bag production uses almost 10 percent of the world's annual oil supply. Only 3.5 percent of this number are recycled. This means that much of the planet's precious natural resources are being used to produce plastic bags that many of us maintain are unneccessary. The chemicals and compounds that go into making plastic bags could also be utilised in a far more effective manner. These two factors show that plastic bag production is a waste of resources, which could be being used in a far more effective way. yes but if we are to get rid of plastic bags we would not have a job be able to travel or even see this write now because your computer has a lot of plastic in it and if you do find a substitute for plastic then what would it be and how do you know that its not more harmful than plastic if you choose something like paper or cardboard it could be a fire hazard to the products useing it such as planes or computers and most of the machines to make paper like it is or metal like it is contain plastic in them and there are many chemicals that go into paper to make it white also a lot of paints and paint has a lot of chemicals in them as well as plastic. Also we would probably not survive as a CIVILIZED human being without them any protien we could get we would have to eat directly becasue plastic packageing is the only way to keep it fresh and you also would not be a vegetarian because there would be no other way to get protien I strongly think that plastic should not be banned. page Should plastic bags be banned' Yes, because... Non-biodegradable No, because... An estimated 17 billion plastic bags are given to British consumers. We do not need this many plastic bags in the world. The pollution caused by their creation alone is enough to warrant a ban on their manufacture and their use. In addition, they do not degrade well in our rubbish dumps, so they will remain on this planet forever more. We cannot have this accumulation of plastic bags and the only way forward is to ban their distribution and use. Ireland has seen a 400% increase in black bin liners since the tax was levied against plastic bags. These black bin liners are designed to hold more in them than the plastic carrier bags and therefore they are thicker. They use far more oil in their production and due to their thickness they take even longer to degrade. How can the ban, therefore, be seen as having a positive effect on the environment' Vote on this point: Non-biodegradable Should plastic bags be banned' Yes, because... They litter our streets No, because... Not only do plastic bags fill up our landfill sites where they will remain forever more, but people throw them into the streets. They accept plastic bags when they do not need to and once out of the shops take their items and litter the streets with the unwanted plastic bags. Animals can caught in them, motor accidents are caused, and many end up in trees. As a society, this shows that we do not need plastic bags if we are willing to just throw them away. Plastic bags should be banned and replaced with bags that we would not so readily disregard. This is an argument against a society's attitude towards consumption. But the war against plastic bags is not worth the relatively little gain, the problem will remain long after a ban on plastic bags is placed on people. Instead we need to recognise our dispoable society and start looking at the bigger picture. Instead of picking on the small features of the problem, we need to get to the roots. And here, the roots is not the plastic bag, but our attitude towards consumption. Should plastic bags be banned' Yes, because... Plastic bags suffocate and kill No, because... Plastic bags can and have killed/(have been used to kill) many an animal (including human beings) and they only have one singular use(carry things) for which, they can easily be substituted (with other bags) for.[1] A baby was deliberately suffocated with plastic bags in this particular case:[2] Well if Animals have to die, just force them to mate as much as you can until they are over populated, then if some are killed it will be ok, and the same thing for children. If each couple has atleast 10 children, then out population will be atleast five times of what it is. Essentially people do not seem to be bothered about ruining animals lives, or often even those of other human beings through other forms of pollution so why be bothered about plastic bags in particular' Yes plastic bags can cause damage but why are people throwing plastic bags in forested areas and other wildlife habitats. The civic agencies should be making sure that plastic bags do not get to such places, those they gater from streets should be recycled or reused which is possible meaning we really need an improvement in infrastructure to solve the problem. Vote on this point: Plastic bags suffocate and kill Should plastic bags be banned' Yes, because... Wildlife concerns No, because... Plastic bags often end up floating in the seas- the home to many mammals, fish and invertebrates. One species that is at great risk from plastic bags is the already endangered Leatherback turtle (amongst others including the Green turtle, see the article below). Turtles often mistake floating plastic bags for jellyfish- their only food source. The tragedy is that once they eat the plastic bags, they can get caught up and wrapped round the gut or in the throat, causing suffocation and starvation. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-519770/Banish-The-Bags-The-Mail-launches-campaignclean-country---planet.html even if we are to ban plastic bags the litter that gets into the ocean won't stop the animals will just get trapped in the other items that we replace plastic bags with such as cloth it could rap around them and smuther them almost 30% faster than any plastic bag couldand any heavier items could sink to the bottom and kill ofthem plant life the animals thrive on plus most turtles will realize the difference between the plastic bags and jellyfish as soon as they startchewing on it and most of the time when they are close to it. Hunter schofield Wildlife concerns plastic bags be banned' Spread Awareness By banning plastic bags, not only will we reudce all the environmental issues such as animals, litter and landfill, we will also spread awareness globally and even potentially nationally. For example, say Australia bans plastic bags, in a couple of years time, all these issues would be on their way to being resolved and America's government might think "Wow, we didn't realise this was such a big issue! And look, 5 years ago Australias landfill was overflowing with plastic bags that do not break down and now the small perentage of cloth bags that do go in landfill (not many go in because cloth bags are so reusable) are gone very quickly because they break down into what is not unhealthy for the environment! Maybe we should ban plastic bags too so we can recieve such a great effect!" And the England may copy, the France and Japan and China and Brazil etc etc. Do you see what I mean. People realise it is a big enough issue to make a law and see this great effect and actually CARE! By banning plastic bags you are not getting rid of all the enviromental issues. There is still smog and pollution from exhausts and factories. You can't wipe out all enviromental issues by banning plastic bags. I think that our world faces bigger problems then plastic bags in landfills. There are so many other things polluting our earth. We face problems with over population, starvation and over use of electricity. Are we going to ban the use of electricty' How about a certain amount of food per person' All I'm trying to say is that we should try to focus on the bigger problems in the world. Maybe then we can talk about proper recycling and ways to clean up our landfills. 'Til then, Englishgirl. Vote on this point: Spread Awareness Should plastic bags be banned' Yes, because... Environment destroyement Yes, plastics use must be banned .Throwing poly bags plastics could make the soil unfertile (soil pollution). this is very bad. we need fertile soil caue it helps plants to grow, which is our food. Animals also need soil cause it make plants to grow and animals eat plants.we can say they indirectly depend on soil. burning plstics cause very polluted gases which could make our lungs weak on breathing them, also can cause many lungs diseases like asthama. daily more than 5 crores poly bags are thrown. so, we can do a little work to avoid plastic like we can use paper bags instead of poly bags. try a lot to avoid plastic. we then we should just not throw poly bags around, i have never seen anyone throw them, and there are many people who help clean them up if there are any lying around. not many people burn plastics these days, infact in some countries it is banned. Vote on this point: Environment destroyement Should plastic bags be banned' . No need to ban, add a tax taxes may well reduce the number of plastic bags that are handed out and used by consumers however a reduction even by 90% would still leave more than a billion bags a year used in Britain, this still seems like an aweful lot plastic bags added to those that are already in the oceans and spread across the land. Some rich ones didn't even care of the tax,so ban it is better than adding tax. If we ban it,they can't buy any plastic bags n they will buy recycle bags. Place a restraint where people will feel it most, their pocket. By placing a tax on plastic bags you are not limiting people’s choice but you will ct down on plastic bag use. This can be seen in Ireland where a 15p tax has caused a reduction of 90% on the plastic carrier bag use[1]. The revenue gained would also be valuable to the government who could put it towards environmental issues already caused by the use of plastic bags. This is a much more effective way of dealing with the problem. 1. ^ Isabelle Chevallot, The Guardian, 12 May 2007 Vote on this point: No need to ban, add a tax Used as a marketing ploy Most people already have bags, whether they be 'a bag for life', old style shopping trolly bags, rucksacks etc. There would be little need for consumers to buy new bags any more regularly than they do now and certainly no need to buy new bags to replace the plastic bags now used. These bags are mostly used because they are free and more convenient than consumers carrying their own bags to the shops as well as back again. Anya Hindmarch launched a bag to combat plastic bags. But this was merely a business woman making a profit out of the negative press attention to plastic bags. The bags she made were in fact made in China using cheap labour.[1] If plastic bags were banned, shopping bags would be just another way for scrupulous entrepreneurs to make money out of people believing that not using plastic bags is helping the world. In fact, sweat shops would be used to create maximum profits. 1. ^ Isabelle Chevallot, The Guardian, 12 May 2007 Freedom of choice Why should we not be free to make nuclear bombs' Why should we not be free to kill another human being if they annoy us' Why' Because some things in life are more important than 'choice'. Why' Because we live in a society where our actions have implications upon everyone else. It would not be fair for some to strive to keep the environment clean whilst those with money show a blatant disregard just because they can afford to. Why should we not be free to chose to take a plastic bag' As with everything else there must be a market price for plastic bags that includes the cost of making them and the cost to the environment in the monetary cost (therefore providing revenue to clear up the leftover plastic bags), at this particular price there will still be some people who are willing to pay the cost for the convenience of just being able to pick one up with the shopping, or if a shopper has forgotten to bring their own bags with them they should be able to buy plastic bags at the shop. There is no need for an outright ban on plastic bags. people forget their re-useable bags It is a lamentable and rather devastating reflection on the current state of human apathy that somebody should argue that helping to reduce the negative impact of human beings on the environment is an "unwarranted inconvenience". Indeed, it is an inconvenience that we should have to replace fossil feuls, or drive hybrid cars, or improve home insulation. If things were easy or convenient, you can bet that consumers have already adopted that process. Don't worry though, if we keep going the way we are none of us will be around to apologise for our collective naivity and arrogance. Re-useable bags may sound ideal. However, do people actually remember to bring them shopping each time they go' If they do not, what happens is that they have to buy more re-useable bags which means that more plastic is being used. Yes, the idea is that they are not disposable and so do not fill our dumpster, but the reality is, after a few times of forgetting to bring your reuseable bags, you will have accumulated many of them. Eventually, you people will throw them away, just like they did with plastic bags. A ban on plastic bags seems like an unwarranted inconvenience when you look at the long term consequences. Causes expense to consumers in a time of recession If you have/had a cloth bag or a relatively sturdy durable plastic bag already, with longevity, so that can be used be and reused over and over(without getting torn or damaged or inefficiently disposed like a standard plastic bag) .Then you will not have to buy 'carrier bags' every time you went to the market. If plastic bags are banned, people will buy nice big bags that are much more useful. Since this would only be a one-time purchase the costs in the long-run will be significantly lower for shoppers and supermarkets alike(in monetary as well environmental terms.) Instead of letting people pay for what they buy, the banning of plastic bags in reality will lead to people having to pay to carry their purchases out of the store. Plastic bags are cheap to produce so supermarkets are willing to give them out for free. To ban them would mean that supermarkets would charge for the more costly forms of carrier bags. This is putting an additional financial strain on families who do large grocery shopping trips. In a time of a recession, surely the policy of banning plastic bags should be left aside. Causes expense to consumers in a time of recession Should plastic bags be banned' causes loss of jobs I sometimes forget that the protection of plastic bag manufacturers is more important than attempting to clean the planet we live on. I forget that, so long as the workers in the plastic bag industry are OK, we will not suffer any environmental damage. Economic conditions should not impact upon the manner in which we address a problem that is contributing to the destruction of our planet. To believe that the livelihoods of a few workers is more important than preventing environmental damage is a ludacrous sentiment that deserves significant criticism. The production of plastic bags is a big industry. There are factories which produce the bags and distribute them. Let us not forget that these factories may cause poolution, but they also have a vast amount of staff policing the production. In the time of a recession we should not be looking to thwart thriving industries but save them. Factory workers are finding it increasingly difficult to get work in this day and age and the ban of plastic bag distribution would only make their plight for employment even tougher. People can and do recycle plastic bags You might as well argue that a very small percentage of the human population has A.I.D.S or S.A.R.S or Cancer. Should we stop fighting disease, since most people at any particular point in time, are healthy' If we let the sale and purchase and inefficient disposal of plastic bags(including large black garbage bags) continue then more will be produced to be sold and inefficiently disposed in the future.If we stop production and sales, here and now, then one more environmental hazard(existing and in the making) will be checked off the list. As we all know, demand causes sales and production. Stop buying and/or using plastic bags and production & sales will eventually cease. To argue that plastic bags once BANNED will be replaced by more plastic bags. Is almost as redundant and (oxymoron-ic) as my posting the same rebuttal against this AND the next NO point. Plastic bags are being labelled as part of our disposable culture. However, the reality is, people do reuse their plastic bags of their own accord. Many people will use them on their future shopping trips, or hand them into recycling centres, and many people use them as bin liners. Ireland has seen a 400% increase in the purchasing of black bin liners since their plastic bag tax was introduced in 2002[1]. This means that the free white plastic bags are merely being replaced by larger blag plastic bags which have to be paid for. The banning of plastic bags is not all as proponants would have you beleive. 1. ^ Leo Hickman, The Guardian, 11th August 2009 the environmental war needs to be won elsewhere You might as well argue that a very small percentage of the human population has A.I.D.S or S.A.R.S or Cancer. Should we stop fighting disease, since most people at any particular point in time, are healthy' If we let the sale and purchase and inefficient disposal of plastic bags(including large black garbage bags) continue then more will be produced to be sold and inefficiently disposed in the future.If we stop production and sales, here and now, then one more environmental hazard(existing and in the making) will be checked off the list. As we all know, demand causes sales and production. Stop buying and/or using plastic bags and production & sales will eventually cease. Plastic bags are being vilified for harming the environment when the reality is that they make only a small percentage difference. In the US plastic bags account for less than half a percent of domestic refuse[1]. The only reason why they are being unfairly scrutinised is because they are white and so stand out like a sore thumb when dropped as litter. Instead of banning plastic bags and claiming to be an 'environmentalist' people should target the larger issue; over consumption. If the people of the world stopped stuffing their trolleys to stuff their faces, not as many plastic bags would be needed and our domestic waste would be reduced dramatically. 1. ^ Leo Hickman, The Guardian, 11th August 2009 should plastic bags be banned' Loss of Technology No loss of technology would occur. Maybe it would even improve technology. People would make newer, more sophisticated bags. The United States would no longer have trouble with pollution of plastic bags. The workforce from plastic bag factories can help make greener, smarter and more ecofriendly materials. OLV DEBATE if you are to ban plastic bags humans as a race will lose a lot of technology because plastic bags are used for more than just supermarkets plastic bags are actually used to build and support structures when architects are making them without plastic bags it would be very hard for us to make houses they are used to package up areas on walls so they can see through the plastic when they are making the wallsso they know they did not block anything important banning plastic bags would cause most people with brocken walls have to pay a lot more to get them fixed as well as the price for house will raise plastic bags should not be banned. Hunter Schofield Loss of Technology Should plastic bags be banned' So what did we carry our shopping in before plastic bags' Reusable bags! Most people have rucksacks, shoulder bags etc that could be used for shopping. It is just laziness that means that they take the plastic bags offered by supermarkets. All you have to do is carry 1-4 with you at all times. one of the world biggest and stupidest ideas of mankind! how the hell do we carry our shopping home if we catch the bus' take the trolley home and then never return the trolley! BRILLIANT! SEROUSLY though plastic carrier bags should be the least of our worries and anyway they do are not affecting our environment big way what if u bought them and u livd far away and you frove to the shopping centre and you 4 got youor plastic bags Just carry your groceries its not like you are getting 3 gallons of milk, 2 boxes of cereal, and 10 cartons of cream cheese! What if you live far away from the nearest suppermarket and and you frogot your green bags that is also creating polution and is very anoying! Vote on this point: what if u bought them and u livd far away and you frove to the shopping centre and you 4 got youor plastic bags other packaging If 'The over-packaging of merchandise creates far more clutter than plastic bags', then wouldn't having no plastic bags to add to that clutter make it a whole lot less clutter' The over-packaging of merchandise creates far more clutter than plastic bags. Where does all that 'garbage' go ' It goes into the landfill sites. products making most of the products made with plastic are not exactly the "really essential "commodities and moreover they didnt exist during our ancestors time , they never had any "difficulties of present time" technological development upto an extent is okay ,but further of it leads only to sorrow and devastation we need plastic. we use plastics for making container, toys, a c, and may more needful things. plastic must be banned only in poly bags or on throwing plastics we must hav to pay fine. but dont use very much. actually, plastic is very useful substance. it hav many advantage. PLASTIC BAGS DONT HARM THE ENVIRONMENT Is infrastructure really the problem' It is because we think that it is someone else's problem that we misuse the plastic bags. Most people don't even care about that the misuse so why bother to teach them when we can save the environment, and just get rid of them completely! Which should come first; the Earth's environment, or puny little plastic bags' Unfortunately most plastic bags are not biodegradable, so yes, plastic bags do harm the environment. If you are asking people to USE the plastic bags, wouldn't that mean more people throwing them on the streets' Paper bags can equally well do the job, they hold stuff just as well as plastic bags do. Of course both types of bags have disadvantages. So while it can be asked, "what if the paper gets soggy and breaks' What do we do then'' Well, I would respond with 'Well, what if the weight is too heavy and the handles of the plastic bag snaps'" Paper bags are just as good as plastic ones, and so do many people around the world agree. I bet there was even a country where they had never heard about plastic bags, because they thought paper was just such a fantastic invention. So; the Earth's environment, or puny little plastic bags' we all have to USE the plastic bags instead of MISUSING it. all of us throw the used plastic bags on roads and other places. Infrastructure needs improvement to recycle plastic bags. plastic bags can be totally recycled. if we are not using plastic bags then we'll rely on other resources which are paper bags, reality check : production paper bags cannot fulfill the requirement of today's world. PLASTIC BAGS DONT HARM THE ENVIRONMENT NO,need to ban just reduce the use of plastic I don't think it using plastic should be banned, but we should reduce the use. Plastic is necessary and has it's uses, but we could reduce and replace plastic shopping bags, for example, with cloth or brown paper. Our aim should be to seek alternative measures. Plastic bags is the best both in environment and economy The intention would be for people to use reusable bags as much as possible rather than paper bags so as to avoid any problems with landfill. If you are intending to use 10 bags why bother with bags at all, you are obviously driving. Be radical just use the trolley without bags and put everything into the boot of the car without any bags! Plastic bags are the best thing both for the enviornment and for cost. Paper is the absolute worst thing for landfills: studies have shown that after 20 years paper is still clogging landfills! And paper that is burned adds huge amounts of CO2 into the atmosphere. Reusable cloth bags sound like a great idea but unless you are a granny carrying one bag home, they are absurd do you honestly tell me that you plan to bring 10 or more canvas bags everytime you go out to shop' even so base on the people using the canvas bag would also end up in the landfill which makes it even worse than plastic bags because it is way thicker and consumes even more space than a cheap plastic bags. Plastic bags are light, cheap, and biodegradable. And in a well engineered landfill plastic bags actually generate useable energy by decomposing quickly into recoverable methane. Some landfills (eg, Rochester, Mn) actually are able to put useable power back into the electrical grid from the methane they reclaim. The plastic is also recycleable, where plastic recycling is available. Everywhere It is enviornmentally irresponsible to use anything but the plastic bags. Plastic bags is the best both in environment and economy Here's some info which will be useful to you :Our planet is becoming increasingly contaminated by Plastic pollution and by our unnecessary use of plastic carry bags. Big black bin liners, plastic carrier bags carrying advertising logos, clear sandwich bags, vegetable bags and a variety of other forms used to carry our daily food items and other items are all polluting our environment. Just take a look around you. Plastic bags can be seen hanging from the branches of trees, flying in the air on windy days, settled amongst bushes and floating on rivers. They clog up gutters and drains causing water and sewage to overflow and become the breeding grounds of germs and bacteria that cause diseases. Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed every day by discarded plastic bags - a dead turtle with a plastic bag hanging from its mouth isn't a pleasant sight but mistaking plastic bags for food is commonplace amongst marine animals. Plastic clogs their intestines and leads to slow starvation. Others become entangled in plastic bags and drown. Because plastic bags take hundreds of years to break down, every year our seas become 'home' to more and more bags that find their way there through our sewers and waterways. Given India's poor garbage collection facilities, tons of plastic bags litter the roads, preventing rainwater from seeping into the ground. Hundreds of cows die in New Delhi alone every year when they choke on plastic bags while trying to eat vegetable waste stuffed in the garbage. Every bag that's washed down a drain during rainfall ends up in the sea every bag that's flushed down a toilet (many mall bags are), ends up in the sea - every bag that’s blown into a river will most likely end up in the sea. Besides choking drains, plastics are highly toxics. When burned they release cancercausing gases. Lying in the garbage, polythene bags also find their way in gut of cattle, asphyxiating the animals. The cheap bags contain chemicals such as cadmium- or lead- based chemicals that are harmful to health. They leach into vegetables, meat and food. Every year, around 500 billion (500,000,000,000) plastic bags are used worldwide. So many that over one million bags are being every minute and they're damaging our environment. India's plastics consumption is one of the highest in the world. Yet, precious little has been done to recycle, re-use and dispose of plastic waste. Plastic bags are difficult and costly to recycle and most end up on landfill sites where they take around 300 years to photo degrade. They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them. But the problems surrounding waste plastic bags starts long before they photo degrade. Our planet is becoming increasingly contaminated by our unnecessary use of plastic carry bags. Big black bin liners, plastic carrier bags carrying advertising logos, clear sandwich bags, vegetable bags and a variety of other forms used to carry our daily food items and other items are all polluting our environment. Just take a look around you. Plastic bags can be seen hanging from the branches of trees, flying in the air on windy days, settled amongst bushes and floating on rivers. They clog up gutters and drains causing water and sewage to overflow and become the breeding grounds of germs and bacteria that cause diseases. Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed every day by discarded plastic bags - a dead turtle with a plastic bag hanging from its mouth isn't a pleasant sight but mistaking plastic bags for food is commonplace amongst marine animals. Plastic clogs their intestines and leads to slow starvation. Others become entangled in plastic bags and drown. Because plastic bags take hundreds of years to break down, every year our seas become 'home' to more and more bags that find their way there through our sewers and waterways. Given India's poor garbage collection facilities, tons of plastic bags litter the roads, preventing rainwater from seeping into the ground. Hundreds of cows die in New Delhi alone every year when they choke on plastic bags while trying to eat vegetable waste stuffed in the garbage. Plastic bags chock drains Every bag that's washed down a drain during rainfall ends up in the sea every bag that's flushed down a toilet (many mall bags are), ends up in the sea - every bag that’s blown into a river will most likely end up in the sea. Besides choking drains, plastics are highly toxics. When burned they release cancercausing gases. Lying in the garbage, polythene bags also find their way in gut of cattle, asphyxiating the animals. The cheap bags contain chemicals such as cadmium- or lead-based chemicals that are harmful to health. They leach into vegetables, meat and food. An estimated 15 lakh computers and 30 lakh mobile phones are should plastic bags be banned' Polythene bags are amongst major contributor to environmental pollution and related hazards. The usage of these bags not only affects survival of marine life, but also clog the drains causing problems in flow of gutter pipelines. According to experts, majority of the lightweight polythene bags do not reach landfill sites, where they can be disposed of safely. Instead, they go airborne and are caught in fences and trees. They also provide breeding ground for mosquitoes that spread diseases likes dengue, malaria and others vector ailments. Though the City District Government Karachi has banned sale, manufacture and usage of these light polythene bags; however, it has failed to implement it. Many campaigns were also launched by the Environmental Protection Agency, Sindh and the City District Government Karachi to control the destruction caused by usage of plastic bags, but due to large-scale use of bags by all the sections of the population and the absence of suitable alternates, these efforts are fell flat. In past many traders were arrested and fined under the law of imposing ban on polythene bags, however, the malpractice continued. These polythene bags have posed serious environmental threats for such a populous city like Karachi, which is already suffering from high levels of air pollution and other kinds of environmental hazards. Alternatives to polythene bags such as paper and cloth bags were being introduced into the markets, but they did not receive a good response. However, statements from environment department reveal that the manufacturers opposed ban on polythene bags as it would affect jobs of thousands of people associated with plastic bag manufacture industry. Instead, they argued that the main issue was collection of solid waste, and if it were collected on properly then there would be no polythene bags in dustbins. Ironically, residents did not due play their role to prevent usage of these bags. "People do not ask us about the shoppers we gave them. We had used papers bags as well, but now usage of plastic bags has increased again, and people agree on both," commented a shopkeeper, Masood of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, when asked about how people responded to the ban. Many nongovernment sectors are also working for the cause of clean and pollution free Karachi, but they did not get any support from CDGK.Gul Bahao, which planned to initiate world's first Chandi Ghar Plant, to be made with used plastic bags, complained that government did not support them. "I sent letters to City Nazim as well, but no meeting has been arranged with him so far," said Narig Latif of Gul Bahao. An environmental expert at University of Karachi while talking to PPI said environmental pollution was a growing concern not only in Pakistan, but also in the whole world. "Without tougher environmental legislation and proper consultation from all the stakeholders, it will be very difficult for the government to attain any success in its fight against polythene," she added. Polythene is a necessity in daily life.But the problem occurs in its disposal.If the used carry bags can be collected and segregated,these could be used in road building and repair.If they could be collected and charged in the Blast Furna • should plastic bags be banned' Here's some info which will be useful to you :Our planet is becoming increasingly contaminated by Plastic pollution and by our unnecessary use of plastic carry bags. Big black bin liners, plastic carrier bags carrying advertising logos, clear sandwich bags, vegetable bags and a variety of other forms used to carry our daily food items and other items are all polluting our environment. Just take a look around you. Plastic bags can be seen hanging from the branches of trees, flying in the air on windy days, settled amongst bushes and floating on rivers. They clog up gutters and drains causing water and sewage to overflow and become the breeding grounds of germs and bacteria that cause diseases. Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed every day by discarded plastic bags - a dead turtle with a plastic bag hanging from its mouth isn't a pleasant sight but mistaking plastic bags for food is commonplace amongst marine animals. Plastic clogs their intestines and leads to slow starvation. Others become entangled in plastic bags and drown. Because plastic bags take hundreds of years to break down, every year our seas become 'home' to more and more bags that find their way there through our sewers and waterways. Given India's poor garbage collection facilities, tons of plastic bags litter the roads, preventing rainwater from seeping into the ground. Hundreds of cows die in New Delhi alone every year when they choke on plastic bags while trying to eat vegetable waste stuffed in the garbage. Every bag that's washed down a drain during rainfall ends up in the sea every bag that's flushed down a toilet (many mall bags are), ends up in the sea - every bag that’s blown into a river will most likely end up in the sea. Besides choking drains, plastics are highly toxics. When burned they release cancer- causing gases. Lying in the garbage, polythene bags also find their way in gut of cattle, asphyxiating the animals. The cheap bags contain chemicals such as cadmium- or lead- based chemicals that are harmful to health. They leach into vegetables, meat and food. Every year, around 500 billion (500,000,000,000) plastic bags are used worldwide. So many that over one million bags are being every minute and they're damaging our environment. India's plastics consumption is one of the highest in the world. Yet, precious little has been done to recycle, re-use and dispose of plastic waste. Plastic bags are difficult and costly to recycle and most end up on landfill sites where they take around 300 years to photo degrade. They break down into tiny toxic particles that contaminate the soil and waterways and enter the food chain when animals accidentally ingest them. But the problems surrounding waste plastic bags starts long before they photo degrade. Our planet is becoming increasingly contaminated by our unnecessary use of plastic carry bags. Big black bin liners, plastic carrier bags carrying advertising logos, clear sandwich bags, vegetable bags and a variety of other forms used to carry our daily food items and other items are all polluting our environment. Just take a look around you. Plastic bags can be seen hanging from the branches of trees, flying in the air on windy days, settled amongst bushes and floating on rivers. They clog up gutters and drains causing water and sewage to overflow and become the breeding grounds of germs and bacteria that cause diseases. Animals and sea creatures are hurt and killed every day by discarded plastic bags - a dead turtle with a plastic bag hanging from its mouth isn't a pleasant sight but mistaking plastic bags for food is commonplace amongst marine animals. Plastic clogs their intestines and leads to slow starvation. Others become entangled in plastic bags and drown. Because plastic bags take hundreds of years to break down, every year our seas become 'home' to more and more bags that find their way there through our sewers and waterways. Given India's poor garbage collection facilities, tons of plastic bags litter the roads, preventing rainwater from seeping into the ground. Hundreds of cows die in New Delhi alone every year when they choke on plastic bags while trying to eat vegetable waste stuffed in the garbage. Plastic bags chock drains Every bag that's washed down a drain during rainfall ends up in the sea every bag that's flushed down a toilet (many mall bags are), ends up in the sea - every bag that’s blown into a river will most likely end up in the sea. Besides choking drains, plastics are highly toxics. When burned they release cancercausing gases. Lying in the garbage, polythene bags also find their way in gut of cattle, asphyxiating the animals. The cheap bags contain chemicals such as cadmium- or lead-based chemicals that are harmful to health. They leach into vegetables, meat and food. An estimated 15 lakh computers and 30 lakh mobile phones are should plastic bags be banned' Polythene bags are amongst major contributor to environmental pollution and related hazards. The usage of these bags not only affects survival of marine life, but also clog the drains causing problems in flow of gutter pipelines. According to experts, majority of the lightweight polythene bags do not reach landfill sites, where they can be disposed of safely. Instead, they go airborne and are caught in fences and trees. They also provide breeding ground for mosquitoes that spread diseases likes dengue, malaria and others vector ailments. Though the City District Government Karachi has banned sale, manufacture and usage of these light polythene bags; however, it has failed to implement it. Many campaigns were also launched by the Environmental Protection Agency, Sindh and the City District Government Karachi to control the destruction caused by usage of plastic bags, but due to large-scale use of bags by all the sections of the population and the absence of suitable alternates, these efforts are fell flat. In past many traders were arrested and fined under the law of imposing ban on polythene bags, however, the malpractice continued. These polythene bags have posed serious environmental threats for such a populous city like Karachi, which is already suffering from high levels of air pollution and other kinds of environmental hazards. Alternatives to polythene bags such as paper and cloth bags were being introduced into the markets, but they did not receive a good response. However, statements from environment department reveal that the manufacturers opposed ban on polythene bags as it would affect jobs of thousands of people associated with plastic bag manufacture industry. Instead, they argued that the main issue was collection of solid waste, and if it were collected on properly then there would be no polythene bags in dustbins. Ironically, residents did not due play their role to prevent usage of these bags. "People do not ask us about the shoppers we gave them. We had used papers bags as well, but now usage of plastic bags has increased again, and people agree on both," commented a shopkeeper, Masood of Gulshan-e-Iqbal Town, when asked about how people responded to the ban. Many nongovernment sectors are also working for the cause of clean and pollution free Karachi, but they did not get any support from CDGK.Gul Bahao, which planned to initiate world's first Chandi Ghar Plant, to be made with used plastic bags, complained that government did not support them. "I sent letters to City Nazim as well, but no meeting has been arranged with him so far," said Narig Latif of Gul Bahao. An environmental expert at University of Karachi while talking to PPI said environmental pollution was a growing concern not only in Pakistan, but also in the whole world. "Without tougher environmental legislation and proper consultation from all the stakeholders, it will be very difficult for the government to attain any success in its fight against polythene," she added. Polythene is a necessity in daily life.But the problem occurs in its disposal.If the used carry bags can be collected and segregated,these could be used in road building and repair.If they could be collected and charged in the Blast Furna •