Americans throw away one hundred billion polyethlene bags a year: They choke thousands of marine animals annually; the inks used to print all those smiley faces break down in landfills and create a toxic seep. Though plastic bags take up less than 4% of all landfill space (they're easily compressed), estimates on how long they take to decompose range from a hundred years to a thousand.
Clean up in aisle A2...
-From onearth. "It's Not My Bag, Baby!" by L.J. Williamson.
Treehugger: "Ban or No Ban: The Debate over Plastic Bags in LA" by Jeremy Elton Jacquot
World Is Green: "...Is there an Alternate Solution?" (Green Economics)
weekly response
ReplyDeleteAlthough I am all for green, banning plastic bags slightly worries me. I understand that not all business will be banned from having plastic bags, since the requirement they propose is for businesses that make over 1 million dollars. I feel that the requirement should be reversed. Businesses that make under a million dollars should not give out plastic bags, while those that make over should. The way I see it is that companies that make over a million dollars in revenue are probably big name/big brand companies such as Target, Meijer, Bed Bath & Beyond, and so on. When I go shopping at one of those locations, I usually buy more stuff and need some way of carrying it. I believe that the cloth bags or not giving out plastic bags at all will not suffice. On the other hand, at smaller businesses, I tend to buy less or smaller objects that I could easily carry in from my car or around in my purse. For example, when I go to Village Corner, I usually will only buy a few small things that I could put in my purse such as tissues and say glue. Or when I go to a small boutique, I usually don’t clean out the entire store enough to merit plastic bags. In light of the above, the requirements should be switched. This switch is really just for our convenience. I think instead of always attacking everything head on in overwhelming amounts, we should ease into things. So instead of having big companies liquidate their plastic bags (where you are most used to having them), you have the small businesses liquidate theirs first and soon after have the large ones follow suit as well.
For me, this would be the best option – gradual change instead of a harsh one. People would complain at first but then it would become a habit. Unfortunately, the damage done to our environment requires us to take quicker action. We have to say that we have brought this necessity for quick change on ourselves. If we had been more aware a few years earlier, we could have had that gradual change instead of the abrupt one we are proposing now. I have to admit that it is hard for me to imagine a world without plastic bags. Ever since I was a little child I remember always going to the super market with my parents and being surrounded in the cart by a sea of endless white bags that ruffled with the breeze. Even now as an adult, I always help my parents carry in their groceries in their yellow shopping bags. As I lift the heavily packed bags, I wonder how is it even possible to replace something so ingrained into our daily lives and culture of convenience. If the cloth bags were spacious enough, I would wrestle with the fact that I would be constantly forgetting them. For example, if someone calls me saying lets make brownies from scratch tonight while I’m driving and I did not happen to take my cloth bags – I either waste gas in going back home to get them or are not able to have a way of carrying them. Seeing that, I feel that there should be some plastic bags still available. I know I have been wavering my on my stance between gradually getting rid of plastic bags to still having some but in reduced amounts. But as Professor Trumpey says, it depends on the situation and the location.
Penn Greene - The proposed ban on plastic bags seems like a good idea, however there could be more effective ways to deal with the plastic bag problem. If there was a fee for each bag – in the five or ten cent range as mentioned in class, I think people would be much more conscientious about this consumption. Plastic shopping bags are not a one-time use item, which makes me hesitant about the all out ban on them. I use them to carry lunches to school in my pack, pick up my dogs poop, for cat litter, to cover my bike seat in the rain, for my trash and to separate my recycling, to name a few. If I did not have the convenience of these bags, I would need to purchase specialized disposable bags to do these things. They would be of a higher quality, and therefore produce more waste. This does not mean that we should take these free bags whenever possible, just that when you get them, they have many other purposes. Part of our problem is cultural. In other parts of the country, western states especially, you have to request bags, and when you do, people will give you dirty looks. In the Midwest, when you say “no thanks, I don’t need a bag” the cashier will often give you the same dirty look. A subcomponent to the cultural aspect is generational. I have noticed that older folks will take bags so they are not thought to be stealing. The bag is like a tacit proof of purchase. The friendliest solution to this problem would be to charge for the bags. People would learn to bring the cloth bags – it really isn’t bad at all.
ReplyDeleteAnother issue along the same lines would be containers. If all standard size containers had a deposit, a lot more material would be kept from adding to landfill mass. We could recycle more Gatorade bottles, juice bottles, milk containers, egg cartons, water bottles, cereal boxes, pasta sauce jars and the like. This is something that would be great for our consumerism. One solution to this, that is not a deposit is something I heard about a while ago. In some northern European country, garbage is only collected in a certain bag. These bags are fairly expensive, so people want to fill them with as much trash as possible. That means recycle as much as possible. If things are dumped elsewhere and you are caught, the reproductions are awful.
Weekly Statement #5
ReplyDeleteThe debate about plastic bags is interesting. Part of me agrees that there are some useful alternative uses for plastic bags, such as for trash liners, picking up after a dog, or for carrying lunch items. I can see how these are completely legitimate; it makes no sense to go buy a new plastic bag when you can reuse one from your last trip shopping. However, all these things still only give you a total of two uses out of one bag. Considering how long it takes for a bag to decompose (I’m thinking about the plastic trash “island” in the Pacific), two uses still seem a little skimpy.
If you consider that people will still need plastic bags for the aforementioned uses, I think the ideas posed in the World is Green blog are a step in the right direction. Putting a tax on the stores would make it unprofitable to use plastic bags, or charging a few cents apiece would make it much less appealing for the consumer. The most intriguing idea was to have a return much like our pop bottles and cans, giving incentive to return un-used bags.
These all seem like good ideas, ones that could even be applied tonight and have an impact. They would limit the consumption, but would allow people who like to use their bags for other purposes the ability to do so. My only issue is that it’s only attacking the problem from an economic standpoint, it’s not like there is really any change in cultural attitudes. As soon as one of these options became un-economical, it would be abandoned. Given the trash in the Pacific that I mentioned earlier, and the petroleum used to create the bags in the first place, solving this problem only from an economic standpoint seems ludicrous.
What seems to be in order is more of a cultural shift. This obviously is much more difficult than a quick economically driven shift, but would be much more effective in solving the problem. All the things that people mentioned they re-use their plastic bags for, I wonder “How were those problems solved before we even had plastic bags sixty-odd years ago”? Sandwiches and lunch items can be packed in re-useable containers, or at least wrapped in a paper based (as opposed to petroleum based) product. If you train your dog to use either bushes by the side of the road or a designated out-of the way corner of your property, you don’t have to worry about picking up a pile off the sidewalk (there might be a stricter law here, but that’s another issue entirely). The trash liner is more of a problem since we have to have our trash bagged as a health issue, but I wonder if we were more intentional about composting, recycling, and cutting back on how much we go through if that would ease up on the problem.
Where I can see the validity of keeping the bags around, I honestly think that a flat ban on plastic bags would be far more beneficial than trying to hang onto them. People survived for thousands and thousands of years without them, even industrial society survived for a long while without them. The longer we keep making up new uses and excuses the longer we are hung up on the plastic bag as a necessity. Really, if every store in Ann Arbor stopped supplying plastic bags, I doubt society would collapse. People would complain for a few weeks, and then they would find new solutions and they wouldn’t even be missed.
The debate for and against plastic bags seems to always be a tough one. What will we do without it, if we get rid of it how can we replace it. I have to admit, dumpsters are already very unpleasant places as they are, I can’t imagine how much worse they would be if people did not bag their trash. Even at home, just the inconvenience of not having a plastic bag covering the trashcan is irritating. Not to mention, possibly unsanitary. One could argue that we could replace them fabric bags instead and just wash it afterwards. I know for one, that I wouldn’t want to throw something that has carried a week’s worth of rotting food in the washer with my clothes. If I were to do an additional batch just for the fabric bag, it would be a waste of water unless I’m washing several fabric trash bags at once. In that case, I would just hope I wouldn’t have to replace my washer anytime soon.
ReplyDeleteOf course, replacing plastic bags in stores doesn’t seem as difficult. Stores can still print their logos and designs on fabric bags; also fabric bags are a bit more durable. Shoppers can bring their bags back every time they buy groceries to avoid being charged for new bags. In some supermarkets in China, shoppers are asked to purchase a store bag (made out of canvas) to carry their groceries. Either that, or we’d have to carry everything individually by hand. Even in some stores here, for example Costco, plastic bags aren’t available and people can still survive. We just push the carts all the way out to our cars and place the items in our car individually. For those that don’t have the luxury of a car can just use a light canvas store bag.
Another problem that may come up with the elimination of plastic bags would be Ziploc bags. I know my family uses Ziploc bags to hold our meat in the freezer until we have to use it. We use ziploc bags to carry snacks, and of course, sandwiches. I suppose we could resolve to using reusable Tupperware. Tupperware isn’t a bad alternative either, seeing that my sandwich doesn’t get smashed in my backpack during the day like it would with a Ziploc bag. The only issue with Tupperware would be that it takes up too much space. Ziploc bags are compact and can be shaped this way and that, thus making it more preferable in most cases. Again, it doesn’t seem impossible, just a slight inconvenience.
Also, many products are carried in plastic bags. Just looking around my room, my bag of pita chips, trail mix, even the individually wrapped granola bars are carried in plastic. A box of cheezits is contained in a box, but in addition to that, there a plastic bag that holds the actual product. There are so many products carried in this same way, such as cereal and a variety of other boxed snacks. I suppose the thought of having our snacks sealed in a plastic bag seems a bit more sanitary, but it also helps prevent our snacks from going bad.
Daisy, Week 6
Shaili Das #7
ReplyDeleteFor this week’s response I would like to discuss the debate of using plastic bags. I feel like it is so complex that I cannot just choose to support on side. Although they cause great harm to our environment since they are not biodegradable I feel like it is almost impossible to try to completely ban in our society today.
The key point that makes me anti banning plastic bags is that we reuse those bags. People usually tend to reuse these bags at least two to three times until the bag rips or is used to throw away trash, which is still reusing it for a purpose since in our society trash needs to be bagged. I personally use those bags for everything. From organizing my stuff in them to just using it as a way of giving something to someone these bags are embedded into our society that it will be hard to get completely rid off.
Also, although paper bags are recyclable they are only meant for one time use. And if you take it into consideration even if the paper is recyclable, a lot of extra energy has to be added into the cycle causing more carbon emissions under certain situations. As Joe Trumpey mentioned in lecture, perhaps both are equally just as bad and people just aren’t aware of it. Maybe in certain areas it might be better to use plastic bags while in other areas in the world paper is better. Therefore I don’t think we need to specifically ban either of them. What I do think is necessary is to make people aware of which one would be more beneficial to the environment in their particular situation. This is because a lot of people, including me always thought that paper bags were better; however, as Joe explained this is not necessarily the case. By informing the people I feel like people will make better decisions overall regarding the material they should use which can then help better the environment. Because of our tremendous usage of these bags I think we should approach another method of cutting down on our usage of them. Perhaps we could charge people for these bags so that they could either bring their own from home and reuse them or if anything this would at least bring awareness to them that they are paying for the materials after life as well.