The Worldwide Threat from Plastic Bags Marches On

According to an article posted in 2004, even at that time, there was growing international recognition of the threat of plastic bag use on the environment.

The handy plastic shopping bag, so handy for everything from toting groceries to disposing of doggie doo, came into widespread use in the early 1980s. By 2004, environmental groups estimated that 500 billion to 1 trillion of the bags were being used worldwide every year.

Said one critic: "Every time we use a new plastic bag they go and get more petroleum from the Middle East and bring it over in tankers. We are extracting and destroying the Earth to use a plastic bag for 10 minutes…”

To read more from this article, check out the link below:

http://www.commondreams.org/headlines04/0721-04.htm

Imagine how that would feel as you walk through an urban area and see plastic bags wafting from a nearby bush, or drive through a pristine countryside to have your vision drawn jarringly to a plastic bag snapped on a western fence. Then think about those eyesores killing wildlife. According to Planet Ark, about 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals are killed by plastic bags each year worldwide.

If each of us makes sure we have a supply of washable, reusable bags in our cars, and we don’t enter a single store without them, or don’t fail to stuff one in a pocket when we walk to a store, we will gradually win over converts. The ripple effect will cause businesses to stop offering them. If eliminating plastic bags from our lives is the only environmental change we make, it’s a good one.