Unfortunately, throwing away those convenient disposable plastic bags carries grave consequences. They never break down and eventually contaminate the worldÃÛèÖÊÓƵ waterways and oceans. , about 300 million plastic bags a year end up in just the Atlantic Ocean alone. Plus, producing and shipping the bags to stores increases the carbon footprint.
Several U.S. metro areas and states currently enforce plastic bag bans. HereÃÛèÖÊÓƵ a look at the impact plastic bags (and avoiding them) can have on the planet and how you can do your part by bringing reusable cloth bags to the store.
Single-Use Plastic Bag Pollution's Grim Outlook
It seems nearly impossible to fathom that people use 5 trillion plastic bags yearly – or about 160,000 bags a second – around the world,Ìý. The bags are lightweight, durable, and easy to tote with those handy cutout handles. However, most people carry their goods home and then toss the bags in the trash.ÌýÌýfrom 2018 shows that Americans only recycled about 10% of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps and sent over three million tons of plastic bags, sacks, and wraps to landfills.
Unfortunately, plastic bags never break down. Entire plastic bags – or the millions of tiny microplastics they break into - are part of the millions of tons of marine debris entering the oceans. In the North Pacific Ocean, collective plastic waste forms the Great Pacific Garbage Patch.
, the seafloor may also be a trash heap. Oceanographers and ecologists “recently discovered that about 70% of marine debris sinks to the bottom of the ocean.â€
Scores of bags litter coastlines around the globe. In 2020, the Ocean ConservancyÃÛèÖÊÓƵ International Coastal Cleanup volunteersÌýÌý272,399 plastic grocery bags from the worldÃÛèÖÊÓƵ beaches.
The more single-use plastic bags and other plastic items people use and throw away, the worse the plastic pollution crisis will become. AÌýÌýcalled for a new UN Treaty to address plastic pollution. The paper asserts that without intervention, “the annual volume of plastic entering the ocean will triple and ocean plastic stocks will quadruple in the next 20 years.â€
How Discarded Plastic Bags Threaten Marine Creatures
The increasingly large amount of plastic bag debris and microplastic remnants threatens marine life. In aÌý, researchers observed over 700 marine species ingest, become entangled, or get smothered by plastic marine debris.
Additionally, unsuspecting sea animals get stuck in plastic bags and can’t find their way out.ÌýÌýthat one Spanish whale died after ingesting over 60 pounds of plastic – including multiple shopping bags. Some aquatic creatures mistake microplastics for food and ingest so much debris that they have no room in their stomachs for real food and die of starvation.
, plastic pollution kills about one million marine animals yearly. We must all do our part to save lives.
How Plastic Bags Harm Other Wildlife
Unfortunately, marine creatures aren’t the only wildlife suffering from tossed-out plastic bags.ÌýÌýthat birds can get a plastic bag or plastic soda rings tangled around their wings and cannot fly. Likewise, raccoons can get plastic bags and jars stuck on their heads and suffocate or cut themselves on plastic soda rings. Other animals like dogs and cows can get intestinal blockages from eating or ingesting plastic.
, humans eat over 40 pounds of plastic in their lifetime. Scientists are still trying to understand the impact of ingesting plastic on human health.ÌýÌýthat exposure to BPA (bisphenol A), a chemical used to produce certain types of plastic, can affect the brain and prostate gland of fetuses, infants, and children. It may also link to blood pressure increases, cardiovascular disease, and type 2 diabetes.
Therefore, eliminating plastic bags would help curb the human health risks of ingesting microplastics.
Plastic Bag Production's Impact on the Planet
Plastic bags not only harm living creatures but producing them has multiple environmental impacts. According to a Suffolk County, New York , “It requires 2.2 billion pounds of fossil fuel and 3.9 billion gallons of fresh water to produce the 100 billion plastic bags the U.S. consumes each year.†Manufacturing the bags “produces a billion pounds of solid waste and 2.7 million tons of carbon dioxide (CO2) per year.â€
Therefore, cutting out plastic bags from the production chain would save natural resources and reduce carbon emissions.
Which States and Cities Have Plastic Bag Bans?
Eight states actively ban plastic shopping bags,Ìý. They are California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York, Oregon, and Vermont. Major cities with plastic bag bans include Boston, Chicago, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Seattle, Portland, Maine; Boulder, Colorado; New York City, Washington, D.C.; and Montgomery County, Maryland.
An increase in state and metro area bans will positively impact plastic pollution, living creatures, and the environment.
Do Your Part by Taking Reusable Bags to the Store
One simple thing you can do to help prevent plastic pollution and protect wildlife and the planet is to stop using single-use plastic bags and take your own reusable cloth bags to the store. Book bags and tote bags work well. If you don’t have any, most major retail and grocery chains sell reusable cloth shopping bags for a small fee.
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