What are some of the concerns of the Plastic Bags and what can be done to prevent the environmental harm?

Question

What are some of the concerns of the Plastic Bags and what can be done to prevent the environmental harm?

Answer 1

Plastic bags are petroleum based and are not biodegradable. That's two problems already.

Because it is a petroleum based product, you need heat to produce it, and that adds to the heat that's causing this global warming.

Because it's non-biodegradable, it will take nature 300 years or more to destroy it. For the meantime, all plastics that are carelessly thrown away add up and they start to pollute the planet. To speed up their destruction you need to burn them, so that again will add to the problem of global warming.

Make it a habit to bring reusable clothe bags with you whenever you go shopping. There are strong types of clothe bags, and even stronger types made of fiber. They are also environment friendly.

Also, stop eating at fast food restaurant that serves their meals in styrofoams.

Answer 2

I have no problem with pastic bags.  I just burn them in my burn barrel.

Answer 3

I know plastic bags are a problem.  There are some places where you can recycle them.  Some supermarkets have containers where they collect them for recycling.  A lot of supermarkets sell regular cloth bags for reuse.  Maybe it's worth a few bucks for a couple of them.

Answer 4

One of the major problems from plastics is what it is doing to the oceans.

There is an area twice the size of the U.S. in the Pacific Ocean that is a soup of trillions of bits of plastics.  The prevailing winds and ocean currents go clockwise and create this area which is similar to the Sargasso sea of the Atlantic. This is where the plastic collects.

"Most plastic floats near the sea surface where some is mistaken for food by birds and fishes. Plastics are carried by currents and can circulate continually in the open sea. Broken, degraded plastic pieces outweigh surface zooplankton in the central North Pacific by a factor of 6-1. That means six pounds of plastic for every single pound of zooplankton."

"Storms flush plastics down stream and ultimately into the ocean. Plastic debris looks bad, but it behaves worse. Far worse! Plastic pollution negatively effects trillions upon trillions of ocean inhabitants and ultimately humans."

"Synthetic Sea" shows how many marine birds and fishes ingest plastic, because it mimics the food they eat. The program reveals scientific research, indicating how plastic pieces can attract and hold hydrophobic elements like PCB and DDT up to one million times background levels. As a result, floating plastic is like a poison pill. As a result, new research regarding endocrine disrupters in floating plastic debris is being planned by the Algalita Marine Research Foundation.. "Synthetic Sea" is a documentary based on scientific findings backed by published scientific papers."

DR. Marcus Ericson

http://www.algalita.org/research.html#pl...

http://www.algalita.org/pelagic_plastic....

They say tiny organisms at the bottom of the food chain are ingesting microscopic bits of plastic.

Plastic production in the U.S. uses 5-10% of our petroleum.  And much of the plastic is soon thrown away, especially packaging.

  One solution is bioplastics that are made from plants.  This is still a small industry but should grow rapidly. I believe it is a much better use of plant material than using it for biofuels.  One company, Metabolix, is building a factory in Iowa to produce bioplastics from corn.  They have a state of the art method, using genetically engineered bacteria, that digest the starch and sugars and produce bioplastic.  They can replace over half the existing types of plastic with their PHA bioplastic.  The real kicker is that they can grow switchgrass with the plastic already in the leaves and stems.  They do this without genetically modifying the plants. Switchgrass is a plant that can be grown on marginal land, that would not normally be used for food crops.  This has been done already on an experimental basis, and they have a federal research grant to further the technology.  And they can still make biofuel from what's left, after harvesting the plastic.

Another company making bioplastics is Cereplast.

  

Europe is a little ahead of us, as they have been using some bioplastics already.

Answer 5

Yes, recycle.... also you can help by recycling plastic zippy bags, the cereal bags that come in the boxes, then tear up the boxes and add to your compost pile (the worms love them).  We try to recycle any and all plastic that comes into the house.