Anna McWhirter

English 112

Mrs. Carroll

June 20, 2019

Is Plastic the Future?

Replacing plastic bags with new cloth bags has become the new “environmentally

conscious” trend. Many grocery stores are promoting them in hopes to reduce their plastic bag

use. Some stores have started charging customers for using a plastic bag. Some states have even

banned the use of plastic bags, and force customers to bring their own. While one can fit

significantly more items in the cloth bags, are they really any better for the environment? There

is an argument for both sides of the plastic bag ban debate.

In August of 2014, California became the first state to impose a statewide ban on the use

of single use plastic bags. Other states such as Alaska, Hawaii, and New York have followed in

their footsteps and are beginning to ban plastic bags as well. Some places have prohibited the use

completely, and some have imposed a tax on single use bags. It is still a new topic, but it seems

to be growing relatively quickly. There is more talk about this subject online, and mainly social

media sites. It’s not just plastic bags either, some companies are cutting out all plastic waste.

Some people are totally for it and some are strongly against it. There is no doubt that this will

become a common issue and will be a part of the future.

Starting with the positives, one reusable bag can replace up to three plastic ones. That is

three fewer bags that will end up in a landfill or in the ocean damaging sea life. Plastic bags can
take hundreds or even up to a thousand years to decompose, so they take up a large amount of

space in landfills. There is so much plastic waste cluttering up our oceans as well. “Estimated

that 5.25 trillion plastic particles (weighing 269,000 tons) are floating in the sea.” (International

Policies, 1) Most of the time, bags are not disposed of properly and that is when it creates

problems for animals living in the ocean. When they get into the ocean, sea animals often

mistake plastic bags for food, choke on them, or get tangled up in them, which is life threatening.

“Entanglement of species by marine debris can cause starvation, suffocation, laceration,

infection, reduced reproductive success and mortality” (“International Policies”, 2)

Since plastic bags take almost forever to decompose, they get into groundwater and they

damage our soil. The factories that produce plastic bags emit nasty chemicals into the air, water,

and soil that plants use to grow. Then the bags end up in a landfill for an excessively long period

of time and release toxic chemicals into the soil. Plastic bags get thrown everywhere and when

they do not get picked up they hurt agriculture “As plastic bags do not decompose with soil they

remain in the agricultural lands and blocks as well retard the progress of growth of agricultural

plants.” (Abdul, 4) Reducing plastic bag use would reduce land pollution. The bags are hardly

ever picked up and disposed of correctly, so they block plant growth. Plastic bags hinder crop

growth by blocking the space around the roots, not allowing them to grow.

A negative of using reusable bags is the possibility of cross contamination. Most people

do not think to wash their bags after they bring them home from the grocery store. Often, as soon

as they are used, they are put back in the car for the next shopping trip. This is where the risk of

getting sick from cross contamination comes from. If food leaks into the cloth bag, the germs and

bacteria are going to stay in that bag and likely spread to whatever goes in next. This is mainly a

problem with meat that has juice all over it and leaks out of the container. In a study, 84 bags
were collected from consumers and tested for bacteria. The experiment proved “Large numbers

of bacteria were found in almost all bags and coliform bacteria in half. Escherichia were

identified in 12% of the bags and a wide range of enteric bacteria, including several opportunistic

pathogens.” (Gerba, 1) In total, over half the bags had some form of bacteria in them.

Stores are beginning to push the sales of their reusable bags hardcore “Home Depot

distributed 500,000 free reusable shopping bags last April on Earth Day, and Wal-Mart gave

away one million.” (Gamerman, 1) All grocery stores have their own bags at the registers and

sell them for a dollar or so. Associates are expected to promote the use of cotton over plastic.

When it comes to the production of cotton or canvas bags, plastic bags are more environmentally

friendly. “Many of the cheap, reusable bags that retailers favor are produced in Chinese factories

and made from nonwoven polypropylene, a form of plastic that requires about 28 times as much

energy to produce.” (Gamerman, 1) It takes a substantial amount of energy and water to make

reusable bags, and they contain harsh dyes and chemicals. Paper bags are not much better,

because that leads to destroying millions of trees. Paper bags and Reusable bags create a lot of

water and air pollution.

Ultimately, there is no perfect solution to the harmful effects plastic and reusable bags

cause. Finding a truly green, environmentally friendly option is nearly impossible. There are a

couple of alternatives to plastic, but there is always going to be drawbacks. There are important

positives and negatives to both sides of banning plastic bags. On one hand, plastic bags kill sea

creatures, take up space in landfills and oceans, and prevent plant growth. Reusable bags take a

lot of energy to make, contribute to water and air pollution, and you have to use them dozens or

hundreds of times before it can make a difference in the environment. Secondly, there is a risk of
cross contamination if they are not cleaned regularly. It is up to consumers to choose which

option they think is best for them.

 Works Cited

Gamerman, Ellen “An Inconvenient Bag.” The Wall Street Journal, September 26, 2008.

https://dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/aboutthebag/pdf/articles/archive/WallStreetJournal_09-26-

08_1.pdf

“International Policies to Reduce Plastic Marine Pollution from Single-Use Plastics

(Plastic Bags and Microbeads): A Review.” Marine Pollution Bulletin, Pergamon, 21 Feb. 2017,

reader.elsevier.com/reader/sd/pii/S0025326X17301650?token=21C1ADA075FEEA3349355F4

D7A1B213993C26FA9963968ACC8957F6F1E8BFE02D0DD3953F4E61E4D7F901177FF75D

204.

Jacobsen, Sharon. Plastic Bag Pollution.

www.dpw.lacounty.gov/epd/PlasticBags/Articles/Googobits_07-21-05.pdf.

Gerba, Charles, et al, “Assessment of the Potential for Cross Contamination of Food Products by

Reusable Shopping Bags.” June 9, 2010.

http://www.flashreport.org/blog/public/system/uploads/2011/05/grocery-bags-bacteria.pdf

Md. Abdul, Jalil, et al, “Using Plastic Bags and Its Damaging Impact on Environment and

Agriculture: An Alternative Proposal”, Macrothink Institute, August 17, 2013.

http://citeseerx.ist.psu.edu/viewdoc/download?doi=10.1.1.680.5900&rep=rep1&type=pdf