Plastic is here and here to stay, I’m afraid, and so we will have to deal with it. As much of a scourge it is to the environment, it has many good and positive uses, particularly in the medical industry where using plastics have no doubt stopped the spread of disease and have saved countless lives.
But there is one element of plastic that we can all do without. We can get rid of plastic bags altogether, get rid of them for shopping, and get rid of them in our landfills. Did you know that upwards of, perhaps, a trillion plastic bags are used each year worldwide, and truth be told, these are 2003 figures. I am too frightened to look up more modern figures because I just don’t want to know. One is too many as far as I am concerned.
We don’t need plastic bags, people, I mean at the very least for grocery or food shopping, where most of the plastic bags come from. If there is a medical or health need for them, more power to those that need them, but as far as everyday society goes, they need to be gone and disappear.
The worst part about the plastic bag is that it can be totally recycled. As in 100% recycled. Then why are we only recycling 1 to 3% of them every year? I’ll tell you why, it’s too easy to just throw them in the regular trash then to separate them out for recycling. We are lazy, that’s why.
If you are a regular Mind Petal reader, you have certainly seen my article on plastic water bottles. I hate those as well. They fall into the same category as plastic bags, although they aren’t quite as insidious since plastic water bottles are getting about 30% recycled, so although that’s still pretty horrible, it’s better than plastic bags.
The problem here is that there are so many alternatives to plastic bags that it isn’t even an issue. Virtually any where one goes, there are canvas reusable bags, nylon reusable bags, backpacks, purses, boxes and anything else you can think of that is equally as good as or better than a plastic bag! I mean, this isn’t that hard.
I have several reusable bags that have been serving me well for years. I keep a couple in my car for just in case, and I have the rest in my house when I know I am going major shopping.
When I ride a bike I take along my backpack and can fill that baby up with quite a bit of goodies. This is a no brainer here. I have even taken several plastic bags, pushed them inside of each other, duct taped the handles together and made myself a super duper heavy duty reusable plastic bag. Except for a few pieces of tape, it didn’t cost me a cent. And if I can do this, you can do this too!
Anyway, as you can plainly tell, I do not like plastic bags. So, can we get rid of them please? Thank you.
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I couldn’t agree with you more, Dale. Plastic bags (at least the grocery ones) are a huge waste. They one time use and plastic stays in the environment for centuries.
I use reusable bags as well and, on the occasion that I do use plastic bags, I recycle them myself or use them as a dog waste picker upper.
Overall, good article.
Kevin, plastic bags are the bane of my existence! If I could wave a magic wand and be away with them forever, I surely would and not think twice about it! And just so you know, I used paper bags to pick up my dogs waste. It is just as easy and biodegrades in a landfill where as a plastic bag won’t. Although, I actually looked up biodegradable plastic, and it’s out there, paper is a lot handier and more convenient.
Thank you so much for your comment, I appreciate it a lot!
I totally agree. I was actually thinking of starting to sell Jute bags as an effort to get rid of plastic bags. However the problem is, people dont think about carrying extra bags with them to shop. It is easier to get a free plastic bag. Even if we sell jute bags at shopping malls, it will still cost a dollar extra and i dont know whether customers would dig that.