Environmental Imapct Of Plastic Bags On The Society

In 1933 polythene was accidentally created to bring about the now famous product called plastic was first produced at a chemical plant in Norwich, England to be used in the second world war (Thompson, Charles, Frederick, & Swan, 2009). In 1965, the polyethylene shopping bag is patented by the Swedish company Celloplast and it quickly begins to replace other shopping bags which were used before like cloth.

By 1979 many of the countries in Europe were using plastic bags and Europe begun to export the plastic bags to other continents and countries such as the United States of America.

The plastic bag companies then begun to thoroughly kick out their rivals which were paper bags and they gained more traction with customers who now opted to use the new product on the market compare to the old paper bags and bags made of cloth. By 1982 a few of the major super markets and stores had switched completely to plastic bags phasing out their packaging from before thus causing many of their customers to switch to the use of plastic bags.

Plastic bags are used widespread by all members of the society, because they are functional, durable, do not weigh very much, and as a hygienic means of carrying food and other goods. While the plastic bags are current conveniences for carrying various items, they are responsible for the ecological and agricultural land degradation and this threatens the ability of the future generations to meet their own needs (Suigi, 2008).

It is said that people began to use plastic bags to carry groceries and goods by hands or otherwise in the1970s, (Clapp, 2009) and these bags became popularized rapidly in the last quarter of the 20thcentury (Suigi, 2008).

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No accurate statistics have been seriously made on the total number of plastic bags produced so far, but today about a trillion plastic bags are being nonchalantly used worldwide every year (Miller, 2012). These bags are very popular with both retailers and consumers, because they are very cheap, strong, lightweight, functional, and as a hygienic means of carrying food and other goods. Although the plastic bags are modern conveniences for carrying goods, they are responsible for the environmental and agricultural land degradation that has incidentally used up precious resources of the earth, in particular, petroleum (Suigi, 2008).

Plastic bags are easily carried by the wind and water and are able to be carried to distant areas far from the place they were originally disposed of. They are dispersed to waterways, lakes, and oceans, particularly due to not having a heavy mass, a shape that could easily be dispersed, and the fact that they do not easily degrade (Verghese, Jollands, & Allan, 2006). As they enter water channels, they disperse to farther areas and, with no proper mechanism for removal or an ability to trap them so that they do not continue to make their way to larger water bodies. The plastic bags then harm ecosystems progressively farther away from urban centres where they are initially produced (Bollinger., 2015).

There are several reasons why, around 96 percent of all plastic bags are dumped into landfills. It is well known that plastic bags are non-biodegradable; however plastic bags decompose very slowly, if at all. In fact, a bag can last up to 1000 years in the soil inhibiting the breakdown of biodegradable materials around or in it (Stevens, 2001). Plastic grocery bags which are light causes additional harm to the environment as they can be easily blown away by air and as a result they become fixed to tree and plant branches. This makes the environment ugly. These plastic bags also fill drainages, rest on public waterways, rivers and oceans.

The deleterious effects of plastic debris on the marine environment were reviewed by bringing together most of the literature published so far on the topic. A large number of marine species is known to be harmed and/or killed by plastic debris, which could jeopardize their survival, especially since many are already endangered by other forms of anthropogenic activities. Marine animals are mostly affected through entanglement in and ingestion of plastic litter. Other less known threats include the use of plastic debris by invader species and the absorption of polychlorinated biphenyls from ingested plastics. Less conspicuous forms, such as plastic pellets and scrubbers are also hazardous. To address the problem of plastic debris in the oceans is a difficult task, and a variety of approaches are urgently required. Some of the ways to mitigate the problem are discussed.

Over the past 20 years, national opinion polls have shown major increases in environmental concern among Americans ( (Gallup, 1990); (Hueber, 1991); (Kohut, 1989). In 1982, 35% of Americans felt that the U.S. government was providing too little environmental protection, whereas by 1986, that percentage had grown to 60% (cf. Dunlap, 1987). Between 1977 and 1986, the percentage of Americans who favoured sacrificing economic growth rather than environmental protection grew from 35% to 58%; during the same period, those who favoured sacrificing environmental quality rather than economic growth fell from 21% to 15% (cf. Dunlap, 1987).

In the 10-year span from 1975 to 1985, membership in nearly all environmental organizations in the US grew markedly. A number of these groups doubled in membership (i.e., the Sierra Club, National Wildlife Federation); some even tripled (i.e., Environmental Defence Fund, National Resources Defence Council). (Howell) found similar trends in their analysis of data from the National Election Studies conducted between 1980 and 1988. Overall, the percentage of respondents who favoured increasing government spending to protect the environment rose from 38% to 62%, while the percentage of those who favoured reducing spending on the environment fell from 11 % to 2%.

Conservative subgroups of the population, such as Republicans and older voters, showed the same shift toward greater support for spending on the environment. These trends have continued. Recent studies indicate a consistently high level of awareness of and concern for environmental problems. A nationwide Roper poll in 1990 reported that concern for the environment was at an all-time high: Seventy-eight percent of the public believes that the nation should make a major effort to improve the quality of our environment (Organisation, 1990).

In 1991, 71% of Americans said they favoured environmental protection, 86% recycled voluntarily, 51 % donated money to environmental groups, and 49% reported that they avoided purchasing environmentally harmful products (Hueber, 1991). By 1990, as compared with a decade earlier, many more people:

• supported increases in governmental spending for environmental causes,
• were willing to sacrifice economic growth for environmental protection,
• considered themselves environmentalists.