Why Not to Use Plastic Bags
As everyone knows, the humble plastic bag has become an integral part of our lives… In fact.. the plastic bag has become so common that we hardly notice their presence. Yet if you look around you.. you will notice that we are all in a swamp…. of plastic bags. They are everywhere. We use them to pack clothes, shoes, pens, tools, video games.. even fruits and vegetables. They are light weight, high strength, very flexible and come at a relatively low cost. Well All of this might sound wonderful. The plastic bag is an agent of air pollution, cancer and even some skin diseases.
People who use these bags… have made it into an environmental menace… which has made many of our world’s clean and glimmering metropolises into a… pile of garbage. Did you know… they are a slow poison in our daily life? When you use plastic bag do you know how they are made? If you don’t lend me your ears… Many of the plastic bags at the super market are made through recycled plastic; this means the old plastic is burnt at high temperatures and melted down. For this process … a large number of hazardous chemicals are used.. which makes them a severe health hazard.
When you use a plastic bag you could be responsible for giving your family members cancer, now your all wondering how this has come to be. When plastic bags and other plastic materials are burnt below 7,000 degrees they produce gasses which can lead to skin disease and some forms of cancer. Also when you bring your family products wrapped in polythene like fish, meat and vegetables they get can get infected by anaerobic bacteria, which is a germ responsible for skin cancer. Before you go ahead and throw away a plastic bag consider these true facts.
Plastic bags end up in landfill. The bags are made of polymers and they are non- bio degradable (this means they cannot be broken down by the earth). Now you will ask why can’t we just remove the polymers from the bag well the simple answer is.. Polymers are the same substance that makes the plastic bag a “performance material” get rid of them and your plastic bag will be as flimsy as a piece of paper… Next time you go shopping and wonder why the prices of many fruits and vegetables have become more expensive… consider this fact.
The Plastic bags that are embedded in soil do not allow water to go into the earth. This becomes a huge problem for farmers and their crops. If their crops don’t get enough water… their crops will die and this is one of the factors that cause inflation in the cost of many fruits and vegetables. If you are one of the people who cares about animals.. you would like to know that humble plastic bag is also a health hazard to animals, especially in large cities where animals meet their end after eating.. a plastic bag.
Even in places like zoos where animals are meant to be protected, many zoo keepers have found their animals munching away on plastic material that visitors and people like you have thrown away. Plastic bags that end up in our oceans and lakes… have become a huge problem for the native wildlife. Many researchers have found the population size of animals such as the sea lion.. have de crease because of the plastic bags. These gentle creatures run into the plastic bag and it gets wrapped around their neck causing them to suffocate.
The majestic sea turtle, which has been around from many millions of years are having their life drastically cut short by the plastic bags. When a sea turtle see’s a plastic bag floating right past it, it mistakes the bags shape and colour for that of a jellyfish. The jelly fish is the sea turtles main source of food. So when it eats the plastic bag it also suffocates. So please… don’t be one of the people who are responsible for the extinction of the sea turtle! If you’re a bird lover.. ou should know that even our flying friends are affected by the bag. Birds sometimes mistake the plastic bags for food but when they go to eat it the bag gets lodged in their beaks causing them to starve to death. The latest figures ravel that over 10million plastic bags are being used every day. All of this can be prevented… by one simple solution. Next time you go to the super market look for an alterative to the plastic bag; this could either be a paper bag or a cloth bag. If you love your world.. and if you want to live in a cleaner environment…
