Environmental preservation and conservation have been fads these days. The hard work of nature advocates has seemingly achieved success and a product of this is the campaign to ban the use of plastic bags in many places worldwide. Plastic bags, as noted by environmentalists, are among the main causes of nature degradation. They are not biodegradable so when people throw these bags away; they will just end up piled up in pits. If burned, plastic bags will release harmful chemicals which are not only hazardous to our health, but damaging to the ozone layer as well.
When thrown in bodies of water, plastic bags pose more danger as these do not only pollute the water but also kill fishes and other sea animals. These and more reasons make the banning of plastic bags quite agreeable. However, it should be noted that banning is not an appropriate solution for the pollution problem that we now have. When examining the reasons why the use of plastic bags should be prohibited, one can’t help but notice that the real problem is not the utilization of plastic bags.
Rather, the problem stems from the methods of how the bags are disposed of. So, it would probably be better if the environmental campaign would start at a grand crusade to promote the effective use and disposal of plastic bags. Instead of asking people to stop using bags and forcing them to engage in a dilemma of disposing the hundreds of plastic bags that they probably have at home, it might be better if you would teach them how to dispose of those bags properly. Also, a ban of plastic bags would not be quite effective if it is not implemented at a national level.
It is pointless to ban the use of plastic bags in a small town while the nearby metropolitan area does not share the same regulations. After all, the pollution and problems caused by plastic bags usually stem from commercial sites, not from a sparsely populated suburban area. It should be noted however, that launching a nationwide ban on plastic bags may be impractical and ineffective simply because many organizations and industries would find it devastating for most of their business processes. Another problem is that there is really no efficient alternative to plastic bags.
While paper bags are indeed environmental friendlier, not all items stored in plastic bags can be placed in paper bags. This lack of an alternative must be addressed before proposing the bans. Instead of banning the use of plastic bags, it might be better if campaigns would be focused on inventing new ways to make “worn-out” plastic bags useful again. Also, new garbage collecting schemes must be implemented, not just in some areas but worldwide. If possible, companies which are in dire need of plastic bags must be encouraged – if not forced – to recycle the “used and worn” bags into new ones.