Say Goodbye to Plastic Bags

There has been concern over the effects of plastic grocery/store bags on the environment for some time. Some states are finally taking action to eliminate their use and to reduce the damage to our world.

Plastic bags are harmful in several ways. Often, errant bags caught by the wind find their way into the sea, forests, or other animal habitats. Animals may mistake the bags for food because they often have food residue inside. If they try to eat the bags, they can choke and die of asphyxiation. Animals that swallow the bags whole may find themselves unable to digest their natural diet and die of infection or starvation.

There is an area of exceptionally high amounts of floating plastic sin the North Pacific Ocean. This is referred to as The Pacific Trash Vortex. This area has trapped plastic bags and other debris in the currents. It is estimated to be two times as large as Texas and is impacting marine ecosystems with toxins.

An obvious issue with plastic bags is litter. It is difficult to walk or drive down any road without seeing at least one bag suspended in a tree or at the roadside, fluttering in the breeze. Plastic bags take hundreds of years to break down in landfills. Unfortunately, only a small number of these bags are taken to recycling centers or reused.

Research shows that ten lightweight plastic bags used per week over a two year period produces more than three times the greenhouse gas impact of reusable bags.

With all of these in mind, ecologists and environmentalists have been seeking assistance from government agencies to find ways to decrease the effects of plastic bags so they do not continue to harm the environment.

This week, California became the first state in the US to ban the use of plastic bags. State legislators worked for years to pass the bill and then have the governor sign the bill into law. So, what impact will one state have on the big picture?

Analysts anticipate that we will see a reduction of a minimum of 13 billion plastic bags per year. The ban goes into effect next July, so that stores have until July 2016 to come up with and implement suitable alternatives.

The plastic bag industry is certainly not happy with the new trend. They are preparing a proposition for a ballot in two years’ time so that voters can decide whether ban should be revoked. With this in mind, they are trying to put the new law in a holding pattern until the voting takes place.

In the meantime, several cities throughout the US have either added surcharges to plastic bag use as a deterrent or banned them. California is the first state to issue a ban for the entire state. By taking this step, they may be the tipping point and start the trend for more states to work towards decreasing the use of plastic and choosing to move towards reusable shopping bags.