Several Effects Of Plastic Bag On Environment

Plastic bags are widely used for carrying purchases for they are lightweight, strong, cheap, functional, and also hygienic. But, do you know that they are very harmful for environment? These bags have great contribution to causing pollution and killing wildlife. In addition, they are responsible for using up the natural resources of the earth.

In the USA, plastic bags which are used each year reach about a hundred billion. It means that the non-biodegradable rubbish is a hundred billion as well. Along with some other waste which is non-biodegradable, can you imagine how many waste produced each year? It is only a little fact in the US. What about in another populous country such as China and India? There will be a lot of waste produced without being biodegradable.

All those waste above can contribute to some effects on the environment. You can see some of the effects in the following account.

Plastic bags are one of the main factors which litter the landscape. From year to year, these bags have been widely used and ended up to littering the environment such as parks, streets, waterways, beaches, and some other places. In addition, if burned, they will infuse the surrounding air with the toxic fumes.

They can also kill the animal. A shocking fact is that they have killed for about 100,000 animals including turtles, whales, dolphins, and also penguins. Those animals are died since they ingest them as their wrong food. The worse news is that the plastic still remains even after the animals’ decomposition.

Plastic bags become one of the main problems since they are non-biodegradable. Totally, the decomposition for plastic takes around 1,000 years. It means that these bags will remain as rubbish along those years. With all the plastic rubbish produced each day, plastic rubbish problem will never be solved well.

Furthermore, plastic bags use up the petroleum. It is the main material which is used for creating the plastic. With large production of plastic bags each day, there are a lot of nonrenewable natural source used up. On the other hand, it is one of the main resources which are highly needed for daily energy supply. In other words, plastic bag will also spend the natural resource. Then, why should we spend the important natural resource for producing plastic?

It seems like there is no right solution for this problem. However, you can try to minimize the use of plastic bags by using single plastic bag for daily use. Although it is only a very small amount, it will help. Another good solution is to recycle the plastic. It can be recycled into the products for various purposes such as the garbage bins.