What’s in the plastic bag?
Every day, we are each responsible for the increase in carbon emissions whether our activities and choices are big or small. Sometimes there is a bigness to small things like a plastic bag.
Plastic shopping bags were introduced in supermarkets in 1977. According to the EPA, Americans now use and dispose of 100 billion plastic shopping bags a year.
When I lived in Japan, I witnessed many people carrying compact eco-bags for shopping to cut down on plastic bag waste and to avoid extra fees. Seiyu, a large store chain, now owned by Wal-Mart, charges its customers for plastic bags. Other stores give a small discount to people who bring their own eco-bags.
Recently, after moving back to Las Vegas, I became aware of some differences in environmental practices. As I stood in line at the checkout last week, I watched the friendly bagger put only three to four small items in every bag for the family in front of us. As the bags started to puff out of the shopping cart like marshmallows, my motherly eyes starting to pop as well.
My husband gently touched my arm, knowing I wanted to make a friendly environmental suggestion. Then, to my amazement, the cashier and the bagger proceeded to double bag some of the bigger items even ones with handles.
The interesting part to me was that nobody else thought that was strange. However, they did seem put out to not have to bag most of our large items. They also seemed surprised when we refused the plastic bags for the few extra items that they didn't think would fit in our reusable bags. The cashier and bagger exchanged glances when my husband filled the nooks and crannies of the sturdy cloth bags to the brim.
So is it really a problem that we bring so many free plastic shopping bags home to add to our collection? We all have plans to reuse them, don't we? And aren't they recyclable anyway? Well, let's look at some numbers and facts.
The average household takes home 1,500 bags a year. Plastic bags go into our landfills and take 1,000 years to break down into still-toxic particles.
Many plastic bags are blown away and often end up in our rivers, coastlines and out to sea. Increasingly, trash from the West Coast of North America and the east of Japan and surrounding countries have gathered in what National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration refers to as the Great Pacific Garbage Patch. Nearly 90 percent of the marine litter is plastic.
Plastic is not biodegradable but can break into smaller pieces by a process called photodegradation. Some scientists estimate 1.9 million bits for every square mile in the northern Pacific Ocean. Four-fifths of the marine debris come from the land.
One million seabirds die every year from being choked or tangled or poisoned by the chemicals in plastic. In addition, more than 100,000 marine mammals such as seals, sea lions, whales, dolphins and turtles lose their lives to similar conditions.
With the damage to wildlife, the environment and our oceans, our limited energy and water supplies are wasted to make a product that's average time of use is 12 minutes.
So what can we do about the bigness of this small matter? Well, a lot can be done.
Recycle?
That depends.
Plastic bags are indeed recyclable and can be made into other products. However,for the bags to be recycled, they need to be collected, separated or somehow recovered from the other waste. Therefore, if you're like most of us and use them to put other trash in, it will more than likely end up on the landfill.
Some stores have collection bins dedicated to plastic bags. Unfortunately, worldwide we only recycle 1 in every 200 bags.
Reuse?
Sure, but in the end we either recycle (see above), or it goes into the landfill or sea.
Many of us, my family included, reuse the bags for trash collection or for collecting pet waste. I mentioned this topic to my daughter as she was headed out the door, leashes in one hand and plastic bags in the other. We chuckled at how she likes to bring two bags, one for each dog, but how her fiancé was skillful with one bag for both small dogs.
Realizing the convenience of plastic bags got me thinking and forced me to do a little research.
There are several companies online, such as Green Genuis, Indaco and World Centric Compostable Bags, that produce a variety of biodegradable and compostable bags for your homes. Other companies such as Bio bags and Eco Safe also carry doggie waste bags and cat litter lining. I have committed to adding these products to our household for just a few bucks more a month.
Reduce
Reducing the numbers of bags we take home is a start. This involves family effort to remind each other before leaving the house to add to the daily checklist: keys, wallet, sunglasses, beverage, reusable eco shopping bag. Check!
It also may mean walking back to the car when we forget the bags the first couple of times to form our new habit.
Many countries and local municipalities have implemented a plastic bag ban or tax. Ireland was the first country to implement a Plas-tax in 2002 and witnessed a 92 percent drop in plastic bag use in the first year. The charge was equivalent to .33 cents, and all the tax revenue went directly to the environmental ministry for enforcement and cleanup projects.
Many U.S. cities and states such as California and Hawaii have followed suit in types of incentives and disincentives. None so far in Nevada.
Refuse
In the end, the best practice for this ubiquitous product is to refuse to use it. Studies show that the largest opposition to banning plastic bags are from petroleum and plastic companies and from consumers who don't want to change their habits. So really, that's what it comes down to.
Imagine if everyone became willing to make this small change. Now that would be a big deal!
— Mary Beth Horiai has split her adult life between Japan and Southern Nevada. In Las Vegas, Horiai worked for the nonprofit U.S. Green Building Council of Nevada. A graduate of UNLV, she was trained as a speaker for The Climate Reality Project.
