Have you ever seen endangered sea turtles hatch? In fact, I just listed many reasons and points in this article that support both sides of the argument. Plastic use costs approximately $75 billion a year [16]. Instead of searching for another buyer, maybe some soul-searching is in order. If plastic straws are completely banned, local small businesses like boba tea shops will have to look for pricier alternatives. Criddle isdirector of StanfordsCodiga Resource Recovery Center,a member ofStanford Bio-Xand an affiliate of thePrecourt Institute for Energy. There were numerous cases of birds caught in plastic bags, unable to fly and feed, eventually strangling themselves to death. These tiny plastic particles have been found in our oceans, soil, and even in the air. Thats bad news for our carbon reduction goals: if plastic production continues unabated, its greenhouse gas emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030equal to adding nearly 300 new coal-fired power plantseven as the need to curb global climate change becomes more urgent. Should Plastic Straws Be Banned? [Pros & Cons of a Straw Ban] In Germany alone, we use 40 billion plastic straws every year. Paper vs. Why Plastic Straws Are Being Banned - Square Such is the case with many environmental crises: the worst effects are pushed onto overburdened communities with the fewest resources to fight back. A brief history of how plastic straws took over the world - Environment Companies are trying to sell communities on a toxic solution to the plastic pollution crisis. Getting rid of a single plastic straw may not have a very large effect on the environment. There are many uses for plastic that are not only reasonable but important, such as surgical gloves, or straws for people with disabilities. An additional problem with plastic grocery bags recycling is their cleanliness. Beached whales have been found with stomachs full of plastic trash. America Needs a Plastics Intervention. Not only is plastic estimated to kill millions of marine animals and seabirds each year, but its also contaminating seafood that humans have relied on for millennia, particularly with microplastics in animals guts. Here are a few more tips for ridding your life (and your community) of single-use plastics for good. Skip the Straw - Florida Department of Environmental Protection Plastic bag litter has even caused great problems in some areas. Ban of Plastic Can be Problematic. It is good for our environment, health and global climate. Do you wonder why? Martin Grimm/Picture-alliance via Associated Press. And will a plastic straw ban actually be effective when it comes to saving our oceans and environment? 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned. Growing public concern has inspired movements to ban single-use plastics, most notably straws. We've all become too hooked on the availability and comfort of the stuff. And when it comes to waste that lasts forever, every ton counts. This strategy has been adopted by some countries and municipalities so far and has proven to greatly reduce plastic bag usage by consumers. Participate in beach or river cleanups. Recycling more plastic, more frequently, reduces its footprint. Reasons why smoking should be banned articlestrabajos Natural Resources Defense Council 2023 Privacy Policy Have a look yourself to imagine the suffering of these animals. Here are 3 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned, explained in a simple and easy-to-understand manner: 1. Additionally, plastics in our digestive tract may affect absorption of some important trace elements (like iron) which we need for maintaining proper health [13]. Not only does banning single-use plastic reduce pollution, but it also reduces demand for plastic production thats contributing to global climate change. What does occur in most instances is that when out in the environment, the plastic breaks up into tiny microscopic pieces that get deposited in soils (where we grow food) or contaminate waterways. It also took 100% of those plastic grocery bags out of the recycling system, where they bound up machinery and increased costs. Theyre in about a quarter of the seafood in our markets, and even in table salt. The process of drilling for plastics source materials, oil and gas, leads to methane leaking and flaring and is often combined with clearing forests and wetlands that otherwise would have sequestered carbon. Though plastica chain of synthetic polymers, essentiallywas invented in the mid-19th century, it wasnt until the 1970s that its popularity skyrocketed. Why Plastic Bags And Straws Should Not Be Banned Our waterway plastic pollution is particularly concentrated: Just ten rivers carry 93 percent of the worlds total amount of plastic that enters the oceans via rivers each year. This means that the average consumption of plastic bags per person dropped from 328 bags per year to just 21 [20]. For example, some disabled people may not be able to properly hold or pick up a cup, so they need to use straws to drink properly. According to the United States National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, microplastics are so small that they move straight through water filtration, Read More What Are Microplastics and Why Are They a Concern? New York State and Hawaii just passed theirs, set to go into effect in 2020, and Californias bag ban, which was passed in 2014, has been shown to have reduced plastic bag usage by 85 percent (with some customers opting to pay a 10 cent fee for thicker plastic bags) and has reduced coastal pollution. On average, plastic bags cost retailers about 3-5 cents each. Arguments Why Plastic Should Be Banned - Green Matters Spare Yourself the Guilt Trip This Earth DayIts Companies That Need to Clean Up Their Acts, These Fanciful Sea Creatures Were Carried in on the Tide. While an extra two cents may not seem like a lot, it could make a difference for some businesses that depend on plastic straws. As plastic bags are not disposed properly . update email soon. Those global companies can be important levers in driving change and shifting to a regenerative, circular economy. Your email address will not be published. A straw with our iced coffee, a plastic bag to carry our takeout, a wrapper on a candy bar: taken individually, each seems harmless. What can I do for you? For wildlife, microplastics can be particularly dangerous; when eaten they can easily accumulate inside an animals body and cause health issues, like punctured organs or fatal intestinal blockages. What about you? Plastic straws have an especially high propensity to end up in our rivers after being thrown away. How To Make A Bracelet Out Of Plastic String? Plastic waste, mostly broken down into tiny particles, floats in huge blobs amid ocean current patterns called gyres that together cover as much as 40 percent of Earth's ocean surface. Most drop-off collection points accept plastic bags made from high-density polyethylene (plastic number 2) and low-density polyethylene (plastic number 4). Leape has long been a leader in ocean conservation efforts. This form of ban could lead to a reduction in landfill across the country, going a long way to protect the nature and serenity of the area. This could negatively reflect on their income. Plastic straws, being so lightweight and non-biodegradable, are readily carried into the water, where they eventually break down into smaller and smaller pieces of microplastic. To date, around 60 countries and municipalities around the world have instituted plastic bag bans, and additional seven countries are planning to enforce the law in the closest future. All rights reserved. Although, really, these tips can be used by anyone, not just kids. The truth is that we do not know yet the full scale of negative impacts plastic waste can have on marine and terrestrial environments because it hasnt been around long enough to allow us to assess possible scenarios of its influence on natural cycles. Most plastic straws are made from harsh chemicals making them impossible to reuse or recycle. However, I do believe that we should limit our use of plastic straws by asking businesses to only give out straws on request. Low rated: 2. Actress Nina Nelson and other celebrities made a video claiming that plastic. The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, LEAPE:Plastic straws are only a tiny fraction of the problem less than 1 percent. Such materials already exist in nature. 10 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned The majority of this pollutiondominated by single-use plastic wastecomes from countries lacking infrastructure to properly manage waste, particularly in Asia. In Ireland, where this fee was instituted in 2002, plastic bag usage decreased by about 90 percent. Overall, the main reason for a plastic straw ban is to help the environment by preventing plastic straws pollution. And, if you dont like wearing the same shirt or pants, Read More Dont wash it if it doesnt look dirtyContinue, At age 50, Kay is a little over halfway through her life as a driver. Some countries have decided to do so after directly experiencing negative impacts of plastic bags, other countries have implemented the ban to reach their sustainability goals. The second, more fundamental imperative is to get plastics out of our waste stream. Single-use plastics are a glaring example of the problems with throwaway culture. Ideally, to be suitable for recycling, bags need to be clean to be accepted, which is often a problem, considering that we use them to carry groceries and potentially leaky goods. Buying a product through my link comes at no extra cost to you, and I only recommend products that I believe in. Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned? Quick Navigation for Reasons Why Plastic Shopping Bags Should Be Banned REASONS 1. Litter can be the first stage in a waste stream that enters waterways as plastics tossed on the street are washed away by rain or travel via storm drains into rivers and streams. You as an individual have the power to make a gradual change in your community. Activists Say Straws Should Be Banned Because They Are a 'Gateway Plastic' Advocates hope a straw ban will be the first step toward broader plastic prohibitions. Even if plastic doesnt end up in the ocean, recycled plastic is often exported from high-income countries to developing countries to process. TIME for Kids | Should Plastic Straws Be Banned? This is due to the fact that the plastic tubes are far too lightweight to be recycled in an efficient manner. Reasons why smoking should be banned articles jobs Rating: 5 (913 reviews) Highest rating: 5. Interestingly, these granules contain the seeds of their own destruction: enzymes that break the polymer down when it is needed for food. Learn how your comment data is processed. Additionally, a plastic straw ban could also act as a gateway into other single-use plastic bans for items like plastic bottles and plastic bags, which are worse for the environment than plastic straws. The single biggest reason why people want to ban plastic straws is because of their negative effects on the environment. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Bags Should Be Banned | Greentumble Well, lets have a look at the most important reasons why single-use plastic bags should be banned right now. You could either discuss with a store manager a possibility of bringing your own containers for these products. Do you also have that overflowing kitchen drawer full of plastic bags you bring from your shopping trips? ), then its clean! (Source: Water in the West), Analysis reveals how restoring relatively narrow forest buffers could substantially improve regional water quality and carbon storage in Costa Rica and elsewhere. However, if a plastic straw ban is properly implemented with education about single-use plastics, then the ban could encourage the public to reduce their usage of other single-use plastics as well. But, getting rid of all single-use plastics definitely will. On other issues, from overfishing to deforestation, we have seen that consumer-facing companies like McDonalds, Unilever and Walmart can be exquisitely sensitive to the concerns of their customers. You should examine what alternatives are available and whether local retailers, who often operate with a limited monthly budget, have the ability to make the switch. Or you may need to accept that plastic bag this time and then start campaigning for a plastic bag ban in your area . Since their birth, baby turtles have only one goal to get to the sea and swim into deep waters where they will feed and if successful grow into adult turtles. (Some places are going so far as to ban single-use plastics entirely; most notably, India intends to go this route by 2022.) Using these non-renewable resources to make plastic bags is very short-sighted, considering that the typical useful life of each plastic bag is about 12 minutes and that the worlds oil reserves contain enough oil to cover our needs through 2050, as the U.S. Energy Information Administration estimates. Also, giving a speech in . We should do likewise. Tangled in trees and fences along roads, floating in water, lying on the ground in parks and forests, surrounding garbage bins, washed off on beaches. Another indirect danger of plastic bags has breeding ground in the pollution they create. So, plastic bag recycling facilities are few and far between and transportation to one could be expensive. These are known to be hormone-disrupting chemicals. The manufacturing of reusable bags or compostable alternatives to plastic bags offers a new opportunity to create sustainable products and provide jobs that go with them. However, one thing we know, is that by introducing a pollutant that may never break down in the environment can have implications that will far exceed any of our predictions. Polypropylene is a form of plastic that is frequently used in the production of straws. Though plastica chain of synthetic polymers, essentiallywas invented in. The first is to invest in better waste collection in the handful of countries that account for most of the plastic flowing into the ocean. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Bags Should Be Banned | IUCN Water 23 Reasons Why we should ban Plastic Bags | Environment Buddy Plastic bags have become such a nuisance because we as consumers use them excessively even when not needed and authorities havent figured out effective ways of dealing with them as waste. Other country that has decided to enforce the country-wide plastic bag ban after suffering of negative consequences was Mauritania. Plastic is more sanitary and safer to use than other alternatives. So, for example, companies need to not only make products that are recyclable, but actually make them out of recycled or truly biodegradable material. They are a part of our modern lives, and we dont tend to think much about them. We hear everywhere around us that we need to save energy. New and sustainable business models are needed to address the current plastic deluge and also to enable a new generation of sustainable materials and technologies. The first country to ban single-use plastic bags was Bangladesh in 2002 when plastic bag litter clogged drainage channels and contributed to destructive floods. A laboratory photograph of microplastics found in the Corsica River in the Chesapeake Bay watershed, Maryland, An albatross found dead with a belly full of plastic on Midway Atoll. For many in the disabled community, the availability of plastic straws is essential for their well-being and survival. . They are also not biodegradable and cannot be broken down naturally by bacteria and other decomposers into non-toxic materials. So that free plastic bag isnt so free after all. In New York, 23 billion plastic bags are used by residents each year. However, as an environmental enthusiast, heres what I think about this ban. Oil and natural gas are non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources and through their extraction and production, they emit greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change. How? Some Disabled People Require Plastic Straws to Drink For some people with disabilities, straws are the only way they. Not easy to recycle 7. Author: floridadep.gov. Considering what important source of food plankton is for many other species, it is clear that plastic gets distributed across the marine ecosystem. Plastic bags are a convenient way to carry our purchased goods when we go shopping. They're bad for the environment, kill marine life and damage human health. We are working hard to improve our content. Due to its chemistry, nothing in nature can make plastic biodegrade. CRAIG CRIDDLE: In addition to recycling more and reusing materials more, we need new materials that can do the same jobs as current plastics, but are biodegradable, nontoxic and do not concentrate in food chains. 1. plastic straws litter our environment Every day, about 3-6 billion plastic straws are produced. One of the most significant negative effects that plastic bags have on the natural world is that it takes a very long time for them to degrade.In addition, the breakdown of plastic bags in the sun results in the release of hazardous compounds into the surrounding soil, and the combustion of plastic bags results in the release of a poisonous material into the surrounding air, contributing to the problem of ambient air pollution.
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