By: Brody Walsh
July 3rd is International Plastic Bag Free Day, part of a global mission to eliminate the use of plastic bags.
All single-use plastic items have a negative impact on the environment, and plastic bags are among the most common single-use items that fill our landfills and pollute our environment. The elimination of plastic bags is very possible through a variety of alternatives.
Plastic bags’ negative impact on the environment is massive. In a landfill, they can take up to 1000 years to break down, and as they do break down, they do not completely degrade but rather turn into microplastics. Microplastics absorb toxins and continue to pollute the environment, causing even further harm to the environment even on a microscopic level. What’s more, plastic bags don’t only contribute to waste, but like all plastic materials, they require oil to be manufactured. The use of fossil fuels to produce single-use products is a major contributor to harmful emissions in addition to the waste it creates; Americans use about 100 billion plastic bags per year, which takes 12 million barrels of oil to manufacture. These negative effects are exactly why it’s so important to look for alternatives to plastic bags and work towards eliminating their use.
There are several things we can all do to help reduce the waste and impact of plastic bags. Reusable shopping bags are perhaps the most obvious and impactful way one can start to remove plastic bags from one’s life. Reusable products dramatically reduce the waste created in a household. Statistically, the average American uses about 365 bags a year, and even if you cannot completely avoid their use, reducing that number at all can go a long way in reducing waste. Whenever possible, investing in bags made from recycled material can even further reduce waste, as it keeps those plastics out of landfills and in use where they are not as harmful to the environment.
Eliminating plastic bags is a goal that benefits everyone. Hopefully, with a better understanding
of why it’s so important, we can all take advantage of the more sustainable alternatives on International Plastic Bag Free Day and carry those habits into our everyday life.