Environmentally Friendly

How many times have you been to the supermarket and left with an armful of plastic carrier bags? Have you ever considered where these end up?

Every year millions of plastic carrier bags end up in landfill sites; this causes major environmental issues as it takes over 1000 years for the bags to degrade. Imagine how many bags of rubbish are dumped by a family every day.

One option is the widespread use of bio-degradable bags; these are made up of polymers that degrade naturally when exposed to direct sunlight or air. The use of bio-degradable bags is not a long term solution at this moment in time as the separation process is near on impossible, once bags have been transported to the Landfill sites. The sole production of bio-degradable bags is also costly option.

The alternative is to utilise ‘Bag for Life’, these are environmentally friendly and can be used for a multiple of purposes. Bags for life are becoming more popular with the consumer; they are now widely available in major retail stores. Bags For Life are made from natural materials this reduces the cost of production. As the bags are produced naturally they also decay with ease, this has a favourable impact on the environment especially when balanced against plastic carrier bags. Figures show a staggering 97% of plastic bags are only used once before being thrown away.

Apart from environmental issues plastic bags are a danger to animals, they mistake the bags for food, resulting in choking or their intestines becoming blocked ultimately it can lead to death. This suffering would be reduced if Bags for Life became a more popular option with the consumer.

In conclusion, we can either; stop the production of plastic bags totally and move over to bio-degradable products or with government support the consumer could be driven towards the use of Bags for Life. The future of our planet depends on the individuals taking the time and effort to make a difference; this can be done simply by a shift in global policy towards plastic products or moving towards more suitable products.