What’s the harm of a little plastic bag?
Why is it so important to start acting on the use of plastic bags? There are many reasons, but to sum it up, they never disappear and they do more harm than good. One might think that since they threw away the plastic bag, it’s gone for good, and never have a second thought about it. But there’s more to a plastic bag life cycle than one might think.
It’s a handy tool to use when it comes to having to carry things around, I’ll give you that. But that’s about all it’s good for. Once it leaves your hands, whether you threw it in the trash or it accidentally blew away into the environment, that’s not the end of the bag’s life cycle. Polluting water is a major problem that plastic bags are creating. A large quantity of plastic bags find their way into water systems, such as a river, which will eventually output them into the ocean. Specifically here in the low country, it’s not a challenge for a bag to end up in the ocean since it’s only a few short miles journey.
Plastic bags can end up in a water system which eventually leads to the ocean. Once there, it now has a chance to harm many organisms. One species in particular are sea turtles, whose main diet consists of jellyfish. A plastic bag floating through the ocean looks oddly similar to a jellyfish from a turtle’s view, and the turtle ingests it, not knowing that it is plastic. Once the plastic is ingested, things turn ugly. The turtle is unable to digest the plastic and it ultimately causes a blockage, otherwise known as impaction, which causes the turtle to become sick. Now with the help of plastic bags piling up in the environment from humans, endangered sea turtles have a greater chance of becoming sick and even dying. The sea turtles are only a handful of the animals that are impacted negatively by the abundance of plastic bags.
California is stepping up and proposing a ban on single use plastic bags. This is a step in the right direction to ensure that plastic bags are not piling up in the environment. While this is an excellent step in putting a halt to this dilemma, more states and cities need to jump on the bandwagon to put an end to the use of plastic bags. One tossed plastic bag turns into ten, which turns into many more, and eventually plastic bags are everywhere, choking the environment. Do the world a favor, forgo the plastic and reach for a reusable bag!
If you’re interested in finding out more on the life cycle of a plastic bag, take a look at here at a wonderful mockumentary explaining it all!
-Jaclyn Trayte, Marine Biology ’16
