The average plastic carrier bag is used for 5 minutes but takes 500 years to decompose

Environmental problems with plastic bags

Billions of plastic bags are thrown away in Britain every year. Most of which are only used once then thrown away. They take up huge amounts of space in our country’s land fill sites, space that could be used much more effectively. In addition as the bags decompose they release flammable greenhouse gasses contributing to global warming. Many carrier bags end up as unsightly litter in trees, streets, parks and gardens which, besides being ugly, can kill birds, small mammals and other creatures.

The production, decomposition and, disposal by burning, of plastic bags also releases greenhouse gasses¹ which cause global warming, dimming and climate change. This is leading to melting ice caps and thus many penguins and polo bears etc. dying as well as rising sea levels. Although not nearly as much of a contributor as the burning of fossil fuels, the production and disposal of carrier bags plays a part in this terrible global phenomenon.

Overseas Policy

In many foreign countries carrier bags are not provided free with the shopping, they are often charged for by the supermarket and/or the government. For example in Ireland a normal plastic bag will cost 15 euro cents², and even in non E.U. countries such as Croatia carrier bags are still charged for, 1 Kuna for a carrier bag³. In some countries such as France it is common that carrier bags will not be provided, but good quality, reusable bags will be for sale at a reasonable price. All this gives people more of an incentive to re-use plastic bags than just feeling good about saving the planet. Many British thinkers believe that if a system like this was introduced by an individual major supermarket chain, it would spread to all the others.

What is been done in Britain?

Some shops in Britain are starting to do something about the problem, for example Ikea are charging 5 pence for carrier bags, following the success of the bag tax in Ireland. Tesco and the Co-Op now use biodegradable bags. The bags at the Co-Op are printed with the message “Britain’s first 100% degradable plastic carrier bag… This bag is 100% degradable but it can still be re-used” Bio-degradable carrier bags are a step in the right direction, however they still take a lot of energy to produce and don’t decompose safely or instantly.
Tesco have also had another idea: they give club cards to customers who reuse carrier bags in store, or give bags back to delivery drivers.

All this shows that supermarkets are starting to change and become ‘greener’ by offering people something for reusing bags, giving them an incentive.

Although something is being done there is still a long way to go before the shops in Britain are environmentally friendly, in terms of plastic bags. Not one major supermarket such as Tesco, Morrisons’ or Asda charges for carrier bags, and many chains are doing nothing at all.

In non supermarket shops[such as Marks and Spencer] or even the express checkouts of supermarkets it is quite difficult to re-use your plastic bags as before you can say “No thank you I’ve brought my own bag” they will have put your shopping into a plastic bag and given it back to you. This is one of the more concerning problems as people may be driven away from re-using plastic bags as they would have to be quick and assertive with the shopkeepers, something they might be afraid of doing. If for example shop keepers put the carrier bags on the client side of the desk and let them chose whether or not to take them, then it would be easier for the nation to reuse plastic bags. Another idea for small, local, shops is they could collect carrier bags which people don’t want and were going to throw away to use in their shops, rather than buying new ones.

Britain and Bags

However if the re-use and recycling of plastic carrier bags is to be a success in Britain the people and the government must believe in the cause. The government could pass laws to tax plastic bags or have special carrier bag recycling bins set up around the country. Also if the British people started re-using carrier bags as normal practice then there would be no need for them to be taxed or charged for. This again would come down to the government as they could run a campaign to make people re-use carrier bags; or pass laws making it difficult not to, for example not allowing supermarkets to provide them.

A small survey shows that: Many British people feel slightly inclined to re-use their old carrier bags, but can’t be bothered as there is no real incentive or benefit for them, if carrier bags were charged for the incentive would be there, they would save money by not buying new carrier bags. People don’t like reusing bags as it requires a little bit of effort which they can’t be bothered to put in.

In a small survey of British people; The Ikea and Tesco policies came up again, as well as the fact that Sainsbury’s used to charge for plastic bags about 25 years ago but don’t any more. Some people seem to believe that only heavy duty bags can be recycled and throw away all their other bags. This would be well addressed by a government campaign as a charge on plastic bags wouldn’t stop them throwing away what they see to be ‘unusable’ plastic bags. However there are many more people who believe that if plastic bags were charged for than they would be encouraged to reuse them.

What to do with plastic bags.(Refuse and Reuse)

Refuse

When out shopping you can take bags with you, rather than using the ones provided by the shops. These could be reused carrier bags from previous shopping trips or any other sorts of bag, such as:

• Heavy duty bags - sold in some supermarkets.
• Specially bought shopping bags or baskets
• other sorts of bags such as rucksacks
• paper bags

In an ideal world you will always refuse plastic bags, but sometimes you may need to accept one or two, either because you don't have enough bags with you or yours are worn out. To solve this problem you could keep a reused bag on you most of the time if going into a commercial area, to anticipate those spontaneous purchases.

Reuse

Plastic bags don’t have to be used for shopping, there are many ways in which you can use you bags to benefit the environment. Below are some uses for you old plastic bags

• Bin Liners- bags can be used to line bins or collect rubbish in other ways. This means they are used for longer, and reduces the need to buy bin liners, which also take a large amount of energy to produce.
• Storage- bags can be used to keep things all in one place.
• Transportation- you can put something in a plastic bag to move from one place to another easily.
• Garden uses- plastic bags can be used in many ways in the garden. They make reasonable grow bags, and can be used for insulation.
• Picking things up- Bags can be used in place of gloves to pick up dog poo and litter.
• Water proofing- You can use impermeable bags to make waterproof clothing. This type of bag can also be used to keep things dry, if sealed properly, and can be used as a rucksack liner.
• Survival purposes- Large plastic bags can be used to make shelters. Being able to waterproof things can be very useful. Waterproof bags can be used to carry, and collect, water.
• Making a bra