Is it time to start offering biodegradable plastic bags or t-sacks?

August 6th, 2008

I was walking my best friend the other day. He?s over fourteen and still loves to go to the park. He?s blind now

I was walking my best friend the other day. He?s over fourteen and still loves to go to the park. He?s blind now, but can still smell the grass and the p-mail and go about doing his other business. When I went to the container to clean up after him; He?s blind so he can?t do it himself. I noticed that the bag said biodegradable. If there are plastic bags good enough for this purpose, why not for our groceries and other retail purchases?

My wife forwarded me an email the other day that was titled Switch from Plastic Please look at this! I understand the problem with plastic bag use, and that many communities are trying to ban these bags, but how bad can it be? The first picture said that according to the Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) that somewhere between five hundred billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. That data was from 2003. The next picture indicated that less than one percent of plastic bags are recycled because it costs less to produce a new one. It costs about $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags and the commodity can then be sold on the open market for $32.
What really got to me were the pictures of wild life that had consumed, become entangled or otherwise injured by this discarded waste. It did not matter what part of the world you were in, Lions, Sea Turtles, Dolphins, whales, water fowl. Over two hundred species of sea life have been impacted. There are even pictures of plastic bags floating in the arctic seas. This author was overcome by the magnitude of the problem and the future impact to our soil and waterways.

So, what can we do? Together we can use cloth bags that we carry to the store ourselves. The number of countries that have banned plastic bags is growing rapidly as are the local communities in the US. Another thing we can do is explore what it will take to produce weight sufficient biodegradable plastic bags that may cost a little more but will have an invaluable impact on our environment, our wildlife, our children and theirs. Do your part and support the reduction in use of non biodegradable plastic bags. You?ll sleep better at night and so will all of the wild life who suffer needlessly.

I look forward to your comments

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