As The Plastic Churns In The Sea
3:08 PM // 0 comments // sb blogger // Category: Plastic Churns //By Albert Jefferson
What's with the controversy surrounding plastic and paper disposable bags? If you've been paying attention to the news in recent years you may have heard about the negative effects of plastic and paper disposable grocery bags. Why is that? Why is it important to stop using disposable bags and commence using eco friendly reusable or recycled bags? Before buying into any trend or cause, it is essential to be familiar with exactly how your commitment will produce a positive impact on the environment and our world. In today's article, we will analyze some key ecological issues and problems connected with disposable shopping bag usage.
The Environmental Literacy Council does a wonderful job of explaining the negative effects of both plastic and paper disposable bags at EnviroLiteracy.Org. Let's start with the environmental impact of producing plastic and paper bags in the first place. Plastic bags are manufactured using oil, and so the environmental consequences of creation includes everything from extracting the oil, to the separation of chemicals in the oil refinement process, to the plastic manufacturing process, and the energy used and emissions created to dispense the bags to shopping stores. So in reality, the creation of plastic bags (caused by our demand as consumers) is a contributive factor to our dependence on oil. Paper bags, are obviously created from trees and add to worldwide deforestation and reduction of habitats all over the earth. Moreover, the sum of effort exploited to fabricate and distribute paper bags and the carbon emissions produced even exceeds that of plastic bags. The reality is that paper and plastic bags are not a healthy product for the environment, especially when you compare it to eco friendly recycled grocery bags.
Of course, as you likely know, another major issue with disposable bags is the broad pollution and waste problem, especially connected with plastic bags. Plastic bags are like the "modern tumbleweed" blowing down the road. They show up everywhere and often end up in ponds, creeks, rivers, lakes and in the ocean. While researching this piece I came across some shocking information at 5gyres.Org, which educates people about the 5 gyres in our planet's oceans. Here's an excerpt: "At sea floating plastics are swept up into slow moving currents. These currents are called 'gyres'. Our Oceans are dynamic systems.... made up of complex networks of currents... Large systems of these currents, coupled with wind and the earth's rotation, create 'gyres', massive, slow rotating whirlpools in which plastic trash can accumulate." Out of all these Gyres, the most famed is the North Pacific Gyre, also known as the "great pacific garbage patch", has been studied the most and is a collection of trash and plastic estimated to be roughly the size of Afghanistan.
What many folks fail to understand is that there are really 5 gyres distributed throughout our world's oceans where rubbish, and mainly plastic is accumulating at a fast rate. One of the scariest parts about all this is that nautical mammals often ingest this waste floating in the sea and suffocate or starve to death as a result. By using reusable green shopping bags, as opposed to disposable bags, our daily human actions lend to the solution rather than the problem.
The environmental predicament our earth finds itself in nowadays demands that we take prompt action. As you can plainly observe, the broad use of plastic and paper shopping bags contributes to serious environmental problems that are not going away. We must alter our individual habits by reminding ourselves to use reusable eco shopping bags whenever we can. By taking a stand and opposing the widespread waste and litter problem caused by plastic and paper shopping bags, we are creating a healthier habitat one choice at a time.
The Environmental Literacy Council does a wonderful job of explaining the negative effects of both plastic and paper disposable bags at EnviroLiteracy.Org. Let's start with the environmental impact of producing plastic and paper bags in the first place. Plastic bags are manufactured using oil, and so the environmental consequences of creation includes everything from extracting the oil, to the separation of chemicals in the oil refinement process, to the plastic manufacturing process, and the energy used and emissions created to dispense the bags to shopping stores. So in reality, the creation of plastic bags (caused by our demand as consumers) is a contributive factor to our dependence on oil. Paper bags, are obviously created from trees and add to worldwide deforestation and reduction of habitats all over the earth. Moreover, the sum of effort exploited to fabricate and distribute paper bags and the carbon emissions produced even exceeds that of plastic bags. The reality is that paper and plastic bags are not a healthy product for the environment, especially when you compare it to eco friendly recycled grocery bags.
Of course, as you likely know, another major issue with disposable bags is the broad pollution and waste problem, especially connected with plastic bags. Plastic bags are like the "modern tumbleweed" blowing down the road. They show up everywhere and often end up in ponds, creeks, rivers, lakes and in the ocean. While researching this piece I came across some shocking information at 5gyres.Org, which educates people about the 5 gyres in our planet's oceans. Here's an excerpt: "At sea floating plastics are swept up into slow moving currents. These currents are called 'gyres'. Our Oceans are dynamic systems.... made up of complex networks of currents... Large systems of these currents, coupled with wind and the earth's rotation, create 'gyres', massive, slow rotating whirlpools in which plastic trash can accumulate." Out of all these Gyres, the most famed is the North Pacific Gyre, also known as the "great pacific garbage patch", has been studied the most and is a collection of trash and plastic estimated to be roughly the size of Afghanistan.
What many folks fail to understand is that there are really 5 gyres distributed throughout our world's oceans where rubbish, and mainly plastic is accumulating at a fast rate. One of the scariest parts about all this is that nautical mammals often ingest this waste floating in the sea and suffocate or starve to death as a result. By using reusable green shopping bags, as opposed to disposable bags, our daily human actions lend to the solution rather than the problem.
The environmental predicament our earth finds itself in nowadays demands that we take prompt action. As you can plainly observe, the broad use of plastic and paper shopping bags contributes to serious environmental problems that are not going away. We must alter our individual habits by reminding ourselves to use reusable eco shopping bags whenever we can. By taking a stand and opposing the widespread waste and litter problem caused by plastic and paper shopping bags, we are creating a healthier habitat one choice at a time.
About the Author:
Albert Jefferson has been an educated author going over environmental and sustainability concerns in addition to spreading the idea to companies to use eco friendly shopping bags to advertise both their brand and raise awareness for the world's ongoing environmental crisis.
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