plastic bags: killer on the prawl?

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Imagine a world without plastic shopping bags. This was past till 1970-‘s and can this be the future. When we all saw the introduction of plastic bags for the sake of convenience merely 34 years ago did we know that this would be ruthless to our dear nature? Though first used in 1957 as baggies and sandwich bags on a roll the universal plastic shopping bag, so handy for everything from carrying groceries to disposing of garbage’s, carrying goods on bi cycle to tiffin boxes may be a victim of its own success. Although plastic bags didn't come into widespread use until the early 1980s.These bags use up natural resources, consume energy to manufacture, create litter, choke marine life and add to toxic waste dump. Though we all know that the use of polythene bags is good neither for us nor for our environment still we find people throwing used polythene bags into drains thus obstructing the drainage system, and when buried, they render the soil infertile. The black polythene bags are most harmful and contain a high number of carcinogenic agents. Plastic bags are accumulating in our environment at an alarming rate everywhere. Trillions of plastic bags end up as ugly, wind-blown garbage strewn along roadways, rivers, mountains even in high altitudes, trees, piled up beneath our kitchen sinks, near hospitals, garbage bins heaps of garbage with unbearable stench and swarms of flies. They also play a big part in city getting flash floods as their long life expectancy chokes the drains. Estimates of almost one trillion plastic bags are being consumed worldwide every year. Against a common belief that plastic bags decompose and disappear the fact is that they actually slowly break down into toxic bits that pollute our oceans, seas, rivers, lakes and soil. The fact is that we cannot get rid of a polythene bag unless and until it is burnt away completely. Beyond plastic-enriched shorelines, researchers found that plastic particles are now common in the high seas. Beaches worldwide bear witness to the ugly impact of plastic debris on our oceans. We often leave back our stuff like milk jugs, water bottles, cigarette lighters, diaper liners, jar lids, cheap toys unaware that the microscopic bits of plastic have sifted, unseen, throughout the marine environment. The plastic not only litters the beach, it is like fine bits of sand—becoming the beach. In addition, countless animals, most notably marine mammals, choke to death after mistaking plastic bags for food. Are they worth such deception? One of the most dramatic impacts is on marine life. Plastic bags kill about 100,000 whales, seals, turtles and other marine animals each year worldwide, In August 2000, an eight-metre whale became stranded and died on a Cairns beach. As reported by Planet Ark autopsy found the whale's stomach was tightly packed with six square metres of plastic, including many plastic bags. A report of Ocean Conservancy had confirmed that they had collected more than 354,000 bags out of which most were of plastic during an international cleanup of costal areas in the United States and 100 other countries. On needs to understand that like we human beings plastic bags cannot be digested or passed by an animal. They stay in the gut, causing pain and certain death. When dead animals decay, the bags are freed and often eaten again by other animals for many years to come. Marine animals often mistake them for jellyfish and eat them, and birds, who cannot fly once they are entangled in them, die of starvation. Other are of concern are the high hills. It is reported that the picnickers’ leave behind their plastic bags after they finished with their meals thus affecting hill stations. You all will agree that polythene pollution is not just an ugly sight but has seriously damaged the environment by choking the soil in the hills as reported by many countries. Many countries around the world have implemented a variety of measures to curb the use of plastic bags. The new law bans the production, storage, use, sale and distribution of polythene bags. Ireland levies a tax on plastic shopping bags thus could significantly reduce their use. Ireland is the only country with a tax on plastic bags paid directly by the customer remains most successful. The introduction in 2001 of a levy equivalent to 27 cents slashed single-use plastic bag consumption by 90- 95 per cent over one year and more people switched to reusable bags. In Denmark, a tax on shopping bags was introduced in 1994, reducing consumption of plastic and paper by 66 per cent. Bangladesh banned the manufacture of plastic bags in 2002. In India the law is based on legislation passed by the national parliament and Himachal Pradesh was the first state to have implemented it from 2003. Under the law in Himachal Pradesh, India anyone found even using a polythene bag could face up to seven years behind bars or a fine of up to 100,000 rupees ($2,000). From May 2003, the South African Government has banned the use of thin plastic bags with a threat of 10-year jail sentence for offenders. Hong Kong prohibits retailers over a specified size from providing plastic bags free of charge, and the manufacture and use of plastic bags is banned in the Indian city of Mumbai. In Finland, supermarkets pay a levy on the number of plastic bags used, Italy has a tax on plastic bags and Taiwan bans the distribution of free plastic bags. Tasmania is expecting to be plastic bag-free from the end of 2008. Rwandans have shown the way by taking a day off work to pick up plastic bags as part of a government attempt to clean up the environment. Australians though have significantly reduced their per capita consumption the plastic bag problem is still under discussion. In an arrangement with the Federal Government, Australian retailers are attempting by selling reusable bags, re-training staff in the use of plastic bags and establishing a dialogue with environment groups. The rag pickers are doing one of the dirtiest of jobs for 365 days in the year so that the rest of us can live in a relatively clean and healthy atmosphere. They separate recyclable wastes like plastic packets/covers, pet bottles, metal and paper and sell for recycling. New, eco-conscious businesses are helping battle this growing problem by raising awareness and offering effective, affordable, high-quality products that help reduce plastic bag consumption. A grass roots movement is gaining momentum worldwide as fed-up individuals; environmental groups, governments and visionary retailers pursue the common goal of reversing this trend. The focus of these initiatives is to reduce consumption and encourage the use of reusable bags. There is a growing international movement to ban or discourage the use of plastic bags because of their environmental effects. Countries from Ireland to Australia are cracking down on the bags and action is beginning to stir in the United States. A try is being given for the manufacture and use of biodegradable shopping bags for customer convenience. But doubts about the environmental credentials of biodegradable shopping bags have already been raised in a recent report released by state and federal environment ministers. The report questions whether bags that naturally break down when exposed to water and the atmosphere would do so in a landfill. What choices are we left with then? Cloth bags or Jute bags or any new development?Kindly put your point accross. Lastly I wish to say that more than the plastic bags it is we the knowledgeable humans who are responsible for the untimely death of our beautiful planet. Any one who disagrees?