You can share this article on social media by using the share buttons below. Plastic pollution is one of the biggest problems facing our world today. What Does the Plastic Bag Ban Mean for New Yorkers? One of the most significant negative effects that plastic bags have on the natural world is that it takes a very long time for them to degrade.In addition, the breakdown of plastic bags in the sun results in the release of hazardous compounds into the surrounding soil, and the combustion of plastic bags results in the release of a poisonous material into the surrounding air, contributing to the problem of ambient air pollution. Banning plastic straws is also increasingly popular. 2. According to estimates made by scientists, there are 7.5 million polluting straws around the shores of the United States, and anywhere from 437 million to 8.3 billion plastic straws throughout the coastlines of the rest of the globe. 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned. Ill talk about this more in the next section: By itself, a plastic straw ban is unlikely to have a large impact on the environment. Heres everything you need to know about the most ubiquitous (and avoidable) kind of plastic waste: the kind made to be tossed in mere minutes. We use them to drink beverages at home and we get them at almost every restaurant. 10 reasons why plastic straws should be banned - maktabyar.org Such materials already exist in nature. Heres everything you need to know before plastic carryout bags disappear from the Empire State on March 1. update email soon. In my opinion, plastic straws should not be banned outright, because many disabled people require plastic straws to drink. Single-use plastics are most commonly used for packaging and serviceware, such as bottles, wrappers, straws, and bags. Many of you may have heard it already. Theyve even made their way up to the secluded Pyrenees mountain range and down to the bottom of the Mariana Trench. It's free to sign up and bid on jobs. Considering what important source of food plankton is for many other species, it is clear that plastic gets distributed across the marine ecosystem. Most retailers will get your point, but it can also happen that they will not be willing to sell you some products without placing it in their plastic bags because of having to oblige with some hygiene and sanitary standards (for example when selling meat products). Beached whales have been found with stomachs full of plastic trash. You cannot recycle them in the regular curbside collection of plastic, but you should be able to find many larger food stores and retailers (for example: Target, Walmart, Tesco, Morrisons, etc.) Reasons why smoking should be banned articlestrabajos An additional problem with plastic grocery bags recycling is their cleanliness. And the recent fracking boom, resulting in a surplus of oil, is fueling a subsequent rise in cracker plants, too. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned - manufacturer, factory A last example of a true horror caused by plastic has been discovered just recently. Please share this message with your friends so that together, we can tackle our global plastic problem. According to a study carried out in 2013, up to 35 percent of turtle deaths were caused by plastic ingestion and the probability that sea turtles will consume even more plastic increases every year [9]. They discovered that Coca-Cola, PepsiCo, and Nestl products were found most often. Let us know if you liked this article. The crisis is so serious that many people are saying that plastic straws should be outlawed. Look around and you will notice that plastic bags are the most common litter. Yes, it should. A 2017 Environmental Sciences and Technology study reported that up to 95 percent of plastic waste enters oceans from one of 10 riverseight in Asia and two in Africa. Enter your email address to subscribe to this blog and receive notifications of new posts by email. Plastic items are more sanitary than other alternatives. You should examine what alternatives are available and whether local retailers, who often operate with a limited monthly budget, have the ability to make the switch. Leape has long been a leader in ocean conservation efforts. Will Shifting to Reusable Straws Really Make a Difference? It is good for our environment, health and global climate. Tangled in trees and fences along roads, floating in water, lying on the ground in parks and forests, surrounding garbage bins, washed off on beaches. All you need to do is paste your ZIP code and then see the list of stores with bag drop-off in your nearest location. Straws are said to be one of the top 10 objects recovered during beach clean-ups by the Ocean Conservancy. But a whopping 91 percent of all plastic isnt recycled at all. A Ban Could Harm Local Businesses If Therefore, a plastic straw ban by itself is unlikely to be very effective in actually helping the environment, although it could act as a gateway into the reduction of other single-use plastics. Instead of investing in quality goods that will last, we often prioritize convenience over durability and consideration of long-term impacts. We shouldnt ban plastic straws if it creates an accessibility issue. Ban of Plastic Can be Problematic. The resulting number is staggering. For many of us it is hard to imagine that something as small as a plastic bag can actually cause flooding, but residents of some cities in Bangladesh have been struggling with this problem every monsoon season for the past two decades [3]. For example, a reusable jute bag should last at least 4 years, during which it can prevent the use of 600 single-use plastic bags. One recent survey found plastics in 94 percent of tap water samples in the U.S. and in nearly every brand of bottled water. Search for jobs related to Reasons why smoking should be banned articles or hire on the world's largest freelancing marketplace with 22m+ jobs. 8 good reasons to give up plastic straws - CareElite Help us break the cycle of causing unnecessary harm and damage in the name of "convenience". Not only is plastic estimated to kill millions of marine animals and seabirds each year, but its also contaminating seafood that humans have relied on for millennia, particularly with microplastics in animals guts. Even human footprints left in the sand represent mountain-like obstacles in their path and waves washing up on the beach are another challenge, as they thrust them back on the dry land to try once again before finally being picked up by a return current and start swimming for their life. "To us, it was the 'gateway plastic' to the larger, more . And will a plastic straw ban actually be effective when it comes to saving our oceans and environment? Better alternatives are available 10. Now, lets get into the negatives of a plastic straw ban: While banning plastic straws might help the environment in some aspects (well talk about this later), there are also many reasons against (or cons) of a plastic straw ban. Plastic bags are everywhere. Although single-use plastic pollution accumulates most visibly on our streets, in fact our water suffers even more. Lizzie Carr is shining a light on what is floating through the worlds waterways, and breaking athletic records along the way. Here's a quick list of the ways plastic straws may be harming your health: 1. As for reusable straws, they arent flexible as plastic ones and can be easily forgotten at home. Plastic straws are also the 6th most common trash item found during ocean cleanups. By comparison, an estimated 46 percent of all pollution in the ocean is made up of lost or abandoned fishing gear (Vox). Killing wildlife 5. For the oceans sake, wed better hope so. Unfortunately, such a high level of pollution doesnt come without consequences. In many instances, it may seem too awkward for you to refuse the bag, so you accept it this one time, but you should know that it is fine to say no politely even at this stage if you dont want that bag. 1 producer of plastic waste in the world. Natural Resources Defense Council 2023 Privacy Policy Some Disabled People Require Plastic Straws to Drink For some people with disabilities, straws are the only way they. And cracker plantswhich break, or crack, ethane molecules, a component of natural gas, into the chemical building blocks of plastic productsare energy intensive and highly polluting. Thats bad news for our carbon reduction goals: if plastic production continues unabated, its greenhouse gas emissions could reach 1.34 gigatons per year by 2030equal to adding nearly 300 new coal-fired power plantseven as the need to curb global climate change becomes more urgent. Our reliance on these plastics means we are accumulating waste at a staggering rate. JIM LEAPE: Our oceans are currently swimming with plastics. Author: floridadep.gov. Individual actions can lead to collective actions. Using a straw directs a concentrated stream of liquid onto a localized area of the teeth, which can cause the enamel to wear away and lead to dental disease. Refineries where crude oil is turned into plastic make up one of the most greenhouse gasintensive industries in the manufacturing sector. Made from petroleum products, Baekland's " bakelite " plastic was a revolutionary material. Or you may need to accept that plastic bag this time and then start campaigning for a plastic bag ban in your area . Oil and natural gas are non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources and through their extraction and production, they emit greenhouse gases, which contribute to global climate change. What is the root of the problem (consumers or municipal waste management)? And recent studies found plastic in the guts of 90 percent of the seabirds tested and 100 percent of the turtles. Many people with disabilities rely on flexible straws to drink safely and independently. Growing public concern has inspired movements to ban single-use plastics, most notably straws. The Natural Resources Defense Council works to safeguard the earth - its people, This blog covers a variety of topics including plastic pollution, renewable energy, electric vehicles, and much more. According to the United States National Oceanic and Atmosphere Administration, microplastics are so small that they move straight through water filtration, Read More What Are Microplastics and Why Are They a Concern? Logically, the key to starting a change in your community is education. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Bags Should Be Banned | IUCN Water Ill also go over whether or not plastic straw bans will actually help the environment, and explain everything else youll need to know. Single-use plastics in particularespecially small items like straws, bags, and cutleryare traditionally hard to recycle because they fall into the crevices of recycling machinery and therefore are often not accepted by recycling centers. What does occur in most instances is that when out in the environment, the plastic breaks up into tiny microscopic pieces that get deposited in soils (where we grow food) or contaminate waterways. Gas, bloating, and intestinal discomfort. The Pasig River in the Philippines is another scary example of the negative effects of plastic bags on the environment. As communities act to ban single-use plastics and individual consumers raise concerns, bigger actors pay attention. Overall, the main reason for a plastic straw ban is to help the environment by preventing plastic straws pollution. Paper straws cannot be recycled in any way. However, I do believe that we should limit our use of plastic straws by asking businesses to only give out straws on request. Read more about us. 10 Reasons Why Plastic Straws Should Be Banned? NDLA National Disability Leadership Alliance: Nothing About Us Without Us. When you sip beverages through a straw you end up inhaling more air into your belly than you would otherwise. Since plastic bag recycling requires a specialized equipment that can break down the plastic and mold it into a new product, most municipalities do not have the budget to include their recycling in their waste management program. They're bad for the environment, kill marine life and damage human health. About half the cost of making biodegradable polymers is the cost of feedstock. What about you? The cashier usually understands, only had to do what instructed and what most customers expect (unfortunately) from him or her. And, if you dont like wearing the same shirt or pants, Read More Dont wash it if it doesnt look dirtyContinue, At age 50, Kay is a little over halfway through her life as a driver. Coca-Cola makes an estimated 110 billion plastic bottles a year. On other issues, from overfishing to deforestation, we have seen that consumer-facing companies like McDonalds, Unilever and Walmart can be exquisitely sensitive to the concerns of their customers. We hear everywhere around us that we need to save energy. Plastic Straws: Is Paper Really Better for the Environment? Straws are notorious for being readily blown away by the wind. Alarmingly, scientists estimate that there will be more plastic than fish in the ocean by weight in 2050. These modern conveniences are so ubiquitousand so quickly thrown outthat they hardly register in our minds. 10 reasons why plastic straws should not be banned Cause of environmental pollution 2. edinburgh airport address. The crucial challenge is to ensure that these bans are just a first step. These are known to be hormone-disrupting chemicals. 10 Reasons You Should Give Up Plastic Straws - sustainablemotown Then, they have a propensity to break down into microplastics, which then clutter the ecosystems in question. This amount of marine life, which includes fish and turtles, is sufficient to fill 125 school buses. There are definitely differing opinions on whether or not plastic straws should be banned. The people of Macon, Georgia, saw through it. After all, ask your grandparents, they will remember that during their time people were used to go shopping with their own bags or baskets. The first country to ban single-use plastic bags was Bangladesh in 2002 when plastic bag litter clogged drainage channels and contributed to destructive floods. Single use plastics wreak havoc on wildlife and the earth. and reefs composed of coral, F) I Plastic straws are one of the top five most often used items. But you should also consider the other perspective what effect single-use bags have had on the local economy and product affordability. More and more states are looking to pass a new kind of recycling law that asks manufacturers to foot the bill for the waste created by their products. This type of plastic is derived from petroleum. American beaver populations are booming in the western United States as conditions grow hotter and drier. Talk to the owners of the restaurants you frequent. You can use some easy online locators to see the closest plastic bag drop-off. Should Plastic Straws Be Banned? | Persuasive Writing | Scholastic For wildlife, microplastics can be particularly dangerous; when eaten they can easily accumulate inside an animals body and cause health issues, like punctured organs or fatal intestinal blockages.

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