The banning of plastic bags in Madison, or anywhere for that matter, may sound like a near impossible undertaking. A task as challenging as, perhaps, banishing cigarettes from bars? Although the idea of completely eliminating plastic bags may sound impossible, it should be undertaken. Banning plastic bags would be a tremendous step in reducing waste pollution and lowering the human impact on our environment.
Editorial and Graphic by Alex Beletic.
Plastic has an extremely slow rate of decomposition. Other than a small amount that has been incinerated, every piece of plastic ever created still exists. Plastic contamination is particularly dangerous for marine life and, sadly, 75-80% of floating ocean refuse is plastic.
According to Science 2.0. researchers, every year over 500 billion plastic bags are produced which is approximately 40% of global plastic toxicity. Plastic bags are spewed out in huge numbers due to their convenience for everyday life. Because of their volatility, they easily and in big quantities become dispersed in the environment. Plastic bags are the least-recycled plastic packaging waste. They have low individual weight and provide a minimal amount of raw material. They, therefore, have too small of a monetary value for companies to recycle. Also, they are often rejected in the sorting process in the recycling plants as they are dirty and not worth cleaning.
Biodegradable polymers are a viable substitute; these polymers are nearly harmless to the environment. Other than the difficulty of changing people’s habits, the reason plastic hasn’t been switched is due to the cost: these polymers are nearly twice the cost of plastic. Additionally, the plastic bag industries have strong lobbyists that are trying to prevent this switch.
I think in Madison we should aim to eliminate not replace; but, where this is totally impossible we could use biodegradable bags. The stores could charge customers approximately five cents per bag to fray the additional manufacturing cost, which is already common practice in many countries. Moreover, in these countries the bags seem to be of higher heavier quality and so do get reused. This practice greatly decreases the number of bags consumed. Due to my Air Force father, I frequently lived abroad when I was younger and so experienced this first-hand. We would nearly always brought our own bags when grocery shopping or, otherwise, used as few as possible. We also never consumed garbage bags or trash bin liners, but instead used our shopping bags.
Recently, Italy banned the use of plastic bags completely. As of January 1st, 2011 supermarkets were restricted from using “non biodegradable single-use shopping bags”. This major accomplishment proves that this feat is really possible!
Here in Madison, the mental switch of conserving shopping bags is already underway. At supermarkets, the cashiers habitually ask you if you need a bag before they begin bagging. Trader Joe’s on Monroe lets you enter a raffle for free groceries when you don’t use one of their bags.
I live with three environmentally conscious roommates. They insist on bringing their reusable bags when we go grocery shopping. We have had more than one delayed departure due to scrambling for their bags. They, along with the green movement on campus as a whole, have opened my eyes to the ease at which we can prevent waste.
Between the optimistic young college crowd and the already citywide attempts to increase sustainability, I strongly believe that Madison is one of the best cities to bag the bag. Until then, make an effort, use less.