Everybody knows that plastic bags are harming the environment. In fact, some stores have stopped using them entirely and started using paper bags and reusable bags. But they’re still around, and still hurting the environment. So what if we just banned them entirely? Although they are helpful for everyday use, does the problem of climate change and plastic pollution outweigh this convenience? 

The Pros: 

• Plastic bags are helpful for carrying lunches, using as a miscellaneous bag, etc.  

Plastic bags can be helpful when you need them for something other than carrying groceries. If you don’t throw them away, you can keep reusing them for many different purposes. 

• If you just keep on reusing one plastic bag, it can’t be that bad for the environment, right? 

Just reusing one plastic bag is kind of like using a reusable bag. If it’s doing the same thing as a reusable bag, then why should it be a problem? 

• Plastic bags can be useful for art projects and creative uses. 

There are many projects that you can do with plastic bags. You can make them into baskets or backpacks. If plastic bags were banned, you wouldn’t be able to use these bags for creative purposes. 

• Making a reusable bag is more harmful to the environment than it is to make a plastic bag. ¹

Although reusable bags are deemed better for the environment than plastic bags, the process of making reusable bags is worse for the environment than it is to make plastic bags. 

• It’s less expensive to buy one plastic bag than one reusable bag. ²

One plastic bag is cheaper to buy than one reusable bag. If you can save money and keep on reusing a bag, then what’s the point of buying a reusable bag?

The Cons:

• Plastic bags harm wildlife, hurting them and sometimes killing them.

I’m sure you’ve seen pictures of a sea turtle going to eat a plastic bag, or an ocean animal getting trapped in one. If we want ocean wildlife to survive and stay healthy, plastic bags need to be banned. I talked about banning plastic bottles a few months ago, read it here Should Plastic Bottles Be Banned? – Miles Away 

• Plastic bags never fully decompose. ³

They take 1,000 years for us not to be able to see them anymore. A plastic bag you use today could still be used by your great-great-great-great-great grandchild. Plastic bags photo-degrade, so they become microplastics that absorb toxins, and these keep on polluting the environment.

• Although plastic bags are less costly, over time using a few reusable bags will save you more money than lots of plastic bags.

If you buy a lot of plastic bags every month, over time that’s going to amount to more money than buying just a few reusable bags. Plus, although plastic bags never fully decompose,⁴ reusable bags will stay in much better condition for a long time than plastic bags.

• Even if we decided to recycle plastic bags more, they would still be thrown into landfills and dumped into oceans.⁵

It’s great if you can recycle a plastic bag. But not all of them will be recycled, and many will still get dumped into oceans and put into landfills, where they are polluting the earth. If plastic bags were banned entirely, our oceans would be cleaner and our landfills wouldn’t have as much trash in them.

This topic is very controversial. Banning plastic bags has its highs and its lows. I can see both sides to this argument, but personally, I think that they should be banned. I feel like the environment would be so much healthier without them. Should we ban them or not? That’s the real question. Even if we can’t decide on the answer to this question yet, we can still do things to help the environment like reusing a plastic bag if you do use one, or planting a tree, or walking to work instead of driving. A lot of the time, there is usually a greener alternative to anything you’re doing. 🌳🌼

Image: Yurasits, Brian. white plastic bag on water. 2019. Unsplash, https://unsplash.com/photos/qSOADa7byjs

1.  Sustainable Shopping—Which Bag Is Best?
2.  Businesses mixed on cost benefits of plastic and reusable bags.
3.  Degradation Rates of Plastics in the Environment | ACS Sustainable Chemistry & Engineering
4. 10 Facts About Single-use Plastic Bags
5.  25+ Powerful Reasons Why Plastic Bags Should be Banned Immediately.