The increasing pollution from plastic bags has forced States, Towns and Cities, to start to see the possibilities of a town without plastic bags, and are even voting to get rid of them.
Every year over forty billion tons of carbon dioxide enters the atmosphere slowly making the air unbreathable. According to scientist, the biggest cause of this problem is plastic bags.
Every year between 500 billion and one trillion plastic bags are being used worldwide. Plastic bags do not biodegrade and instead they photodegrade, meaning the bags break down into smaller bits and are even more toxic than they once were. A plastic bag can take over 400 to 1,000 years to break down in the environment. As it starts to break down, plastic particles contaminate soil, waterways and enter the food web when ingested by animals.
“I'm not surprised by the amount of plastic bags; we humans use and dispose them without thought of what happens to them and where they go. Their affecting animals to the thousands and even us,” NHS sophomore Andrea Marcelli said.
In the ocean, toxic particles end up in colossal whirlpool currents called gyres. Currently, there are five such gyres. There is also an estimated 46 times more plastic floating in the ocean than there is food for marine life; Nearly 90% of the trash in the ocean is plastic and plastic debris in the ocean accumulate organic pollutants at high concentrations. These pollutants resist biodegrading and are known endocrine disruptors.
The Connecticut Food Association, proposed the state to charge customers an added five cents per plastic shopping bag used.
"It's a very complex issue, and it involves working with businesses, with municipalities, with community members, really with everybody, to make sure that the right solutions are found that work for everyone," says Daphne Dixon, co-founder of Live Green Connecticut.
Plastic bags are responsible for the yearly deaths of an estimated 100,000 sea turtles and other marine animals. It is estimated that almost 1.1 to 2.4 million tons of plastic debris have been going into the ocean every year from rivers. Half of this plastic is denser than the actual water, meaning that it will not sink in the ocean.
Most of the plastic that ends up in the sea ends up in The Great Pacific Garbage Patch, which is the largest plastic accumulation in the world. The patch is located on the west coast of Japan and North America, when sampled there were five trillions pieces of debris weighing over 80,000 tons, which is three times the size of France.
The majority of plastic bags in rivers in CT end up floating into the Long Island Sound. In response to this, many states, countries, and towns have banned the use of plastic bags and have replaced them with reusable bags instead. The idea is that there would be a 5 cent fee for paper bags. In Connecticut, only three towns have banned the use of plastic bags; including Greenwich, Westport, and Stamford.
“I would support this ban because we don't need them, they’re a luxury. It's a good thing because the environment is important and were ruining it every day,” Newtown High School social studies teacher Larry Saladin said.
Westport chose to ban plastic bags in 2009, and Greenwich followed shortly after. Some environmentalist has said that several other possible towns might follow the lead because; the increasing financial burdens of the plastic bags. Plastic bags have been known to jam recycling machinery, and certain towns have been charged by processing companies if there are too many plastic bags in the mix of other debris.
“We have been told that from business owners perspective this would be preferred because it would mean stores across the state would be operating under one set of rules, creating a level playing field. A state law would supersede a local ordinance,” said Ryan Knapp, a member of The Legislative Council for Newtown, said.
The future of plastic bags in Newtown and is still in due process, and there is not a definite date for a vote. Newtown's State Representative Mitch Bolinsky, recently co-sponsored a plastic bag bill at the state level, however, it has not been passed. But we should keep in mind the possible effects on our atmosphere.