Ban of Plastic Bag Use

A recent opinion piece in TheUniversity Star under the title, City council should push plastic bag ban, urges the action of students and people of San Marcos in support of a city ban on the use of plastic bags. The article appears in a Texas State news outlet which could reach many in the San Marcos community. The author appeals to people that live in San Marcos to act now. She does this by writing about the risk of plastic bags being hazardous to the beautiful local wildlife and environment. She gives examples of how the damage done by plastic bags could effect people's hobbies while living in San Marcos, like spending time on the river. Plastic bags can end up floating in the river and can be eaten by the water wildlife, causing blockages, infection and death to these animals. The evidence stated throughout the article I found to be supported, but with more detailed investigation you find that it's not so black and white. I did find in a National Geographic news article, called Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment? , the evidence for the fact that 500 billion to a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. The author also says that countries like Italy, Rwanda, Bangladesh, China, and Australia had proceeded to ban plastic bags from their territory. With further investigation of these bans, I found that the effect of these bans have varied from Rwanda where it is highly affective to Bangladesh where it has not been enforced at all and so plastic bag use is higher than ever. In China only certain types and thickness of plastic bags are banned but not all. A solution she gives to the problem of plastic bags is to use reusable bags that are convenient and not dangerous to our environment but, with further research, that can be discredited. One article that discusses the negative side, on Mercurynews.com called Action Line: Study: reusable grocery bags canbe dangerous to your family's health, describes a study which found that reusable bags have the potential for cross-contamination of food products, causing the growth of bacteria including e-coli. Overall the message is very clear and understandable. I do agree with the message and what should be done to change the harmful effects of plastic bag use. Before I read this article, I always knew this was an issue but didn’t take it seriously. This article makes me think harder about it, and make some changes with how much I use plastic bags.