The Effects of Plastic Bags on Wildlife The prevalent usage of plastic bags contributes to wildlife death, destruction of the planet, and many human well-being issues. Direct and Indirect war on plastic Bags through Education of Children Tag Words: Plastic Bags; Wildlife; Death; Planet; Environment; War on Plastic; Education Authors: Nicole DeMola, Zubair Kazi, Amanda Mortillardo, Liz Pusterla, Kristin Titus with Julie M. Fagan, Ph.D. Summary The overuse of plastic bags by Americans and people all over the world is impacting wildlife in a negative way. Many animals mistake the bags for food causing them to eat the bags which leads to imminent death. The world as a whole need to decrease the use of plastic bags in order to save many animals lives as well as the health of our planet. Our service project is incorporating lesson plans into local schools (Hillsborough School District) for Earth Day. We will be present on Earth Day to prepare and interact with the students. In doing this, we will spread the word of the problem of plastic bags and we will raise awareness while directly reducing the use of plastic bags through the actions of the children. The Issue: Plastic bags and their negative impact on the environment One of the most common items in our modern world is the ubiquitous plastic grocery bag. Highly convenient, strong and inexpensive, plastic grocery bags are appealing to both customers and businesses as a reliable way to deliver goods from the store to home. However, there are several issues associated with the production, use, and disposal of plastic grocery bags which may not be initially apparent to most users, but which are nonetheless extremely important. Bags pollute streams, clog drains, and drift in the seas. According to one article there is a “plastic soup” that is twice the size of the United States located between Hawaii and Japan. The current of plastic bag moves around like a vortex in the ocean. If people continue to use plastic at the current rate the “soup” will double over the next decade. Since plastic is made to be durable, pieces of plastic half a century old have been found in the “soup.” The plastic is directly affecting our ecosystem and the wildlife that lives in it (Are Plastic Grocery Bags Sacking the Environment?). Impacts on human health are perhaps the most serious of the effects associated with plastic grocery bags, ranging from acute health problems associated with emissions, to death. In 2005, the city of Mumbai, India experienced massive monsoon flooding, resulting in at least 1,000 deaths, with additional people suffering injuries. City officials blamed the destructive floods on plastic bags which clogged gutters and drains, preventing the rainwater from leaving the city through underground systems. Similar flooding happened in 1988 and 1998 in Bangladesh, which led to the banning of plastic bags in 2002. By clogging sewer pipes, plastic grocery bags also create stagnant water. Stagnant water produces the ideal habitat for mosquitoes and other parasites which have the potential to spread a large number of diseases, such as encephalitis and dengue fever, but most notably malaria (Health impacts of water pollution). Most distressing, however, is that over a billion seabirds and mammals die annually from ingestion of plastics. In Newfoundland, 100,000 marine mammals are killed each year by ingesting plastic. However, the impact of plastic bags does not end with the death of one animal; when a bird or mammal dies in such a manner and subsequently decomposes, the plastic bag will again be released into the environment to be ingested by another animal. Here are some more interesting and surprising facts about the usage of plastic bags: - Four to five trillion plastic bags are made each year - Americans use over 380 billion bags each year - It takes 1000 years for a plastics bag to break down - About 1 billion animals die each year from ingesting the bags - Over a billion plastic bags are given out free each day - The cost of plastic bags to American Retailers each year is about $4 billion - When plastic bags break down they cause a threat to marine life and contaminate the food chain - The cost of a plastic bag is 0.4 cents per bag - The average grocery store shopper uses 15 plastic bag per trip to the store (The Real Cost of Free Plastic Bags). Although these facts are astounding, it is also important to study the effects of plastic bags on the individual. The average American makes about 2.3 trips to the grocery store per week. In each trip, there is an average of 5-10 plastic bags being used. This allows for a grand total of 600-1200 plastic bags per year per American. Stores pay about one penny per plastic bag so per family per year, stores pay about $6-$12. These costs are nothing in comparison to the effects of each plastic bag on the environment. During each stage of the 1,000 degration life of the plastic bag, energy is consumed and wastes are emitted as the bag decomposes. It is hard to imagine per person this is occurring up to 1200 times over per year! (Plastic Bag Lifestyle Stages). The Service Project Before our service project was to decided upon, preliminary steps were taken and a few smaller projects were taken on. Mandy and Liz created a survey for local New Brunswick supermarkets to take in order to get an idea of the usage of plastic bags: 1. What is the average number of plastic bags used... a. Daily b. Monthly c. Annually 2. How many bags did you order the last time you placed an oder for plastic bags for this supermarket? 3. Would you consider not offering plastic bags for use as a bagging option? 4. Do you offer alternatives to using plastic bags? (ex. buying a bag/bags that you can buy once and re use) 5. Do you offer incentives for not using plastic bags? (ex. money bag for every plastic bag not used) 6. Is or has there been a rise in losses due to shop lifting once an alternative to plastic was offered? and if there hasnt been an alternative offered is fear of a rise in shoplifting one reason that the alternative is not being offered? Unfortunately many of the stores did not comply with filling out the survey. They advised us to contact corporate because they did not feel comfortable answering the questions. So we have also written a letter that can be sent to supermarkets’ corporate centers that states our project and the need to stop the use of plastic bags in their stores. We have not heard anything back from corporate at this time. Next, editorials were written to the Targum (Liz), the Medium (Zubair), the Green Print (Nicole), the New Brunswick Shop Rite (Mandy), and to the Centurion(Kristin) about the harms of plastic bags. These editorials are included in following pages of this classapedia. The next plan of action was to propose legislation to ban plastic bags. Nicole created a proposal for legislation to ban plastic bags in supermarkets in the city of New Brunswick. This proposal was sent to the NJ Legislators and a response was received that the proposal was sent to the wrong address. The proposal should have been sent to a NJ representative and not to the entire legislature. Because of time delays, the legislation was not re-sent. Here is the proposal: The use of plastic bags is such an extremely common practice that it is part of the everyday life of the average citizen of New Brunswick, New Jersey. It is largely unknown and disregarded that the use of plastic bags is very dangerous to the environment and to life. Plastic bags are made of polyethylene which is a petroleum product that greatly contributes to air pollution and energy consumption. Each year there are about four to five trillion plastic bags manufactured and Americans use about 380 billion of these bags per year, which leaves the remaining 100 billion plastic bags unused and disposed of. Of these extra bags, only one percent is recycled. Another scary fact is that it takes 1000 years for polyethylene to break down and decompose, and in this process, toxic substances are released which leach into the soil and subsequently enter the food chain. Due to this process, one billion seabirds and mammals die per year by ingesting plastic alone. It is not uncommon for plastic bags to be mistaken as food, which leads to the death of 100,000 marine animals per year. This plastic becomes wrapped around the animal’s intestines or end up chocking the animal to death, which are two very painful and cruel ways to die. Plastic bags also overfill landfills and are carried into forests, ponds, rivers and lakes which further pollutes our earth. All of this pollution is unnecessary because there are reasonable alternatives to plastic bags that are not delirious to the environment such as the reuse of shopping bags, the use of wax paper instead of polyethylene products, recycling plastic bags to stores, etc. Because of their damage to life and to our earth, compounded with the fact that there are much safer alternatives, it is proposed that the city of New Brunswick, New Jersey should ban the use of plastic bags. (a) Beginning on the first day of November, two thousand nine, all retail establishments shall be required to phase out the use of light plastic bags used for consumer purchases and will eliminate use of light plastic bags by the first of November, two thousand eleven.