Single-use plastic bags are one of the most objectionable types of litter in urban areas. The sheer volume of plastic waste generated, coupled with energy and material resources required for production, as well as emissions resulting from these processes, paint a grim picture of the environmental havoc created by plastic bags.
These single-use plastic bags are causing extensive negative effects to the environment because of how simply they can be used in one’s daily life. There are candy wrappers, takeout containers, and other packaging that should’ve otherwise been avoided.
Single-use plastic bags are a huge threat to the environment as an estimated 1 trillion such bags are consumed worldwide every year. In the United Arab Emirates alone, nearly 12 billion plastic bags are used annually. This stems from the throw-away culture practiced by so many individuals across the globe.
All these said, learn more about the menace that single-use plastic bags bring to the world today.
Hazards of Single-Use Plastic Bags
Single-use plastic bags are notorious for their interference in natural ecosystems and for causing the death of aquatic organisms, animals, and birds. In 2006, The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) estimated that there are 46,000 pieces of plastic litter floating in every square mile of ocean, and up to 80 percent of marine debris worldwide is plastic, which are responsible for the death of a more than a million seabirds and 100,000 marine mammals each year from starvation, choking or entanglement.
In fact, there’s a huge floating dump in the Pacific Ocean called the “Great Pacific Garbage Patch,” which is hundreds of miles wide and consists mostly of plastic debris caught in the ocean’s currents. This is a very sad reality, as you can only imagine the destruction that it has caused to aquatic plants and animals in their home.
Plastic bags are mistakenly ingested by animals, like cows and camels, clogging their intestines, resulting in death by starvation. Many ocean divers and photographers have documented the sad death of animals, like turtles, with their bodies trapped in plastic.
In addition, plastic bags clog urban drainage systems and contribute to flooding, as witnessed in Mumbai, Dhaka, and Manila in recent decades. Moreover, toxic chemicals from single-use bags can enter the food chain when they are ingested by animals and birds.
Large numbers of camels in the Middle East die every year due to plastic ingestion
Unfortunately, only a small percentage of these bags are recycled each year, and most float about the landscape and create a tremendous expense in clean-up costs. Several countries, regions, and cities have enacted legislation to ban or severely reduce the use of disposable plastic shopping bags. Plastic bags litter serve as a floating transportation agent that enables alien species to move to new parts of the world, thus threatening biodiversity.
Alternatives to Single-Use Bags
It’s not too late yet. There are still many changes in your lifestyle that you can incorporate to reduce your plastic footprint in the environment. The hazards of single-use plastic bag can be mitigated by raising environmental awareness among communities. Many municipalities in the Gulf region are targeting shopping malls and grocery stores to reduce dependence on single-use plastic bags.
Environmental education at workplaces, schools, and residential areas is a vital tool in the fight against plastic bags. Empowering people to take proactive actions and encouraging them to be a part of the solution can also be helpful in reducing the reliance on single-use plastic bags.
Municipalities can make use of the 5Rs of waste management—Rethink, Reduce, Reuse, Recycle, and Recover—to encourage safe disposal of plastic bags, which may be facilitated by mass deployment of plastic bag collection systems and recycling facilities at strategic locations. Some of the alternatives are cloth-based bags, such as jute and cotton, which are biodegradable as well as reusable. For instance, www.calico-bags.com.au/, a supplier in Australia, is a very good source of beautiful, customized calico eco-bags that you can use instead of plastics.
In fact, the range of durable fabric shopping bags is growing each year in Western countries, including those that can be conveniently folded up into a pocket.
From one’s primary years in school, you may have already been taught the basics of “Reduce, Reuse, Recycle.” While it seems very simple, however, it’s actually one of the basic ways to instill this eco-friendly lifestyle in the lives of people. It may seem difficult at first, but once you truly get the hang of it, you’ll realize that there’s no better way of life than an environment-friendly one.
The introduction of ‘plastic bags tax’ can also be a handy weapon in restricting the use of single-use plastic bags in the Middle East. For example, Ireland introduced a plastic bag charge called PlasTax more than a decade ago, which has virtually eliminated plastic bags in the country.
Initiatives in Middle East
The Middle East region has been slow in gearing up to the challenges posed by single-use plastic bags, though governments have been trying to raise public awareness aimed at behavioral change. The Ministry of Environment and Water in UAE launched an initiative called “UAE free of plastic bags” to maintain the health of the natural habitat and enhance the environmental standards of the state.
The Dubai Municipality has also launched an ambitious “No to Plastic Bags” campaign to slash 500 million plastic bags. There are similar but small-scale efforts in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, and Kuwait to encourage clean-up campaigns in seas, deserts and cities.
In Egypt, the Red Sea (Hurghada) is the first plastic bag-free governorate, having introduced a ban which generated employment opportunities for women who have been charged with creating cloth bags in the place of plastic bags.
Final Word
After reading this, you hopefully have more insights about one of the biggest dangers facing the environment: single-use plastics. While it’s bringing bad news to countries all over the world, it also brings with it good news.
When you put in the right attitude and commitment to avoid using single-use plastic in your home, that’s at least one more person moving towards a more sustainable lifestyle. Think of this positive change as your gift to future generations.
One small change can mean a world of difference for the safety and health of the planet.
