How can something so small cause so much chaos? Plastic bags are the talk of the year. People all over the world are having a feud about plastic bags; whether they should be banned or not. Every year, US citizens consume 100 billion single-use plastic bags. This costs retailers about 4 billion dollars. Recently, Montgomery County, MD passed a 5 cent charge on plastic bags. But, has this made any difference in the environment? Even after the charge, plastic bags can still be found floating around in the water, laying across the streets or flying around in the wind. We need a real solution to all this chaos and it is not a 5 cent charge. We need to ban plastic bags, because they do harm to the environment and Mother Nature. Without a ban, there will always be the sight of a plastic bag on the ground. In the article Plastic Bags: The Environment’s Deadly Predator, the author explains that “Plastic bags take over 400 years to biodegrade! That means your children’s children’s children will still have the burden of the same …show more content…
In the article Plastic Bag Should be Managed, not Banned, the writer claims “Plastic bags were designed to satisfy a need. Thin plastic can do many things that paper cannot.” There are reusable bags which are ten times preferable than a plastic bag. A reusable bag is capable of ‘satisfying a need.’ Besides plastic bags get ripped so easily and get soggy when it rains. Reusable bags, on the other hand, are versatile and functional. Another example from the text is that the author claims, “The answer to the problems associated with the thin plastic bag use is not a ban, but better management. The 3R - reduce, reuse, recycle - of solid waste management also applies to plastic bags.” Although, as I mentioned before people have tried to recycle plastic bags, but in one way or another it somehow still ends up on the