Tammy Park | ILS 252 improves your world

This project aims to make the world a better place – a world where people can make changes, not by sacrificing their lives, but by taking just that one extra step. The smallest things could make some of the biggest changes in life. Similarly, decreasing our usage of something trivial as plastic bags could make our entire community more ecologically friendly and save thousands of people around the world. Each year over 500 billion plastic bags are used around the world; 84 billion in the U.S. alone, and very little of them are recycled (alternet.org). These bags end up in trees, in our oceans and clutter our streets. Even if we manage to throw them away, it takes about thousand years for each plastic bag to be broken down. While some improvements are being made, there is still a lot more to be done. Madison is the perfect city to lead the charge against plastic bags. We believe that if retailers put a small charge on every plastic bag, people will be more likely to use reusable bags and become more aware of the harm of plastic bags. Through this project, we hope to get the ball rolling on the disuse of plastic bags in Madison and bettering our environment as a whole.

CASE 1: America

Since 1957 when they were first introduced, plastic bags have become a huge part of the retail business. The US alone spends over $4 million on plastic bag production (alternet.org). This demand for plastic has a direct affect on the demand for oil since plastic is made from petroleum by product. Plastic bags for the most part have a one-time use. Less that 1% of all plastic bags are recycled. Even when bags are recycled, there is little benefit. “There’s harsh economics behind bag recycling: It cost’s $4000 to process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags, which can be sold on the commodities market for $32” (Jared Blumenfeld). While about 8 million pounds of plastic bags are dumped into landfills each year (U.S. Acadamy of Science), a lot of plastic bags are found elsewhere. Bags get blown into trees, rivers, lakes and oceans, and even fill our sewers. Plastic bags account for 10% of debris that washes up on the U.S. coastline (National Debris Monitoring Program). Eventually, these bags break down into toxic petro-polymers, which contaminate our water and soil (CNN.com/technology November 16, 2007). Also, animals ingest plastic or become tangled in them and die.

The U.S. is starting to make strides in reducing the use of plastic bags. California is leading the charge with cities like San Francisco and Oakland municipally ban the use of plastic bags. Also, the state passed the Assembly Bill 2449, which requires all supermarkets, pharmacies and other large retail stores to provide bins to help consumers recycle. In 2008, Seattle passed a 20-cent tax on grocery bags only to see the chemistry council sponsor a successful local referendum to overturn it the following year (stateline.org) Opposition from plastic manufacturing companies is slowing the process of passing legislation banning the use of plastic bags. The U.S. needs to look to other countries that have already taken legal action.

CASE 2: Rest of the World

China, as the country that consumes the most plastic bags, (www.efdinitiative.org) is one country that has taken a stand against plastic bags. The Chinese ordinance allows store owners to price their own plastic bags and then keep the profit. Before this ordinance, the Chinese consumed an average of 21 plastic bags per week with little of those bags being used more that once. Since the passing however, the consumption has been reduced by 49% and almost half of the bags have been reduced. (www.efdinitative.org)

Ireland is another country that has taken a stand against plastic bags. In March 2003, Ireland decided to charge a 15 euro cent levy on every plastic shopping bags. Some stores changed to paper bags and by July 2007, the price went up to 22 euro cents (www.smh.co.au). This reduced consumption by an astonishing 90% (source?). Many other countries are getting on board as well, for example, Australia is considering passing a ban on all plastic bags and Germany has placed a different tax on plastic bags depending on their size. Sweden has developed greener bags such as biodegradable paper bags and reusable cloth bags. Plastic and paper bags are also taxed all over Sweden so when Tammy came to the United States and saw that all of the shops gave out plastic bags for free, she was mildly shocked. What also interested her was how the shops gave out plastic bags so easily; so much more could go in that one bag but they would easily hand out an extra or two so that each of the bags were light.

Plastic bags – a Positive Feedback

By America not placing a tax on plastic bags, it has caused a positive feedback. Since bags are free, consumers are fine with using more and more of it. There is no negative feedback to help regulate the use of plastic bags. Countries that do charge for bags reach more of an equilibrium because the price on plastic bags causes a negative feedback. If America doesn’t start regulating plastic bags, it will not only harm the environment but also cause inflation because right now there is no charge on plastic bags at all. Although there was some discrepancy when taxes were first placed in other countries, overall there has been overwhelming success. America needs to look to these countries and follow their lead. The few cities that have started placing taxes and bans are setting the stage for work to be done on the national level. We hope that with our project, Madison can be the next U.S. city to fight the war against plastic bags.

Our project’s goal is to raise the awareness of the harms of plastic bags in Madison and to push for a tax on plastic bags to urge people to use reusable bags. We plan to talk to Walgreen’s and get their opinion on why the U.S. is slow to place a ban. Has Walgreen’s as a corporation ever tried to sustain the giving away of plastic bags? What do they think are the positive and negative effects of putting a fee on plastic bags from a business standpoint? We would also like to see if they would be willing to only allow customers to use reusable bags and find out how that affected their sales. Placing a tax on plastic bags is an easy step to helping reduce pollution in our country and reducing our countries use of petroleum. Other countries have taken a stand and it’s time for the U.S. to do the same. We hope our project can help influence the city of Madison on making a plastic bag policy and possibly, even help influence our nation.

Sources:

http://www.efdinitiative.org/centers/eeu-sweden/news-press/news-archive/2010/charge-for-plastic-bags-cut-consumption-by-half-in-china

http://www.smh.com.au/news/environment/plastic-bags-worldwide/2008/01/10/1199554813329.html

http://www.stateline.org/live/details/story?contentId=504112

http://plasticbagbanreport.com/portland-oregon-usa-bans-plastic-bags/

http://www.alternet.org/environment/61607/

Click to access thedangersofplasticbags.pdf

This project aims to make the world a better place – a world where people can make changes, not by sacrificing their lives, but by taking just that one extra step. The smallest things could make some of the biggest changes in life. Similarly, decreasing our usage of something trivial as plastic bags could make our entire community more ecologically friendly and save thousands of people around the world. Each year over 500 billion plastic bags are used around the world, 84 billion in the U.S. alone, and very little of them are recycled. (alternet.org) These bags end up in trees, in our oceans and clutter our streets. Even if we manage to throw them away, it takes about thousand years for each plastic bag to be broken down. While some improvements are being made, there is still a lot more to be done. Madison is the perfect city to lead the charge against plastic bags. We believe that if retailers put a small charge on every plastic bag, people will be more likely to use reusable bags and become more aware of the harm of plastic bags. Through this project, we hope to get the ball rolling on the disuse of plastic bags in Madison and bettering our environment as a whole.