Plastic Bags article by anum

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article

Plastic Bags

Anum

B.S-III-07

Plastic bags are use in every walk of life.

Plastic is everywhere  ,even in these items you may not expect it to be. As plastic is less expensive, it is one of the most widely available and overused item in the world today.

Eric fawcett and Reginald gibson are responsible for the creation of the plastic bags.

They are in use by the consumers since 1960.

In the 1960s’ plastics were becoming popular . Polyethylene, which today is one of the world’s most presenting plastics , had been created in 1898 and then again in 1939 but it was not until 1953 that anyone figured out has to make high density polyethylene plastic, generally used to make the type of grocery store plastic bags . These bags are also known as single use bags.

Open bags with carrying handles are used in large numbers nationwide. Plastic bags are used in various ways, they are used for many medical purposes, use to carry groceries from stores to home , as a trash bag , to save blood and blood platelets ,to store food in refrigerator , as a evidence bag, as a plastic body pack, as a snack chips bags etc.  in simple words we see and touch plastic bag everyday.

According to a survey approximately 12 millions plastic bags were used in Pakistan in 1990-1991 and this use to 43 billion in 2005 and in 2007 upto 5 billion . 2004’s study report estimated that based on figures available at that time , Pakistan would be using 112 billion plastic bags by 2015. 1 trillion plastic bags are used in one year worldwide.

Unfortunately most of the people in our society are not aware of the hazardious effects of plastic. When plastics reaches our waters whether it be plastic bags or drifting fish net , it poses a threat to the animals that depend on oceans for food.

Usually most of our domestic waste doesn’t go to landfill sites, due to a very poor system of collection of solid water, so these plastic bags and plastic products end up in the ocean.

In the oceans. The plastic is bleached  and breaks down into smaller and smaller granules which are swallowed by small fishes and marine animals, which ultimately has its hazardous effect on the food chain. Plastic bags are never biodegrade but they do break down .As they do so, any toxic additives they contain including flame retardants, antimicrobials  and plasticizers will be released into the environment. Many of these chemicals may disrupt the endocrine system the delicately balanced set of hormones and gland s that affect virtually oxygen and cell in the bodies of humans and animals.

Plastic bags are especially harmful to marine animals and are one of the most common garbage items on beaches. In marine environment many animals eat plastic mistakenly as jelly fish for food including see turtles . One in there sea turtles have plastic in their stomach most often a plastic bag.

One in these animal bodies the plastic bio accumulates and chemicals can cause excess estrogen to be produced , which has led to the discoverers of male fish will female sex organs. For sea turtle , the plastic bodies their digestive tract and the food that is trapped releases gases that render them buoyant and unable to dive for food.

Besides this, in Pakistan , people burn plastic bags along with other solid wastes in cities and villages , burning of such waste is very harmful for health . it can increase the risk of heart diseases, aggravate respiratory ailments such as asthma , emphysema and cause rashes , nausea and headaches , damages in the nervous system , kidney or liver in the reproductive and development system.

Open burning of plastic bags and plastic waste degrade the environment.

By knowing such harmful effects of plastic bags few attempts have  been made in the past to ban them.in 2006, sale and purchase of them plastic bags was banned in Karachi and in 2003, the Islamabad capital territory also banned sale and purchase of thin plastic bags.

In august 2015, KPK chief minister Pervaiz khattak  had ordered a ban on the manufacturing and use of polyethene shopping bags in KPK province, feeling such bags cause chocking of sanitation system and environmental degradation. The ban wants to come into effect after two months.

Other provinces should also ban the use of plastic bags, because plastic bags are petroleum based and do not biodegrade. Plastic bags can be replace by reusable bags. Try and select items that come in non-plastic recycled and recyclable packaging . recycling plastic means that it is still plastic just being used for different purposes, therefore  you aren’t  actually reducing plastic amounts or exposure, even in the recycling process.

More efforts are needed to make Pakistan environmentally healthy. If all the plastic bag manufacturing industries in Pakistan start manufacturing these bags  with biodegradeable material , we will be able to save our environment.

Practical work carried out under supervision of Sir Sohail Sangi