Take a moment to think about the last time you used a plastic bag, this could be either a larger bag used at a store or a smaller sealable one used to preserve food. It was most likely quite recently. That’s because there plastic bags are used in most stores and homes. Until recently, no one thought this was a problem. However, researchers are now exposing the harm in using these plastic materials. Let’s delve into the exact problems plastic bags can cause.

Humans

First, let’s start with one that effects humans, rather than other animals: aesthetics. How many times have you gone to the beach and seen plastic bags or bottles strewn throughout? Now, we all know that these plastic materials make the landscape deteriorate in beauty, but there additional problems as a result. Researcher have known for a while that natural locations have a range of health benefits. For example, hospital patients will spend time outside to reduce recovery time. Check out this article by Deborah Franklin on the health benefits of hospital gardens, for example, on patients. Natural landscapes also improve the focus of students and help in their brain development. Leah Shaffer discusses how important nature, specifically time in nature during school, truly is to students in this article.  If these natural areas are suddenly filled with plastic materials, both ruining the environment and destroying the aesthetics, we will no longer have access to these natural benefits. Also impacting our general communities are clogged sewage pipes due to plastic bags. Yes you read that correctly. A build up of plastic can actually clog sewage pipes, thus leading to increased flooding and water damage.

Wildlife

Next let’s look at wildlife. Both aquatic and terrestrial animals eat plastic if found in their environment. For example, turtles think plastic bags in the ocean are actually jellyfish. Since turtles eat jellyfish, they will instead eat these plastic bags. In 2015, researchers found that approximately 50 percent of sea turtles and 90 percent of birds have eaten plastic. Now think about how high that percentage could be today. Cows also eat plastic bags that end up on their grazing land. This is greatly a problem in India, where cow populations are high and trash collection is not as common as other areas. Now think about this. Most of us eat cows, and cows have begun eating plastic bags. If the cow does not die due to ingestion of these plastic materials, plastic matter remains in their system. Therefore, there could be small pieces of plastic in the cow meat we eat. Animals that eat plastic bags normally end up with intestinal problems with leads to a slow death. For example, plastic does not break down easily, thus it remains in the stomach of animals stopping them from eating. Plastic materials constantly entangle wildlife, leading to their death or a decreased chance of survival. But wildlife don’t just eat plastic, they also get caught in it. Watch this video by National Geographic to see what it feels like to be an animal trapped in a plastic bag.

Challenge #2: When going to the beach or park, remove at lease 3 pieces of garbage.

 

*** Featured Image by Artists Project Earth