History of Plastic Bags
Plastic bags, sometimes referred to as "single-usage bags" or "poly bags", are common and
used all over the world because of its affordability and easy manufacture. They are made out
from polythene which is made from crude oil and natural gas which are non-renewable
resources. In the early 1960s, Modern light weight plastic bags were invented by a Swedish
engineer, Sten Gustav Thulin. The new, higher withstanding plastic bags were patented
worldwide by Celloplast in 1965 and by the year 1966, plastic bags took over bread
packaging in 25 to 30 percent of the markets. They were introduced in American
supermarkets in 1977 as an alternative to paper bags. The more convenient "T-Shirt" bags plastic bags with handles - were introduced five years later and according to the Society of
the Plastic Industry, four in five of the bags in stores were plastic. People took the greatly
versatile usage and economically friendliness of plastic bags to their advantage; they used it
to bring home their groceries or shopping from the stores as well as to take out trash. This
ultimately made the demand for them increase and as a positive feedback to it, the
companies manufactured more of them. Today, plastic bags have reached its limits and we
have come to a point where the bags are harming out society and affecting, not only
mankind, but the other living things around us.
No More Bags
Compared to other countries, the US is lagging in passing legislation against the
use of plastic bags. While some individual cities have started placing taxes or bans on plastic
bags, nothing on the national level has been done. Countries such as Sweden and China have
taken legal action against plastic bags and have had great success. Sweden charged plastic
bags, thus, encouraging people to reuse or bring their own tote bags for their shopping and
large grocery stores like Hemköp and Ica made environmentally friendly bags that were free
from oil and were made out of sugar canes. China put a ban on plastic bags, reducing its
consumption by a solid 45%. China Daily also noted that fashion could help advance the
government’s policy. Thus, tote bags with hip designs were made as a must-have accessory
for youths in big cities like Shanghai and Beijing. Ireland used a more similar mean as that of
Sweden reduced its plastic bag consumption by a huge amount, 90%, from putting a 22 Euro
Cent levy in 2007. More people started using reusable cloth bags within a year and plastic
bags started to become unacceptable in Ireland. In response to many of the world's initiative
in bettering our environment, some U.S. cities such as San Francisco, Oakland and Seattle
are leading the way with a municipal ban on plastic bags, but, as citizens belonging to a
country using 100 billion plastic bags every year, Americans still have a long ways to go.
America vs. Plastic Bags
The rules of relating in American society have prevented a nationwide ban on
plastic bags. Americans are all about what is most convenient, so if a store will give you a
free bag, why bother to take your own? Americans also like having a lot of things. This leads
to cashiers putting fewer items in each bag, hence giving us more bags, so we feel like we
bought more stuff. We also tend to push things off until tomorrow. Our mentality is often
“everything is fine right now so why change it?”
Another major contribution to the adversity of a plastic bag ban is the influence
from the companies who manufacture plastic bags. Each year, over 500 billion bags are
produced and the U.S. alone spends $4 million on this production (alternet.org). These
companies want people to use more and more bags with out recycling them. As of right now,
they are doing a pretty good job of keeping it that way. Few people actually recycle their
plastic bags. A lot of plastic bags end up in landfills but the majority are blown around and
end up polluting our lakes and rivers. Plastic bags account for 10% of debris that washes up
on the U.S. coastline (National Debris Monitoring Program), also, it is not economically
worth it to recycle. “There’s harsh economics behind bag recycling: It cost’s $4,000 to
process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags, which can be sold on the commodities market for
$32” (Jared Blumenfeld). All of these factors mixed with the rules of relating, reinforce the
idea that there’s no need for a ban on plastic bags.
However, while legal action is taking a bit longer, some corporations have started
taking a stand against plastic bags. Trader Joe’s is one of the better-known companies who
are against plastic bags. They were the first company to market reusable bags and sell them
for a dollar a piece. So our question was:
why aren’t more companies encouraging the use of reusable bags?
To find out more, we went to Walgreen's and the University Bookstore on State Street as
well as Now & Later, a small housing store by Rheta's in Chadbourne Residential College, to
ask a few questions.
First off, we went to Walgreen's and spoke with the manager if they sold reusable
bags in their store. We found out that they had sold bags in the past for $1.29 but there
wasn’t enough profit from making the bags because what they realized was that most of the
customers at the Walgreen's on State Street consisted of college students who would put
their purchase in their backpacks rather than using a reusable bag. We did find out, however,
that the selling of reusable bags varied from store to store. For example, in more suburban
areas, reusable bags sold better so the stores carried them to make profit. Walgreen's does
not give a discount for bringing your own reusable bag or place a fee on customers for using
plastic bags. For Walgreen's, reusable bags are seen merely as an opportunity for profit and
if there is no chance of making a profit, then they really don’t care. What Walgreen's did
instead, however, was to ask their customers if they needed a plastic bag instead of giving it
out by granted.
Next, we stopped at the University Bookstore. Like Walgreen's, the store did not
charge extra on plastic bags; rather the Bookstore encouraged people to use their plastic
bags because it also acted as a mean of advertisement for them. With that being said,
however, the Bookstore did have a plastic bag recycler where anyone could bring in plastic
bags to recycle and the store reused it. The Bookstore also said they tried to sell reusable
University Bookstore Bags and while they did sell, there wasn’t a great enough demand for
them because students just put the items they purchase in their backpacks. This was also
one of the reasons why they discouraged putting a fee on their plastic bags. Also, by
charging, they would be losing one of their advertising methods.
Rheta's Now & Later had most of the components that we were looking for;
they sold reusable bags and advertised it by saying that anyone using the bags for their
purchase would receive a certain discount. The reusable bags started appearing in the store
in the beginning of the year, thus, quite recent. However, they were not efficiently sold.
Some of the biggest reasons as to why this did not work was because:
1) The reusable bags cost 6 dollars and the discount was only 0.1 for every purchase
2) Students usually do not buy enough things from stores like Now & Later to actually need a
plastic or reusable bag.
Although this was a great initiative, Now & Later was obviously too small of a store to make
much progress into the act. Also, it is obviously to think that charging so much for the bags
was definitely one of the biggest reasons as to why the probability of them being sold was so
low, however, when we questioned the motive behind the pricing, the worker at Rheta's
answered that they probably had the price up to make profit.
So what can we do?
What can the students of the University of Wisconsin-Madison do to help reduce the
consumption of plastic bags? Well, the answer is simple and there are many things we can
do:
1) Bring your own reusable bags with you whenever you go out shopping. Using your
backpack as a reusable bag counts too!
2) If you do have to use a plastic bag, make it count. Ask the cashier to fill the bag all the way
full.
3) Try to reuse this plastic bag in another way and if nothing else, bring the bag to a plastic
bag-recycling center. Although recycling isn’t the best option, it is better than putting the
bag in a landfill or worse, ending up in our lakes, rivers, and oceans.
By doing this and making these small extra steps, we will be able to slowly but steadily
make an impact on our environment; things will not change overnight, but little by little, we
will be able to preserve and better our Earth. As the next generation of adults in our world,
we have to raise the issue and further encourage corporations to switch to only allowing
reusable bags; having the law getting passed solely in the United States will reduce a great
amount of plastic bag consumption, manufacture and waste. We are not alone in this world;
just because we don't have poverty in our neighborhood doesn't mean it doesn't exist. Just
because we don't have drought in Wisconsin doesn't mean it never happens; similarly, just
because we don't see the pile of plastic bag wastes in our backyard doesn't mean we could
disregard it.
Out of sight, out of mind? This is not the attitude and mindset of our world's future leaders.
Everyone needs to break out of the American norm and challenge themselves to help the
environment with this small little step. Our world cannot keep supporting our lifestyle like
this forever. Why not stepping up from the crowd and take action today by using a reusable
bag? Take the one extra step to improve our world and make a difference to help better
everyone’s tomorrows.
Changing the world starts from you.
On Wisconsin!
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Plastic_shopping_bag
http://www.packagingknowledge.com/plastic_bags.asp
http://www.fmi.org/docs/media/bgd/Plastic_Bag_Backgrounder.pdf
http://www.plasticsindustry.org/files/about/fbf/myths%2Bfacts_grocerybags.pdf
http://www.odditycentral.com/tag/art/page/20