Plastic bags bring a lot of convenience to people’s lives, but at the same time, they also cause long-term damage. The recycling value of plastic bags is very low. When waste plastic bags are scattered on the city streets, in the tourist area, in the water or along the highways and railways, they will cause “visual pollution”. What’s worse, it will also cause some potential dangers.
First of all, plastic bags affect agricultural development.
When waste plastic products are mixed into the soil and accumulate continuously, it will affect the uptake of nutrients and water by crops, which will reduce crop production.
Second, plastic bags threaten the survival of animals.
If animals mistakenly take the waste of plastic products as food and swallow it, it will cause the death of the animal. Last year, there were nearly a thousand sheep in Qinghai Lake that died from this, causing an economic loss of around 300,000 yuan. Sheep like to eat the oily waste wrapped in plastic bags, while plastic is difficult to digest. If it stays in the stomach for a long time, there will be no room in the stomach for other food. As a result, these sheep can only starve to death in the end. Such a thing is very common in the zoo, the grazing area, the village and the ocean.
Third, plastic waste is difficult to dispose of.
Waste plastics not only take up a lot of land, but the occupied land will not be reclaimed for a long time, which will affect sustainable land use. If the waste plastic products are buried in the ground, the degradation will take 200 years. In addition, the raw material of plastic bags is oil, which is not only resource-consuming, but also cannot be decomposed. If it is buried in the ground, it will pollute the land and the river.
In addition, the plastic itself will release harmful gases. Especially cooked foods, if they are packaged in plastic bags, tend to degenerate very easily. The effect of spoiled food is particularly prominent on the health and development of children.
Last but not least, the production of plastic bags will consume a lot of energy, such as polyethylene (PE), polyvinyl chloride (PVC), shrink film and low-density polyethylene (LDPE). Therefore, to change this situation, it is extremely urgent to replace plastic with other recyclable and degradable materials.
