Understanding Plastics Bags

Understanding plastics bags by going through their effects.

Plastic is a material consisting of synthetic / semi-synthetic organic compounds that can be pressed permanently out of shape without breaking thus can be moulded into solid objects.

The success and dominance of plastics starting in the early 20th century led to environmental concerns regarding its slow decomposition rate after being discarded as trash due to its composition of very large molecules.

Polythene bags have been taken for granted but its high time we start paying attention on their damage to the environment. They are produced using petroleum, natural gas and other chemicals that are toxic to the environment.

Plastic bags don’t biodegrade, they photo degrade- breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways.

Plastic bags take 10 – 100 years to decompose and due to their easy accessibility, they are used in enormous volumes that end up in the drainage systems, water bodies and all over the place due to the poor littering habits.

Our poor littering habits coupled with insufficient infrastructure for waste management has created the disposal problem of solid waste, including the plastic waste in the urban areas.

Animals have suffered the effects of the poor plastic waste management and died as a result of suffocation from eating the plastic bags mistaking them for food. Almost all the animals that graze freely on a large scale of land will have few paper bags in the stomachs since the plastic bags are very light and they go where the winds take them , where this will be the open land where the animals feed from or the water bodies .

Our drainage keep blocking due to the plastic bags that build up and block them. The blocked drainage are a hub of disease, pollution and even death.

The only solution to salvage our environment from the plastic bags side effects is to ban their existence in our markets and invest in Eco-friendly bags.

Dear Kenyans lets embrace the plastic ban and save our environment from suffocating.

Originally posted here.

18 thoughts on “Understanding Plastics Bags”

  1. Yes… and the bag for life riff we have going here in the UK isn’t working – because they are STILL plastic. And far too cheap. We should be opting for paper bags instead, I think. And having to pay £1 each for them…

    Reply
      • I certainly agree sjhigbee, that bag for life should be finished here in the UK. It should be paper bags as suggested or cotton bags. I am not short on cotton bags and I have been using them for some years now.

        Reply
          • Certainly must be eliminated. There is no reason for us to use plastic bags now, as there are plenty of alternatives. 🙂

          • Yes, including a friend of mine. He was a bigger for asking a bag and I said how many reusable bags have you had in the past off me, while I use cotton bags? He kept forgetting to have one on him and I no more to give with using cotton bags.
            He since keeps a jute style bag in his car and I also bought him a cloth bag. So he has no excuses now.
            I am seeing some small shops using alternatives, but a supermarket I am in are using those reusable plastic bags. (Not the only supermarket that does.) Shops are not changing quick enough to my liking.

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