First off, I am not here to tell you that we should STOP using plastic bags. But I would like to propose a more pragmatic and practical approach of using plastic bags as less as possible. Let me first start off by listing some facts about the harmful effects of using plastic bags excessively.

 

• Over 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide, annually, which means that almost 1 million plastic bags are used every minute.
• However only 1 out 200 plastic bags are recycled in United Kingdom.
• More than 3.5 million tons of plastic bags are discarded worldwide.

 

Just by looking at the statistical numbers, we are shocked to realize an extent to which humans are very dependent on plastic bags. However, we cannot deny the fact that plastic bags are very useful to our lives. Many people around the world use plastic bags to hold all appliances or foods that they have purchased in grocery store, garner all the trash that they littered, etc. In fact, my family always uses plastic bags to collect our trash. What is more foreboding than our massive dependence on plastic bags is that it takes approximately 1000 years to decompose a single plastic bag. By looking just at the number of years that it takes to decompose, we can easily realize that plastic bags are not sustainable materials.

 

I will tell you the bleak truth. It is almost, if not, entirely impossible for everyone to stop using plastic bags. It is, in fact, even very difficult for me to stop using plastic bags. However, we can make a more realistic, environmental friendly approach to minimize the use of plastic bags. One teacher provided me with a very innovative and ingenious way to achieve this. I would like to thank deeply to my teacher for providing me with this idea.

 

Below this report are three images. First image is a picture that shows how we usually or normally throw empty chip bags. Second image is a picture that I took that shows how my teacher proposed me to throw chips bags. Third picture is an image that I found on Internet, which shows an art piece of which other person had constructed out of littered chip bags to save as much as space in plastic bags as possible.

 

Again, there are many ways to fold the chips bags. You can create your own way of doing so. It is UNLIMITED!!! Just imagine how much space we can save by throwing our trash by using these methods. In fact, my family was able to decrease from using 8 plastic bags to 5 plastic bags in a month!

 

I highly recommend many of you to try out this approach!

 

Image links:

 

https://c1.staticflickr.com/1/15/20630977_20d8e78649.jpg

http://cfs7.tistory.com/upload_control/download.blog?fhandle=YmxvZzk1MjI4QGZzNy50aXN0b3J5LmNvbTovYXR0YWNoLzAvOTAuanBn

 

Reference Links:

 

http://www.reuseit.com/facts-and-myths/facts-about-the-plastic-bag-pandemic.htm