Plastic ban spreads; Helps environment

In only one year, 2017, 26.8 million tons of plastic were received at landfills. That makes up
19.2 percent of all municipal solid waste landfilled, according to the EPA, showing the
importance of using less plastic in our daily lives.
Fortunately, some states have started to ban single-use plastic bags in stores recently. Along
with this, a tax on plastic bags has also been put into effect or making plastic bags cost a very
small amount of money in other places to deter buyers from using them as often or at all.
Eight states have already enacted statewide legislation regarding the ban for single-use
plastic bags. These states include California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, New York,
Oregon, and Vermont, starting in 2014 with California being the first state to have this ban. In
addition, many cities, such as Washington D.C., have a tax on plastic grocery bags, encouraging
shoppers to bring their own reusable grocery bags.
The Baltimore mayor has signed a ban for single-use plastic bags forcing stores, like Shoprite,
to no longer offer plastic bags and forcing the customers to bring their own reusable ones.
Although the single-use plastic bag ban in Shoprite stores had to be suspended temporarily
due to the corona virus and cashiers are also not allowed to bag the customers’ reusable bags
for them, bringing your own reusable bags is still encouraged. Baltimore City and other cities
that do this have large populations and influence over their surrounding areas, possibly setting
a precedent for other cities/ towns.
Considering the number of plastic bags used in stores every day, this ban could reduce that
number by an incredible amount, therefore influencing the amount of plastic litter whether
that litter is in the ocean or on land. Plastic takes a very long time to decompose so hopefully
this ban could slowly remove the plastic from the landfills and another material could replace
our use of plastic in everyday life.
While some say that paper, a renewable resource which is easily attained, could easily
replace plastic altogether, reusable bags would be able to help the environment and save more
resources. Paper is biodegradable and paper bags are a valid option in stores, however, using
reusable bags would last longer and hold more items while cutting down less trees.
Ultimately, this ban on plastic could have many great environmental effects, including less
litter, cleaner streets, cleaner oceans, and more landfill space in turn! These effects could have
an even greater effect on our environment if the plastic bag bans continued and if the number
of places banning it increased!