China recently launched a surprise crackdown on plastic bags on Tuesday, banning the manufacture, sale, and use of plastic bags under 0.025 mm thick and prohibits supermarkets and shops nationwide from handing out the sacks for free from June 1st.
“Our country consumes huge amounts of plastic bags every year. While providing convenience to consumers, they have also caused serious pollution, and waste of energy and resources, because of excessive use and inadequate recycling… We should encourage people to return to carrying cloth bags, using baskets for their vegetables.”
- Source: Central government website
But why are plastic bags being banned, you ask?
Perhaps less widely known is the destructive impact that plastic bags have on oceans and marine life. Tossed into waterways or washed down storm drains, the bags are the major source of human-related debris on the seabed, particularly near coastlines. At least 267 different species are known to have suffered from entanglement or ingestion of marine debris, and plastics and other synthetic materials cause the most problems for marine animals and birds.
Every year, tens of thousands of whales, birds, seals, and turtles die from contact with ocean-borne plastic bags. The animals may mistake the bags for food, such as jellyfish, or simply become entangled. Plastic bags can take up to 1,000 years to break down, so even when an animal dies and decays after ingesting a bag, the plastic re-enters the environment, posing a continuing threat to wildlife. While most plastic bags eventually break down into tiny particles, smaller sea creatures may still eat the sand-sized fragments and concentrate toxic chemicals in their bodies.
Seriously, we are producing and using WAYYYY too much plastic bags, and most of the time, unnecessarily too. Think about all the plastic bags that you used rather unnecessarily — those times when you bought a loaf of bread from the grocery store and those times when you bought a couple of pens from a bookstore. So, how much plastic bags do you use?
If you have a minute or two to spare, please consider signing these petitions:
References:
- China launches surprise crackdown on plastic bags @ Reuters UK
- Banning Plastic Bags, Helping Marine Life @ WorldChanging



