As the worlds population grows, so does the amount of garbage that people produce. Present-day lifestyles require easily disposable products, such as soda bottles or bottles of water. This tendency has increased plastic pollution by multiples. As plastic is composed of major toxic pollutants, it has the potential to cause significant harm to the environment in the form of air, water, and land pollution.
The fact that this plastic is made of non-renewable fossil fuel-based resources is the most alarming aspect. Today the world is talking about saving the world resources for our future generation, and smart use of these fast depleting resources is a must.
These disposable items are not degradable. Normally, plastic items take up to 1000 years to decompose in landfills. But plastic bags we use in our everyday life take 10-20 years to decompose, while plastic bottles take 450 years. These items are choking many organisms and in turn many ecosystems.
Most people argue that plastic can be reused and/or recycled. But are these people aware of these processes? Start for instance with the sorting of the plastic items. There are multiple kinds of plastic items each varying in their chemical composition. Hence sorting becomes the first and most tedious task of the recycling process. How many are aware that washing is a part of this process as well? All of this is used waste and may contain biodegradable or toxic waste which needs to be washed. Then comes the high cost of recycling machinery. Most municipalities cant afford the budget to get the plastics recycled and end up transporting it to dumping sites.
All this is just the tip of the iceberg. We have seen the flood like situations created in many urban areas of our country. This is because of the clogging of storm water drains. Plastic bags are the major cause of this clogging. These flash floods have not only caused great loss to property but also loss of life in some cases.
Another option instead of ban is levying taxes. Place a restraint where people will feel it most, their pockets. By placing a tax on plastic bags you are not limiting peoples choice but you will cut down on plastic bag use. Taxes may well reduce the number of plastic bags that are handed out and used by consumers however a reduction even by 90% would still leave more than a billion bags a year used in Britain, this still seems like an awful lot plastic bags added to those that are already in the oceans and spread across the land. Some rich ones didn't even care of the tax, so ban is better than adding a tax. If we ban it, they can't buy any plastic bags and they will buy recyclable bags.
If you have/had a cloth bag or a relatively sturdy durable plastic bag already, with longevity, such that it can be used and reused over and over(without getting torn or damaged or inefficiently disposed like a standard plastic bag), then you will not have to buy 'carrier bags' every time you go to the market.
If plastic bags are banned, people will buy nice big bags that are much more useful. Since this would only be a one-time purchase costs in the long-run will be significantly lower for shoppers and supermarkets alike(in monetary as well environmental terms.)
This leaves us with the opinion that disposable plastic materials are an absolute no for our mother nature and human life. Reusable plastics can be given a consideration but the toxicity should be a factor that needs to be taken into account and also the life of these plastics.