Monday, April 14, 2008
Plastic Bags Not an Environmental Disaster?
You've all heard the claims -- plastic bags kill marine animals. Hundreds of thousands of them.
Apparently, the problem started with a typo in an 2002 Australian Government report. It attempted to quote from an Canadian study 15 years earlier, which found that up to 100,000 marine animals had been killed over four years by "discarded nets" from the fishing industry. Somehow, the 2002 report replaced that phrase with "plastic bags." But finally science seems to be winning out. According to David W. Laist of the Marine Mammal Commission, and author of a primary research paper on the subject, "plastic bags don't figure in entanglement. The main culprits are fishing gear, ropes, lines and strapping bands." Professor of Marine Biology Geoff Boxshall concurred, “I’ve never seen a bird killed by a plastic bag"
Plastic bags are much cheaper than paper, which is why stores favor them. They take less resources and energy to produce, they're far cheaper to ship and store, they're recyclable and some are even biodegradable. Those savings aren't just for the stores, they translate into lower food costs and less damage to the environment, says this interesting post.
Surprising, I'd all along thought that plastic bags were an environmental disaster!
More from here
Apparently, the problem started with a typo in an 2002 Australian Government report. It attempted to quote from an Canadian study 15 years earlier, which found that up to 100,000 marine animals had been killed over four years by "discarded nets" from the fishing industry. Somehow, the 2002 report replaced that phrase with "plastic bags." But finally science seems to be winning out. According to David W. Laist of the Marine Mammal Commission, and author of a primary research paper on the subject, "plastic bags don't figure in entanglement. The main culprits are fishing gear, ropes, lines and strapping bands." Professor of Marine Biology Geoff Boxshall concurred, “I’ve never seen a bird killed by a plastic bag"
Plastic bags are much cheaper than paper, which is why stores favor them. They take less resources and energy to produce, they're far cheaper to ship and store, they're recyclable and some are even biodegradable. Those savings aren't just for the stores, they translate into lower food costs and less damage to the environment, says this interesting post.
Surprising, I'd all along thought that plastic bags were an environmental disaster!
More from here
Labels: Energy-Environment-Engineering
PermaLink - Plastic Bags Not an Environmental Disaster? posted by Ecacofonix : 5:32 AM
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