Globally, the major kind of wastes are observed to be plastic shopping bags. They are associated with mainly two types of pollution: waste pollution and air pollution. With this regard, polyethylene bags are expected to be restricted. While this may present a dilemma, I would rather argue that their use should be limited and abandoned completely.
To begin with, several reasons can be accounted for the notion that plastic bags are hazardous. Firstly, they are non-biodegradable. Plastics, in comparison to other types of wastes, cannot degrade within nature. As a result, they remain in the environment and pollute the natural and man-made resources. For example, oceans, mountains, and other public places in several parts of the world have been found to be polluted with plastics for several decades. Secondly, this deleterious property of plastic can lead to global warming. The everlasting plastic bags produce a number of harmful gases, such as methane and carbon dioxide. These gases ultimately end up in the atmosphere, enhancing the greenhouse effect and in turn giving rise to global warming.
Notwithstanding any of the hazards presented by polyethylene, numerous reasons exist why plastic bags can only be limited. Primarily, the 3R cycle: several researches have shown that the “reduce, reuse, and recycle” method can be effective in controlling the effects of grocery bags. With proper education, this method can be well-established among the people. Another reason would be upon the economy and resistance to change. Plastics have already been solidified as a major source of economy in the global market. Likewise, people are habituated to its maximum use. Hence, if they are to be banned, an economic downturn can be observed along with it being difficult for people to get adapted to the absolute absence of plastics.
To conclude, no matter what the drawbacks of plastic use, I stay firm on the notion that their use must be limited by utilizing existing standard methods and not be banned completely, since it might lead to economic failure and difficulty in adaptation of its absence.