Why go plastic bag free?

Although plastics have brought benefits to society, there are considerable environmental costs resulting from the accumulation of plastic waste and the effects of plastic debris on wildlife and humans. Parks, streets, sewers, beaches, deserts and oceans have become strewn with rubbish which is predominantly plastic and much of it includes single use plastic carrier bags.  Around 2 million marine creatures and seabirds are killed by plastic waste in our oceans and on our beaches every year.  A vast area of the Pacific ocean is covered in a "plastic soup" of human debris.  Plastic bags block drains and sewers, festoon trees and spoil our parks and open spaces.  Plastic debris typically persists in the environment for hundreds of years.  Furthermore, there are problems for local authorities managing the burden of discarded plastic. Recycling processes are complex and have their own challenges.

Is going plastic bag free practical and achievable?

Yes. It's been done and it works.  The first town in Britain to go plastic bag free is Modbury, Devon in 2007.  In this thriving town shoppers bring their re-usable carrier bags - usually cotton or jute - with them every time they shop.  There are many different types of bags available for different uses, and they include special bags for butchers meats, for example.  Now other towns and cities are following suit. Aiming to ditch the plastic carrier bag are Bath, Christchurch, Maidstone, Reading, Brighton, Salisbury and there are many others.  Bangladesh have banned plastic carrier bags in their capital city after serious problems with blocked drains. Many other cities abroad are taking similar steps. The Welsh Assembly now intend to introduce compulsory charges on plastic carrier bags.

But surely, plastic carrier bags are only part of the problem?

That's right. It's not just plastic bags that cause these problems; we need to cut down on all our waste. But banning single use carrier bags and tackling the problems of plastic pollution will make a very big difference to the world in which we live.

Plastic pellets in the substrate at Chessel Bay Local Nature Reserve.                                                                                                                     

Photograph kind permission Dr Darren Naish.

References, sources and links

Modbury  plastic bag free Modbury - who they are, how they did it, how it works. Lots of information.

Message in the Waves BBC Natural History Unit film of wildlife in the Pacific. Marine plastic pollution and its effects.

Marine Conservation Society includes Adopt-a-Beach campaign.

Chessel Bay Local Nature Reserve Southampton's only Local Nature Reserve. Litter picks twice a year. Come and help rid the bay of plastic pollution.

Tetrapod Zoology highly rated science blog - three articles on rubbish which accumulates at Chessel Bay.

Chris Jordan photographs the effects of plastic pollution in the wild.

Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society B364 (2009), Theme Issue Plastics, the environment and human health, 27 July 2009.

"Plastics have transformed every day life; usage is increasing and annual production is likely to exceed 300 million tonnes by 2010… concerns about usage and disposal are diverse and include accumulation of waste in landfills and in natural habitats, physical problems for wildlife resulting from ingestion or entanglement in plastic, the leaching of chemicals from plastic products and the potential for plastics to transfer chemicals to wildlife and humans.  However, perhaps the most important over-riding concern is that our current usage is not sustainable." 
Thompson et al. Plastics, the environment and human health: current consensus and future trends, Phil. Trans R. Soc. B364, 2153–2166