Benefits Of Plastic Bags

Plastic Bags

On the month of March of 2013, the House Committee of Urban Affairs had proposed the bill HB 2416 that requires for retailers whom use plastic bags when doing check-outs to have the plastic bags be charged a fee or simply to not use any plastic bags. The policy issue of having a ban towards plastic bags is important for many reasons, they are wrecking the environment and costing hundreds and thousands of dollars in the process. According to the Corpus Christi Plastic Bag Ordinance (2012), Corpus Christi’s Solid Waste Department spends $190,000 each year to pick up loose bags, the C.C’s Municipal Marina spends $4,320 in labor for staff to clean up, and the Parks and Recreational Department spent $125,000 to have trash removed from the Gulf Beaches, the lists keeps going giving an outrageous number of amounts spent on cleaning up bags that many citizens do not know about. Not only that, but all over town plastic bags are clogging water drains, contaminating and preventing the water from flowing properly. These problems and costs all add up in the end when many plastic bags are being utilized for items each and every day, whether it be single-bagged or double-bagged, especially when people seem to want a plastic bag when it is unnecessary, they tend to request a bag to just hold one or two items that can be easily be carried by hand.

One might think that if the policy is for protecting the environment that everyone will favor it because it is for a good cause, think again because there are many controversies concerning this plastic ban policy. Rep. Drew Springer (Muenster) was one who was against the banning of plastic bags policy and in March 2013, Springer stood up against the House Urban Affairs Committee proposing t...

... middle of paper ...

...accustom to recycle which in this case less than 5% of the 19 billion plastic bags used in the state of Texas were actually recycled making the rest of the bags fly dangerously.

In my opinion, I believe that the use of reusable bags should be enforced more, because the discarded bags make the city look dirty and messy. When it comes to the point where a plastic bag is very necessary, the plastic bags can easily be replaced by other options. Other alternatives with replacing a plastic bag like for example there are reusable bags. The reusable bags can be found in any local grocery store and can also make a big difference in our environment. Reusable bags can also carry a variety of items as a plastic bag can and the most of all they are used over and over again without having to dispose of it or worrying about that it has to be double bagged because it might tear.