1. Plastic Bags or, to some, The Spawn of Satan

2. Bags don’t litter; people do
Banning Bags Unlikely to Promote Sustainability (DQ1)
Just switch to paper
Costlier
Plastic = convenient, disposable set precedent
Tiny % of all waste
Huge env. problem
Bags don’t litter; people do

3. Why so Damaging? Rely on non-renewable resources
Not efficient for recycling
Get stuck in recycling machinery
Litter sewer drains water supplies oceans
Harmful to fauna
Long time to decompose
Biodegradable need ideal conditions
Single use goes to landfill (12 min. of use)

4. Issues w/ Banning Bags (DQ2)
People expect bags
Convenience
Labeled as ‘tax’ burden, esp. on poor
< to produce, transport than paper
Local v. state gov’t policies
Pro-plastic advocates
ACC promotes plastics
Offer biodegradable
Set up recycling
Lawsuits

5. How to Address Bags Issue?
Make single-use bags socially unacceptable
Offer incentives
Focus on big cities
Consumer education
GS challenges
‘Small economy’
Cost
Packaging
Collection
Manila Bay, Philippines

13. Plastics in Farming (DQ3)
Need crops
Heavily reliant on plastics

14. Plastics in Farming (DQ3)
Need crops
Heavily reliant on plastics
Diff. in collecting, recycling
Variety of plastics
Fear contaminants and pathogens
Lack after-market
Lack means to collect
Env. trade-off
Save water, grow organics, ‘perfect’ produce

15. Recap Similar to bottle issues Underlying single use issue
Consumer ed. key
Targeting plastic bags = ‘low hanging fruit’
Won’t significantly diminish quality of life; easy to do
Excess indirect costs (externalities)
Indicative of consumer culture, commodity fetishism