Sunday, April 25, 2010

~~NO plastic BAG day~~~


I came across to a supermarket in Section 13, Shah Alam yesterday morning to buy some stuff..My colleagues and I had plan for a barbecue party last night at their apartment just across The Mines Mall, Serdang. So since I have green engineering exam tomorrow, I've decided not to do the cooking stuff and just throw the money into the problem which I have to buy Pita Bread, Mee Hoon and the mayonnaise as well and the other girls need to buy something else for the party. When I saw the banner in front of the supermarket’s entrance, I just stop and stand right there..I’m wondering how am I suppose to carry all the stuff.. sigh!

As from what I know till now, supermarket always gives their plastic bags FREE!. But then I realize.. why not I just carry all the stuff without a plastic.. after all, its not a wet stuff though..in addition, I can save the EARTH too! But customer will need to pay 10 cent for a plastic bag if they insist on having one. Well, I DO support on the “No plastic Bag Days” but it should be made known to consumers. I saw many others caught by surprise at the cashier’s line.

To those who do not know how these plastic bags is harmful to us..let consider the following shocking facts about plastic shopping bags..

  • plastic bags are made of polyethylene
  • Polyethylene is a petroleum product
  • production contributes to air pollution and energy consumption
  • Four to Five trillion plastic bags are manufactured each year
  • Americans use over 380 billion polyethylene bags per year
  • Americans throw away approximately 100 billion polyethylene bags per year
  • Of those 100 trillion plastic bags, 1% are recycled
  • it takes 1000 years for polyethylene bags to break down
  • as polyethylene breaks down, toxic substances leach into the soil and enter the food chain
  • approximately 1 billion seabirds and mammals die per year by ingesting plastic bags
  • plastic bags are often mistaken as food by marine mammals. 100,000 marine mammals die yearly by eating plastic bags
  • these animals suffer a painful death, the plastic wraps around their intestines or they choke to death
  • plastic bags choke landfills


So guys, we can actually lessen our environmental footprint by minimizing the use of plastic shopping bags. Do bring your own shopping bags every time you go for shopping. if everyone do so, our world will become aBETTER, CLEANER, SAFERplace for all living things including YOU!


this is a good video to watch...5 star one!

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Ci9PC8s-r2Q&feature=related


3 comments:

  1. I came across a controversial paper written all out to expose Tesco's actual actions on a 'sustainable business and going green'.

    The write up on climate change caught me :)

    Tesco claims it is “committed to reducing its energy consumption and emissions of greenhouse
    gases responsible for climate change”.

    Exposed: Tesco’s delivery lorries clock up 224 million km a year doing 1.15 million journeys and it flies in fresh produce from all over the globe. So how can Tesco claim to be reducing its
    emissions of greenhouse gases? Flying green beans from Kenya produces 3878.3 grams of carbon
    dioxide per kilogram of food.

    The article can be accessed via the link below:
    http://www.foe.co.uk/resource/briefings/tesco_exposed.pdf

    ReplyDelete
  2. hi fellow environmentalists,
    I searched the web and came across two new
    ideas or technologies on how to reduce the
    ecological effects of using polyethylene bags.
    The first idea has to do with proper disposal
    and recycling of the polyethylene bags after
    use.I was able to find out that polyethylene
    bag is 100% recyclable.So the problem lies in being able to provide the technology and expertise needed to do this.Also important is provision of equipments and enabling Environments to collect the plastic bag seperately for subsequent recycling so that it is not indiscriminately discarded in the Environment.The second idea is about a new technology that will see the production of biopolyethylene,a type of green polyethylene from sugar cane.Braskem and Toyota Tsusho Corporation started Joint marketing activities in Brasil for the production of this type of polyethylene. Braskem will build a new facility at their existing industrial unit in Triunfo, RS, Brazil with an annual production capacity of 200,000 short tons (180,000,000 kg), and will produce High Density Polyethylene (HDPE) and Low Density Polyethylene (LDPE) from bioethanol derived from sugarcane.

    ReplyDelete
  3. The first man-made plastic was created by Alexander Parkes who publicly demonstrated it at the 1862 Great International Exhibition in London. The material called Parkesine was an organic material derived from cellulose that once heated could be molded, and retained its shape when cooled.
    nowadays if we knew this material will come us to impass,we would not have encouraged him alot.
    today is the most perfect time for starting new research to find some material which can recycle in the world.
    since today we must heed to recylce criterion for green environment.

    ReplyDelete