Geog 125 Blog

 1) What is one local effect or impact of plastic bag waste you observed in the video that you didn’t know about, hadn’t thought about before, or just found particularly interesting?

One effect of plastic bag waste I observed from the video was that how plastic bags have transformed global landscapes into 'plastic deserts', where these bags can take from four hundred years to over a thousand years to break down, and even then, will often end up polluting the area they are breaking down into.




2) Choose one specific way--one that you found compelling or promising--in which people in the video were attempting to manage or solve this local effect or impact and describe it briefly.

Global efforts are moving to go against plastic bags, like in India where the Anti-plastic bag police squad rigorously enforce bans on thin single use bags. Along with legislation worldwide are successfully reducing plastic bag use.





3) How do you think we should deal with plastic bag waste?  Is it a problem we should solve at the local scale, at the national scale, at the global scale, at another scale, or at some combination of scales?  Why? 

I believe this answer is a problem that must be addressed by all levels of the scales. Consumer psychology shows plastic bags symbolize convenience but also unsustainable throwaway culture, we have grown so used to the usage of plastic bags and therefore throwaway culture that we have lost the mentality of getting a bag or other items that can last us longer than a fleeting mission/situation/convenience. This insight reveals the challenge in changing consumer habits—convenience often trumps environmental concerns, necessitating systemic and cultural shifts. So, we must make effort on all forms of the scales by pulling in the reins of consumerism culture and enforce laws on more economical friendly re-use culture.





For More information about Consumerism Culture and its effects on the environment please feel free to check out the link below. 

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