Just like several cities and states
are doing in the United States, Namibia plans on not only banning the selling
of plastic bags, but also prohibiting them from entering the country. The root
cause of this ban, which is expected to take place within the next two years,
is that Namibia realized that if other countries could do it, why couldn’t
Namibia. Additionally, the country aims to do this in order to enforce stricter
measures for littering, particularly of plastic, as it is perpetuating damage
to the environment. In two years’ time, the country plans on disallowing any
plastic bags from entering the country and marking Namibia a plastic-free environment,
using alternatives to be used for transporting meat, fish, grapes, bread, and
other perishables. Yet, this law will have several subsequent implications.
For example, plastic bags are
durable and take up less space in a landfill than paper bags. It takes about
91% less energy to recycle a pound of plastic than it takes to recycle a pound
of paper. The transition would be a difficult one for the country as well. All convenience stores would need to replace their plastic bags with alternative bags. Locals
would need to grow familiarized as well, since plastics are usually used to
store perishables such as meat and other refrigerated items. This could lead to
sanitation and contamination issues since meats would therefore not be wrapped
with plastic and might instead be poorly wrapped by other materials, or worse,
by nothing else.
Still the benefits are clear, as a
single plastic bag can take up to 20 to 1,000 years to degrade, remaining toxic
even after it breaks down. These plastic bags would end up in the dumping
sites of Namibia, which would pose health threats to humans and other organisms
alike. For example, plastic bags are the major cause of death due to choking
for many animals, including sea turtles, birds, and others. Namibia posing this
plastic-free notion as a future goal is one large leap that may prove
challenging but may result in a greener and safer future for Namibians and
animals of the country.
References:
http://plasticvpaper.weebly.com/plastic---pros--cons.html
-Mark Buckup
I wonder if stores in Namibia could reduce plastic bag usage by charging money for each bag used (like we do in California). This way, people would be more incentivized to bring their own bags from home or reuse plastic bags. - Elizabeth
ReplyDeleteIf they manage to pull this off, they'll be better off in terms of plastic bag use than most of the U.S.
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