Why We Probably Shouldn't Ban Plastic Bags — Transcript

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1. 0:00the problems with plastic bags are
2. 0:01well-known they're filling up landfills
3. 0:03clogging up the oceans and killing
4. 0:06wildlife some places are banning them
5. 0:08others are imposing fees but is this
6. 0:11actually a good idea
7. 0:13[Music]
8. 0:18banning single-use plastic bags
9. 0:20certainly seems to be the right thing to
10. 0:22do
11. 0:23canvas bags made from natural cotton
12. 0:25rather than nasty man-made plastic feels
13. 0:28like the way to go actually and perhaps
14. 0:31surprisingly that isn't the case at all
15. 0:34thanks to an incredibly in-depth Danish
16. 0:37government investigation into the true
17. 0:39environmental costs of the various bag
18. 0:41materials we know just how far off the
19. 0:44mark that is essentially more
20. 0:46environmental resources go into making a
21. 0:48reusable bag than a standard plastic
22. 0:51carrier bag this generates more carbon
23. 0:53emissions so to make it worthwhile it
24. 0:55needs to be used many times to offset
25. 0:58the extra emissions from production of a
26. 1:00woven polypropylene shopping bag it
27. 1:02needs to be used five times before it is
28. 1:04a more efficient use of resources than a
29. 1:06standard carrier bag meanwhile a
30. 1:08polyester bag needs to be used only
31. 1:10twice and unbleached paper bags and
32. 1:13biodegradable bags are about equal to a
33. 1:15standard carrier all good news so far
34. 1:18standard cotton bags need to be reused
35. 1:21fifty-two times and if you get an
36. 1:23organic cotton bag that skyrockets to
37. 1:25149 uses now that is certainly feasible
38. 1:29but it was much higher than I was
39. 1:31expecting
40. 1:32climate change and carbon emissions are
41. 1:34a serious concern but they are not the
42. 1:37only environmental concern water use
43. 1:39pollutants released during production
44. 1:41and end-of-life disposal will need to be
45. 1:44considered and that brings us to the bad
46. 1:47news when you take into account all of
47. 1:49the other negative effects of producing
48. 1:51using and disposing of the various types
49. 1:54of bags the landscape shifts
50. 1:56dramatically paper bags are equal to
51. 1:59plastic when only considering climate
52. 2:01change but with these additional
53. 2:03environmental considerations they now
54. 2:05become 43 times worse than a plain old
55. 2:08plastic carrier bag unless you're
56. 2:10shopping consists entirely of cotton
57. 2:11wool or marshmallows
58. 2:13we're using a paper bag 43 times just
59. 2:15isn't happening this huge contrast is
60. 2:19primarily due to factors such as forest
61. 2:21depletion and water pollution released
62. 2:23during the production process now there
63. 2:26is one thing of this study didn't take
64. 2:28into account namely littering and by
65. 2:30extension the effect on wildlife
66. 2:32obviously a paper bag that finds its way
67. 2:34into the ocean isn't going to cause
68. 2:36nearly as many issues as a plastic
69. 2:38carrier bag the polyester and woven
70. 2:40polypropylene bags require 35 and 45
71. 2:43reuses respectfully which isn't perfect
72. 2:46but with careful use is certainly
73. 2:47possible
74. 2:48the figures start to multiply rapidly
75. 2:50when it comes to cotton bags
76. 2:547,100 reuses are required for a standard
77. 2:57120 thousand for an organic one if you
78. 3:01took your innocent-sounding
79. 3:02organic cotton bag shopping five times
80. 3:04per week it will take you a little under
81. 3:0680 years for it to work out
82. 3:09environmentally equal to use single-use
83. 3:11plastic bags the energy required to grow
84. 3:14the cotton and process the material
85. 3:16alongside water use accounts for most of
86. 3:19the huge disparity in resource
87. 3:21requirements
88. 3:22in the case of organic cotton organic
89. 3:24farming means a restriction of synthetic
90. 3:26fertilizers which lowers crop yield the
91. 3:29biodegradable bags are at a similar
92. 3:31level to the polyester bag and woven
93. 3:33polypropylene bag but they are
94. 3:35significantly less durable we're using a
95. 3:37polyester bag the required 35 times can
96. 3:40easily work while a biodegradable bag is
97. 3:42a lot less likely to hold up after 42
98. 3:45uses regardless of what kind of bag
99. 3:48you're using using it as many times as
100. 3:50possible before disposal is the best
101. 3:51thing to do with any bag however there
102. 3:54comes a time when it's no longer fit for
103. 3:55purpose and needs to be disposed of
104. 3:58recycling would seem like the best bet
105. 4:00actually that's true for the polyester
106. 4:02and woven polypropylene bags but none of
107. 4:05the others on our list for the other
108. 4:07materials the best option is to reuse
109. 4:09the bags as a bin liner the
110. 4:11environmental benefits of recycling the
111. 4:13bag are outweighed by avoiding
112. 4:15purchasing a single plastic bin liner
113. 4:17the biodegradable cotton and paper bags
114. 4:20are better off being incinerated the
115. 4:23extra emissions generated through the
116. 4:24collection sorting and recycling process
117. 4:27are greater than the resources recovered
118. 4:29through recycling now I want to make it
119. 4:31clear that doesn't mean that you
120. 4:33shouldn't recycle them once you recycle
121. 4:35your bags it's up to your local
122. 4:37authority for better or worse to decide
123. 4:39what to do with them if you're watching
124. 4:41this video then ads are this is the sort
125. 4:44of thing that matters to you so what is
126. 4:46the best thing you can do first and
127. 4:48foremost reuse is the most important
128. 4:51factor depending on your needs
129. 4:53either reusing standard carrier bags or
130. 4:55being very diligent about reusing the
131. 4:57Hardie a plastic based bags is the best
132. 4:59way to go cotton bags as we've learned
133. 5:02are truly the worst option if you
134. 5:05already have them of course use them but
135. 5:07perhaps we shouldn't be buying anymore
136. 5:13if you liked the video perhaps consider
137. 5:16subscribing
138. 5:20[Music]