“Should selling plastic bags be completely banned in shops?”

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Should Selling Plastic Bags Be Completely Banned In Shops
Banning the use and sale of plastic bags mostly targets the single-use plastics that are not biodegradable and is mostly aimed at cutting and eradicating plastic bag litter and pollution. According to Stephenson (352), environmental concerns are the main issues raised for supporting the ban on plastic bags including pollution and reducing CO2 emissions. The ban on shopping bags is just one measure, targeting the reduction in plastic pollution and there are other measures such as imposing a higher tax on the use and sale of the plastic shopping bags. A complete ban on the sale of plastic bags in shops will help to protect the environment and reduce plastic pollution.
Plastic bag pollution pose a threat to the environment affecting the flora and fauna including wildlife and the marine ecosystems. Policies to reduce and eliminate the plastic bags from shops, seek to protect the environment because they are made of components that harm the environment. The plastic bags also add to litter and may even be found floating in waterways as they block some water sources, besides the water plastics pollute the soil and the air, and marine animals are some of the most affected as some mistake plastic as food. The plastic bags can take centuries to decompose, and eliminating the shopping bags is one way to reduce plastic pollution, and especially when there is increased reuse of other plastic bags and items.
Shoppers and the customers have long used the single-use plastic bags for carrying the purchased items and banning the shops from selling the plastic bags may influence change in how shoppers and consumers use and dispose these bags. The accumulation of many types of bags is partly linked to shopping behavior, and fewer customers are concerned with the proper disposal of these bags. Plastic bag ban and taxes influence their consumers change their behavior and increase bag reuse (Martinho, Balaia and Pires 9). There is an assumption that consumers will also likely be more responsible and the manufacturers and industries will replace single-use plastic articles with biodegradable products. Banning the sale of plastic bags may later target other items such as cutlery, plates and glasses when there are alternative biodegradable items.
Stopping the sale of single-use plastic bags and other products through maintaining a ban is laudable, but there is still a need to raise awareness on the benefits of such bans. Failure to give alternatives ...