plastic bags.

I. Why are plastic bags so common?

Plastic bags cost grocery stores under 2 cents per bag. Plastic bags are so cheap to produce, sturdy, plentiful, easy to carry and store.

II. In what other ways is plastic used?

Plastic detergent bottles, peanut butter jars, water bottles, soft oil bottles, cooking oil bottles, cups, plastic tableware, food storage containers, yogurt containers, drinking straws, tupperwares, milk jugs, etc.

III. What are the benefits of plastic bags?

The plastic bag is an icon of convenience culture, by some estimates the single most ubiquitous consumer item on Earth, numbering in the trillions. Plastic grocery bags are some of the most reused items around the house. Compared to paper grocery bags, plastic grocery bags consume 40 percent less energy, generate 80 percent less solid waste, produce 70 percent fewer atmospheric emissions, and release up to 94 percent fewer waterborne wastes, according to the federation.

IV. What are the dangers of plastic bags?

The inks and colorants used on some bags contain lead, a toxin. There are a lot of animals that live on the bottom: shrimp, shellfish, and they get trapped in the plastic.

V. What has been done so far?

Some states are attacking the recycling problem by trying to encourage shoppers to take the bags back to grocery stores. Some plastic bags are being downcycled, meaning that they're being put into another product that itself can never be recycled. Plastic bag litter has become such an environmental nuisance and eyesore that Ireland, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia, and Bangladesh have heavily taxed the totes or banned their use outright.

VI. Has it been successful? Why or why not?

The campaign of returning bags in San Francisco for over 10 years, and it's never really been successful. People have to pack up the bags, bring them into the store and drop them off. I think you'd be more inclined to bring your own bag than do that.Tony Lowes, director of Friends of the Irish Environment in County Cork, said the 15 cent tax on plastic bags introduced there in March 2002 has resulted in a 95 percent reduction in their use. "It's been an extraordinary success,"

a. What are some of the potential benefits of charging fees for and/or banning plastic bags?

Reduce pollution by encouraging reusable bags.

· People would change their behavior, and they would adapt to the habit of using reusable bags and stop polluting the environment.

· We would achieve to have a cleaner environment.

b. What are some of the potential drawbacks of such programs?

· The plastic bag industry would crash.

· The economic climate is affecting people

c. Which benefits and drawbacks seem the most compelling? Why?

the most important benefit of doing this would be to achieve a cleaner environment because if we do not start making something in this moment because later we will suffer the consequences.

d. Would you support a local law charging fees for (or banning) plastic bags? Why or why not?Yes, because pollution is a major problem nowadays, and even though the economic crisis is affecting most of the people.

1. Do you agree with this new law? Why or why not?

Yes, pollution is a catastrophic problem nowadays, and in Mexico City we consume 20 millions of plastic bags per day.

2. What has been done so far?

In Mexico City the plastic bags in every store, including dry-cleaning, should be banned in less than a year. They say that maybe this will be an example to the rest of the states to start making the same thing.

3. What needs to be done to enforce such a law?

All the stores must change their habits, as well as the people. The stores must replace plastic bags for biodegradable plastic in one year.

4. What campaigns would you suggest?

a good option with this environmental problem would be to charge people if they want to take a plastic bag because now that they are free nobody cares if they take 15 or 16 bags, but if they lose money for each bag they would reduce their use.