by Jacquie Schmall

Created on: April 16, 2010

Even though most of us try to make the right choice between paper and plastic bags at the supermarket, it is no surprise there is still an excess of plastic bags in the environment, as well as too many paper bags, although many of these are manufactured from recycled materials. 

We need more Americans to purchase reusable bags, and bring them along when they do their household marketing. There needs to be a list on every refrigerator, or on the garage door, that reminds the person going to the market to put their reusable bags in the car ahead of time, so they won't be forgotten in a last minute rush.

Imagine how quickly we could reduce the flow of plastic effluent into our oceans by carrying our groceries home in reusable cloth bags. At least we would buy some time to find a way to rid ourselves of the plastic garbage already floating around in both the Pacific, and Atlantic Oceans.

There are occasional shoppers who have set their priorities on helping the environment, and do use these cloth bags, but there are not nearly enough shoppers dedicated to the issue.

Two high school students have discovered ways to process plastic bags by utilizing bacteria, and chemicals, to break down the plastic in a much shorter time frame than was originally thought. Daniel Burd, a high school student at Waterloo Collegiate Institute, in Ontario, Canada, presented his research on microorganisms that can rapidly biodegrade plastic.

Instead of taking forever, Daniel persisted in culturing bacteria that became better, and better, at breaking down the plastic bags. His method takes about three months.

Tseng I-Ching, from Taiwan, vivisected over 500 mealworm beetles to isolate the single bacterium that allows the mealworm to digest one of the most troublesome forms of waste on the planet - styrofoam. Both students received prizes for the success of their brilliant projects.

So now, some of the 500 billion plastic bags, and trillions of pieces of styrofoam may eventually be processed out of existence. However, any commercial enterprise will surely take time, and there is no way to know how much time we have before our plastic effluent becomes a global crises.

The plastic in the North Pacific Gyre has already caused the death of uncounted birds, fish, and mammals. The Atlantic Garbage Patch has only recently been discovered, but it is likely causing the same horrifying problems for birds, and ocean creatures there.

The amount of plastic we are currently generating is such that it is an incomprehensible problem, but we have to start somewhere. If we each choose to carry our groceries home in reusable cloth bags, we will be part of the solution to the problem of plastic on earth. If we remain indifferent, the generations to come may not have any choice at all.

Choose reusable, or recycled bags for your shopping needs.

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