Do plastic bags harm the environment?
When improperly disposed or not recycled, plastic bags become harmful to the environment as litter. With over one billion plastic bags used every day, that equates to about 4 bags for every person in the United States per day. The cost to produce such a quantity is enormous and since both natural gas and petroleum are used to produce these bags, their production uses a large amount of nonrenewable resources. Plastic bags can take many years to degrade and may release toxic chemicals into the soil if they are littered. They also can pose a threat to sea turtles and other marine life that mistake the plastic bags for food.
