JUTE vs PLASTIC

Plastic

Plastic was developed in last century and has become a popular material used in varied forms. But the problem arises when we no longer want it because of its negative effect on environment. Plastic bags not only pollute our environment and are responsible for the deaths of many millions of unsuspecting animals and the processes used to make and destroy them release benzene into our community. Besides this there are 46,000 pieces of plastic floating in each square mile of the world's oceans. Plastic does not decompose, and requires high energy ultra-violet light to break down and takes about 500 years to decay in landfill.

Plastic Facts

• 500 billion: Number of plastic bags consumed worldwide every year (1 million per minute)
• 380 billion plastic bags sacks and wraps are used each year in United States alone.
• Americans throw away about 100 billion plastic bags each year, according to the Wall Street Journal. Four of five grocery bags in the US are now plastic.
• The energy needed to manufacture and transport disposable bags eats up more resources and creates global warming emissions.
• It takes 500 years for a plastic bag to decay in landfill .When burned highly poisonous dioxin and hydrogen cyanide enters our soil and natural water supply.
• Each year, thousands of sea turtles choke on plastic bags after mistaking them for jelly fish, a favorite food.
• 100,000 whales, seals, turtles, and other marine animals are killed by plastic bags each year.
• Greenpeace International found that, because plastic does not break down, ocean currents and tides had carried it thousands of miles to an area between Hawaii and the US West Coast.
• During the manufacturing of plastic bags deadly Benzene gas, a known cause of cancer enters the atmosphere.

Jute	Plastic
Natural Fiber	Chemically produced Polymer
Naturally grown and harvested	Manufactured, emits toxins in the environment
Higher strength and Bio-degradable	Degrades in about 500 years
Re-usable again and again	End up in landfills and oceans emitting toxic gases

Non-Plastic Bags Use Around the World

United States:

Plastic bags largely displaced paper bags as the most common type of shopping bag during the late 1980s and early 1990s. There has been no broad government action against the litter problem, although some local governments have enacted ordinances, and many stores allow customers to return the bags for recycling. Empty bags carried on the wind are popularly known as “Urban tumbleweed”.

• San Francisco: On March 27, 2007 the city and county of San Francisco became the first city to ban common plastic shopping bags. Starting July 2007, all large supermarkets in the state of California will be required, by law, to take back and recycle plastic shopping bags.
• IKEA: IKEA, the home furnishings retailer, imposes its own charges for plastic shopping bags in the US- charging $0.05 to any customer who wants a plastic sack. A similar charge has been in place since spring 2006 at IKEA stores in the UK, and the company says it has reduced use of bags in UK stores by 95 percent. IKEA hopes the 5-cent fee in the U.S. cuts bag use in half, from 70 million bags a year to 35 million.
• Alaska: Plastic shopping bags are banned in at least 30 villages and towns in Alaska, including the towns of Emmonak, Galena, and Kotlik.
• Oregon and Washington States are next to ban plastic bags according to Thanh Tan of news channel KATU.

United Kingdom:

Growing awareness in the UK of the problems caused by indiscriminate use of plastic bags has encouraging some large retailers to reward customers who bring their own bags or who reuse or recycle existing bags.

Australia:

In Australia shoppers are now encouraged to buy bags called “green bags” which cost a few dollars, but can be reused many times. Locally, the town of Coles Bay banned plastic shopping bags in April. 2003.

New Zealand:

In recent years cloth bags have been promoted and sold by some supermarkets as an alternative to plastic.

France:

Growing awareness of the ecological impact of plastic bags has led main mass retailers to force customers to buy reusable plastic or non-woven bags. This has been adopted by supermarkets (like Carrefour) - they were able to manage to improve their image and save the purchase of plastic bags.

Germany:

Generally, most German supermarkets charge between 5 and 25 cents per single-use bag, depending on the type of the bag. Most shops offer alternate bags, encouraging shoppers to re-use them.

Ireland:

On March 4, 2002 Republic of Ireland introduced a 15cent levy on every plastic shopping bag. This led to a 95% reduction in use and increased use of reusable bags. The money gathered by the levy was used to raise money for environmental initiatives.