How plastic bags were supposed to help the planet - BBC News
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- čas přidán 26. 08. 2024
- The plastic carrier bag has become something of a symbol for the problems caused by plastic pollution.
But according to the family of the man who created it, Sten Gustaf Thulin, his design was supposed to help the planet and he'd be shocked and upset to see what it's become.
The Thulin family make no money from the sale of the bags.
BBC Environment Reporter Laura Foster explains what was supposed to happen and why paper and cotton bags can actually be worse for the environment than plastic ones that are recycled.
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The problem isn't so much the material, but the fact that we keep treating *everything* disposable. ♻️
the best way to fight is for liberals to stop being lazy and start cleaning their house, and the environment.
@@micbar39 Speak up, ❄. I can't hear you over all the regulatory push-backs made by the current administration ( *including* those that protected the bald eagle 🦅).
Thankfully, that 🍄-dicked criminal is getting impeached, and I can just block your bullshit. Ta, troll.🖕🏿
@@micbar39 *republicans there I fixed it for you.
@@micbar39 oh you just had to bring politic into this
BuddyL My family uses it to put trash in 😂
It ain’t the material, it be the user.
@@muneebiqbal5584 typing on a phone & computer
Thanks to our habit of convenient & value for money. Cheaper bags are created for cost saving & less durable. End up. Trash that harm the environment.
And how it is disposed of. In many developing countries, the waste disposal system is still quite primitive. Garbage collection is infrequent or non-existent. The waste is often dumped next to rivers, swamps, or waterways, and you know what happens next...
If cotton/canvas bags are environmentally unfriendly, then try hemp bc it's cheaper to grow and sturdier than plastic. I keep a nylon bag in my purse that I've used for 10 years, and a trolley for bigger hauls.🎈
People will smoke it
I recently was in Southern Oregon where they are growing hemp like crazy! It's really catching on.
@@adonaiyah2196 They can try it but they won't get much out of it. Hemp has been bred for fibrous stems, not for smoking. And I also use nylon bags! You'd think these people had never heard of them.
Hello from Iraq 🇮🇶, wonderful station BBC - and all the honorable people in the world we in Iraq rely on your presence in the revolution of Baghdad 25/10 to cover the Iraqi revolution against financial corruption and Iranian interference .. The Internet will be cut off and the internal media will be blacked out so please convey our message to the world We want a new system that governs Iraq, not religious, gives freedom to all. We are waiting for you.
@@ashknoecklein llplll
I only like the part where she said, "use it again and again, and when it breaks, mend it!!!". Indeed that's the way to go.
How do you mend a flimsy plastic bag?
@@kelli3610 well, technically, the plastic can ever be mended no matter what....a cotton bag is all what we need. Moreover, by having plenty of water in the name reforestation, the production of cotton is not a problem.
@@mutofwemwila4212 I think you missed a N in your comment "a plastic bag can ever be mended"
I agreed cotton is not a problem its biodegradable, sustainable and as with any crop must be watered, with the water returning to the natural underground Water table.
I use cotton/cloth bags some I have made myself
@@kelli3610 I think I missed two things, a letter and a word. The word is "of" between name and reforestation, check that out. However, I agree with you hundred percent.
@@kelli3610are you selling those cotton bags?
Wait, plastic bags were invented here in Sweden? Woah
@@Star737_yt I was about to comment that
Are you swedish ? 🤣 or from sweden?
Star 737 I know lol
Blad I’m Swedish and from Sweden
I was mind blown too
Plastic bags are so weak these days, I've had shopping tear them and handles stretch and fall off
You buy the big strong plastic ones
@@raingoff5839 I just end up throwing them away like regular bags
@@raingoff5839 bruh at that point ima buy a crate and put shit in a mf wood box
Plastic bags from Home Depot or Best Buy are the best.
@@raingoff5839 can you not SEE in this video they are talking about shopping bags? The ones in the thumbnail, blowing in the wind, hanging from fences and trees.
These are bags provided BY stores to put your purchases in. Not food storage bags or what ever kind you urge people to buy.
If you read my comment from 2 months ago when this video was posted.
I personally use bags I have made from used fabric.
The majority of shoppers do not carry with them fabric bags when out shopping.
The real issue is corporations have only given these plastic limited use, reuse bags as the only way to get your purchases home.
Its up to corporations to fix this problem they created.
Also at least here in the US millions of people cannot afford to BUY bags to carry home their food they bought with foodstamps
For stores to provide free plastic bags that end up polluting the environment and SELL alternatives is sickening!
Why doesn’t this research get done before they implement these “brilliant” ideas and then complain after a couple of months
Muneeb Iqbal
China is communist and they are the world’s largest pollutant!
Cause plastic has many good things about it too
Like my history teacher says, theres always two sides to a story
Because politicians are too weak to lead
Yes, don’t you know? Mend it or recycle it 😂
What about plastic wrapped food, especially a plastic wrapped set of individually wrapped in plastic items. That is not single use, you have to buy it every time you want to eat. We can use biodegradable materials, but they cost more in terms of money (and energy?) to make. It's not just plastic bags that are the problem.
Hello from Iraq 🇮🇶, wonderful station BBC - and all the honorable people in the world we in Iraq rely on your presence in the revolution of Baghdad 25/10 to cover the Iraqi revolution against financial corruption and Iranian interference .. The Internet will be cut off and the internal media will be blacked out so please convey our message to the world We want a new system that governs Iraq, not religious, gives freedom to all. We are waiting for you.
There’s always mesh bags
Don't buy plastic packed food. Or at least reduce its consumption or buy an alternative who doesn't include plastic packaging
@@janniagonzalez5459 The problem is - a lot of food requires packaging
I put my groceries in my kangaroo. I always have one in my pocket.
Wait... You store your groceries in what?
Manas মানস a Kangaroo.
All these discoveries/inventions aren't the problem, we human are the problem!
We need Thanos to fix the problem then.
Nature can thrive without us having to go extinct, you know? We just need to learn to live within planetary boundaries...
@Johnny Ch, be the change we need! become a frog!
I'm not saying that the human should thrive in this world...We are!! But the pollution we've been contributing that results in the extinction of thousands of organisms, it's a high time for us to look back what we've done to our home (Earth). That's what I'm talking about!!!
@Revoltingsheeple Retrograde mind
We actually have cotton bags we got in the 90's! And we still use them at the grocery store. Just wash them once or twice a year.
Please wash them more often than that if you put food in them. 🤢
Me too!. I just keep repairing them.
@@blt4life112 how often. I do the same. I never pop anything slimy or wet in them. All the food i buy is usually already wrapped. Or it's like a cucumber. Which isn't messy. They don't need washing much. Over washing is using unnecessary water and detergent.
Another reason to wash your bags is consideration for other people. Maybe you're immune system is strong enough, but bringing infected bags to a public food supply really isn't wise.
@@blt4life112 infected with what?. I think you're being a bit too dramatic. If you think like that then maybe you should wash your coat, your bags, your gloves every day just in case you infect an ill person with who knows what. Maybe you should spray your shoes with disinfectant or clean all your money (technically the dirtiest thing you use) or how about the purse the money is in. I mean you could literally go mad. Where does it stop when you think like that. Nothing dirty about a cotton bag that has contained wrapped food (pretty much everything) and possibly a coconut or something. If I'd got carrots that had dirt on them or something that made my bag dirty. I'd agree. But not with wrapped food and so on.
I don’t think the paper vs plastic argument is that simple.
Finally someone with sense and not just following the herd
Yes
Plastic is made out from fossil fuels
My teacher told me that “95% of a household “waste” are recyclable. Unfortunately many do not try to change their style due to their mindset as in depression, stress, or laziness.”
It’s so stupid. At my college (Farnborough 6th form) we have a wall for our ‘environmental pledge’ and I can’t even tell you how many people have written “stop using plastic bags”. I wrote “keep using plastic bags - REUSE them”, which didn’t get a lot of love.
It’s become a trend to show you’re “standing up for the planet” but barely anyone my age can be bothered to look into this and learn more about it, they seem to assume that just because McDonald’s has switched to paper straws, paper is indefinitely better than plastic.
Bro, McDonald's had to discontinue the paper straws because people used them as pre-rolled smokes.
DemidorkTheKid
That’s weird, they’re still at the McDonald’s by the college.
Plastic isn’t bad, it’s how the person uses it
"Strong bag"
Sure...
Its a joke right
You know you can buy really strong plastic bags that last years
compared to the paper bag, bro.
SAVE THE TURTLES SKSKSKSKS
An I oop
Weres my hydroflasksksksksk?
Turdle turdle turdle … turdle light burned out on you..
Monitor 😢😢😢😢😢😢
The main problem is that the people are disposing plastic. They are not reusing it
So how much room do a 1000 plastic bags take up question? Mark were they really a problem or is this some p c Stuff
"Recycle it" when most of those bags are not made of plastic you can recycle, or even worse, when you can't recycle it (we don't have recycling program in Russia).
Galia R
Exactly.
This is where our governments are failing us. They have the fossil fuel industry to appease so no wonder that plastic recycling in most countries is an embarrassing joke.
We have such recycling programm. Unfortunatly some states have fight smell from recycling factories.
@@roses.pt.9615 that's awful we don't have a safe one that doesn't pollute the air. And actually the one that does is not available for all Russians...
@The Fonz totally agree! That doesn't mean though that the recycling itself is a bad idea if its realisation is lame.
Wow, maybe you should create a recycling program then. Never would have imagined such a thing
make bag at home from old jeans or clothes that are not useful.
Kaustubh ..dont forget you can use old shirts and old granny underwear if you can get the skid marks out of them.
I'd rather have a few life-long bags rather than a dozen plastic bags with every grocery run.
He a bit confused but he has the right spirit
i think weather you think plastic bags or cotton/paper bags are worse, we can all agree it would sure help if we just reused bags
But we don't throw cotton bags away.... do we? Be honest.
Fun Fact: Did y’all know plastic bags can kill any species? Yes even humans
A question fact that's a new one
Of course. That's why you never let babies or small children play with plastic bags because they can suffocate themselves.
I saw ad of how the ocean is filled with plastic before watching this
So you’re telling me the earth is dying because of some bags 😳😳
Jesse Days
You’re a bit late.
Well more than that but the bags certainly don't help.
Not some bags, it's millions and millions of tons of bags.
Finally some common sense. The main problem with plastic bags is when people do not dispose of them properly. They do not occupy much space in landfills, and recycling or burying them is probably the best way to dispose of them. Biodegradable bags are a terrible idea because you are releasing toxins into the environment. About solid wast dumps, people forget they are part of a cycle such that abandoned or non-economic quarries are turned into solid waste dumps. Well engineered dumps have systems to collect and treat leachate and vent or burn off methane. When dumps are filled, they are typically turned into parks. Many beloved urban parks began as quarries, then were solid waste dumps before being turned into parks.
Bruh we nearly 2020 and we still can’t help making our planet better place to live in
People want to begin it but never starts
Plastic bags, at least here in the US are not made for multiple use, you are lucky if they hold up the first time. They tear, and split most have holes in the seams before putting a single item in them. The manufacturers FORCED us to use plastic and now blame us for them being in landfills and blowing around the streets. Why isn't HEMP included in this article?
Ban plastic bag.all over world !
The only solution: Make the plastic bags stronger and thicker so we wont have to throw them away after first use, because alot of times they break
People would still throw them away because it's easier than to try and remember to bring it.
Ironically this is happening in the country I live in. They banned single-use plastic bags, but the wording in the law says 'single-use'. Manufacturers wormed their way around this by making the bags thicker & printing the words 'Reusable Bag' on it. And they can be used several times before being finally used as a trash bin liner. In the past decade the bags got thinner and thinner due to cost-cutting measures.
Don't tell me that a bag that breaks from having two pints of milk in it isn't disposable
If this isnt a joke cause I honestly cant tell anymore...
You mean decomposable because it means to break down. Paper breaks down and disperses but plastic turns to small tiny plastic pellets and takes a very long time to go. Then sea creatures eat those small pellets which end up in our foods and in the animal food chain
@@raingoff5839 no I don't mean it breaks down. I totally agree that plastic bags are awful and they destroy the environment but in the video they suggest that you're supposed to reuse disposable plastic bags. You don't get them much anymore but they'd break really easily and I think it's ridiculous to say that you can use those more than once when after the first use the handles had already fallen off
Does nobody remember string bags? Light, compact, strong.
Tony Blakeney I’ve got one full of plastic bags.
I had one but one of our maid stole it, it was by Samsung too
Plastic bags are absolutely necessary. Environmentally safe natural plastic alternatives exist. So start making them, and charge whatever necessary to the consumer.
The only problem is on how people use the plastic bags and throw it anywhere they like. The world’s laziness is the problem
Thank you for the information. BBC, this is life changing
@Grief no u!
That segment completely ignores the main problem of plastic bags: they are not bio degradable. If they were, there would be no reason to avoid them. They would be definitely better for the environment than paper or cotton, even if not recycled.
At home we reuse shopping plastic bags as liners to trash baskets and first-level trash containers (inside larger trash bags). They should get incinerated with the trash, and would be just a tiny component of it; their tiny cost would be more than offset by their contribution to making trash disposal safer and cleaner. That would remain true even is trash were buried in landfills.
The plastic bags are an environmental problem only because many are discarded straight into the natural environment. Since they are not biodegradable, and too light to be buried by natural processes, they just accumulate there.
Plastic bag was made to use again and again but it was so strong that it became non disposable 😂😂😂
Recycle it? That's another fallacy. Lately we found out those items we put into the recycle bins? Most of them ended up in landfills
You must live in a very third world place then
Filipe Saramago 🇸🇴
@@fgsaramago its happens in many places though i used to live in Dubai and this was a case lots of the time too
Great video and great information.. I have started reusing plastic bags and have found many uses for bags
I have reused my bags for garbage and yard waste and to haul sand from the quarry. They have been useful for I have always reused them and have been thankful for these free bags through the years.
In Canada our milk is packaged in disposable plastic bags like 4L distributed in 3 pouches wrapped in another bag. So much waste. Our Marijuana is similarly wrapped in plastic.
You were the chosen one. It was said you would destroy the pollution , not join joins them .
plastic bags are not bad they just need to be re-used.
My parents keep plastic bags in the kitchen.
Thats what they said about cars being more ecofriendly than horsecart.
Who said horsecart are not eco friendly
@@sourabhs14 because of the poop and all.
@@sourabhs14 Because horses don't run on solar and wind energy. They need to eat and drink a lot and it will take years for a newborn horse to become big and strong enough to pull a cart. So horse carriages are extremely energy-inefficient.
@@Atombender Thanks for explaining it better than me.😀
Just stop throwing them away and buying more and the world is saved 👏
It's not about the material, it's about how it's used.
Single use is the key word there. Every non consumable single use thing we make becomes a problem. It's not only plastic bag, it's also stuff like fast fashion, electronics, wrapping materials, among several other stuff.
Of course, there are materials that are more recyclable than others, more biodegradable than others, less toxic for the environment than others, so it all goes into the mix.
But in general, the more stuff lasts, and the less things become garbage, the better. Unfortunately, we ended up in a culture that goes exactly against that. Nothing is built to last anymore. For rich people, fast fashion and electronics that are getting close to a yearly upgrade cycle are the norm. For poor people, it's all extremely low grade stuff that will break down one way or another super fast.
We've had a product for years... Hemp.
It’s not a material problem
But an human one
Plastic bags are to flimsy these days. I use denim bag that my mom made years ago for picking appels
What the fuck is an appel?
You can get bags like this
www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/methode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F8d7c3a98-5727-11e9-b872-7488e2315159.jpg?crop=1600%2C900%2C0%2C0&resize=685
Because modern ones are made so that they are dissolved faster in the nature.
The final answer is using recycling bags.
Cotton bags are the best because they are strong so possible to use them many times but once they are damaged could be easily recycled in 100%
You can recycle plastic and you can get plastic bags stronger than cotton
Bags in stores are disposable plastic ones, not the proper strong ones
THESE ARE CONFUSING TIMES
Wise use of a boon is the only option, not to curse plastic.
Sten Gustaf Thulin: I invented the plastic bag to make the world a better place.
Humans: Didn't take our laziness and stupidity into account, huh?
I think that plastic has been one of the worst inventions for the world, and the creator of plastic must feel guilty for the damage he is doing to the planet💔💔💔
@MARCOS ALBERTO PERDOMO VANEGAS I agree with him. Putting the blame on others doesn't make you less responsible for your own actions
How about recycling used textile to make bags?
My family gets the plastic woven ones made out of recycled plastic. We use them damn things until they fall apart
My whole life ive re used the bags you get at the shops, IT SAVES MONEY, AND, if we get paper bags, MORE TREES WILL BE CUT, Id say either get cotton bags or re use plastic ones
Plastic has become the scapegoat for our laziness.
The bags and plastics don't do anything wrong.Are we the Humans throwing them out eveywhere the ones to blame🤔
I propose that you should give a subtitile for all of your video please. It will be salutary for foriegn learners
Everything should be in a balance
We all need to use the same plastic bag repeatedly to save our planet, but it always broken after I used it for the first time.
the problem is recycling rate is too low
Human production should be controlled first
Reduce.
Reuse.
Recycle.
I always dump bags that were used once. I have different ones all the time lol. Why should I be using it again? This is my personal choice
It goes in the fish babies small stomach and then they either die of starvation or carry the plastic on to another animal that eats it
My previous commentary is obviously a trap. I never do that.
@@baguette_connoisseur glad to hear, its just that there really are stupid people sometimes
I use a paper bag for 3 months one time. It just looks like I just shopped and I get that happy feeling all day without actually spending money. That’s called reduced consumption.
You know paper releases a lot more co2 and uses more oil for production than plastic right
I’m saying whenever I carry a paper bag, I reduce unnecessary and impulsive buying. That’s more environmentally friendly than anything.
Also I’m trying to illustrate that some paper bag can be durable too.
Anyways we’re all trying to help the environment here
@@auwanho yea
Glad my parents save plastic bags and reuse them 🤧
Like seriously our dishwasher is full of plastic bags
Do you ever feel like a plastic bag?
HAHAHAHAHA
now I can't get it out of my head dammit
When I was a kid, I realised how shit a plastic bag is when it comes to carrying milk.
Fuck you tescos for passing me single plastic bag to carry that milk.
Imagine returning to the store with your plastic bags lol
That's what most people do here in Portugal every day. What's so laughable about it?
Lots of decent decent people do. I have my rucksack which i keep with me, but if i get caught short and im at a mates house or whatever, chances are they will have one of those "King bags" full of hundreds of normal bags, so i pinch one of those and take it to the shop - no one ever looks at me weird for that. they do look at me weird tho when i have all my veg sprawled out on the conveyor belt, 10 separate potatoes, 5 apples, courgettes aubergines tomatoes, some times they ask what am i doing i say i've used my plastic "budget" for the day - they seem to understand that
They banned the bags in New York, now I have to buy plastic bags for my garbage.
lol, recycle it! That's not really gonna happen since recycling it probably is the worst idea for the environement the best things to do before recycling are : reusing, reinjecting, repuroposing etc ! Recycling is just a way for companies to place the responsability on somebody else while the consummer thinks he's doing something good. Very little of what we put in recycling bins doesn't end up in landfills and in our environement.
Jail for littering with plastic. That should do it.
How the hell is a plastic bag supposed to help..
Dear BBC, I want to cut some parts of your video (Thulin's son and 1-2 Thulin's photos) to make my documentary about the plastic as my final university project.
As a cow I will say for my species we don't like plastic.
In the USA many Corporation Food Stores have had States pass Laws banning plastic bags . Now those Store chains Sell Paper Bags to their customers , and require they have some means to transport their purchases from the stores to the customers home. The average cost of 1 bag is $2.00 to $3.00 dollars each. I have been Reusing paper bags [and plastic bags ] for as long as they would hold up . And as we all have experienced plastic bags were re-designed for 1 time use.
You gotta get these really large strong ones made of plastic
They're like tote bags but better
A simple alternative to plastic bag bans is a fee for the bags. Just charge 10-25 cents per bag and people will start reusing them.
Cut down a tree then just replant them. Easy but yet people don’t do that
A tree is not the same as a sapling. Trees take years to grow.
People need to be educated, shop to trolley, trolley to car, car to house, put away. Done. No bag needed!
Remember the 5 'R's
-Refuse
-Reduce
-Reuse
-Repurpose and
-Recycle
The problem is just us or society not being educated enough on the various ways to help the planet and ways to reuse lots of stuff
have you ever use these plastic bags, they break very easily.
Not everybody shops at home depot
Get something like this
www.thetimes.co.uk/imageserver/image/methode%2Ftimes%2Fprod%2Fweb%2Fbin%2F8d7c3a98-5727-11e9-b872-7488e2315159.jpg?crop=1600%2C900%2C0%2C0&resize=685
And what about those thicker reusable plastic bags that they sell in supermarkets?
I've got shed loads of cotton bags, so I'll keep using them! Another thing one could do is use old clothes and make your own bags from those! OK they may not be trendy, but it's recycling the clothes!
I like your idea
2:36 But...that is the point of a cotton bag...to be used over and over and over and over and over again. Most people would get that sort of use out of a cotton bag in just one year. You also just said that plastic bags get recycled. Are you high? They CAN get recycled and you can hand them in at large supermarkets but not all of us live near or go to large supermarkets. My local Tesco Metro certainly doesn't recycle them for example. You also can't put them in our communal plastic or mixed recycling bins because they will apparently break the sorting machines.
If you intended to confuse and obfuscate with this piece, well done, you did it.
I LOVE "BBCNEWS"~♡
A large number of machinerrs are now kept idle. Economy is there.
Video fails to address plastic bag use as trash bag
Only when a paper is used upto 43 times, will it help the environment
australia is too
Should have maybe released this video BEFORE all the plastic straw propaganda and ban.
Executing good intentions doesn't mean shit if they're not based on reality!
BBC: How plastic bags were supposed to help the planet
Me: *wait thats illegal*
Thing is single use anything is bad. Just reuse whatever you got, and cotton or resuable bags. They should ban single use paper bags as well.
That's the key! To use OVER AND OVER again, not to use once and make more