Our First Step to Reduce Global Warming

Global warming caused by the increase in the average temperature of the Earth's near-surface air and oceans in recent decades. It is our responsibility to save our mother Earth. We can reduce global warming by doing our bit to save our mother Earth.

In order to protect the health and economic well-being of current and future generations, we must reduce our emissions of heat-trapping gases by using the technology, know-how, and practical solutions already at our disposal. It is simple as we start carrying our own plastic bag when we shop and avoid using not bio-degrade plastic bags. Plastic bags don't bio-degrade means that they photo-degrade. They will break down in smaller and smaller toxic pieces, which may enter our soil and waterways, contaminating crops and fresh water supply. When incinerated, plastic bags release Dioxins, the most poisonous chemicals known. Toxins and carcinogens are also released into the air and inhaled into our lungs.

Plastic bags are made from ethylene, a by-product of petroleum, so the production of plastic bags ties in closely with the global demand for oil. Fewer plastic bags produced will mean lower demand for oil and this will help bring down the prices of fuel.

In our daily practice, it is usual for us to go home with some plastic bags from an afternoon of shopping at mall. Just take one grocery shopping. Typically, cold stuff like cheese, dry goods like bread, the meat and veggies does not get along too well so they got one bag each, while the family size laundry detergent gets a bag on its own. That's easily five plastic bags, and we're not half-way through the grocery list. According to the experts, an average family accumulates 60 plastics bags in just four trips to the grocery store. Bags are used for an average 12 minutes before they're thrown away.

Perhaps, what many of us have yet to realize is that an ordinary plastic bag takes up to 1,000 years to break down after it's discarded. Imagine how many bags are using by people in our country. Let's do simple math: 5 bags x the number of people in our country x the number of days in year. It's scary through.

Nowadays, the number of malls springing up all over the country, so the distribution of plastic bags grows exponentially. Experts estimated that 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are used and discarded worldwide annually - that's more than one million bags per minute. The bulk of these bags end up crowing our landfills which were are desperately running out of.

It is important for us to use bio-degradable plastic bags instead of not bio-degrades plastic bags in order to save our Earth. Bio-degradable plastic bags are alternative but what's not widely known is they take up a year to break down, and they still often end up as litter before they actually degrade. And that's not without leaving chemical residues on the ground.

Let's start using reusable plastic bags and say no to not bio-degrades bags offered to you. This little act goes a long way in preserving the environment. A high shopping bag has the potential to eliminate hundreds and perhaps thousand of plastic bags over its lifetime. It's a small change to our lifestyle but the impact is colossal. It's simple enough and something that we can commit ourselves to. More than rhetoric, saving the environment is about saving mankind. It's about our health, the sustainability of the resources that will keep us going and our quality of life.