Urban environmental problems pose a major threat to the Earth. These problems include indoor and outdoor air pollution, inadequate waste management, and pollution of waterways caused by city activities. Plastic shopping bags have exacerbated this issue, as billions are discarded every year, clogging sewers and harming wildlife. However, there are alternatives to plastic bags like reusable canvas bags, paper bags from sustainable sources, and biodegradable options made from natural materials like jute that can help reduce pollution and environmental damage if adopted widely. Multiple goals around waste management, renewable energy, and sustainable consumption will be needed to effectively address the problems caused by urban pollution.
11. DEFINATION
Localized environmental health problems such as
inadequate household water and sanitation and indoor
air pollution.
City-regional environmental problems such as ambient
air pollution, inadequate waste management and
pollution of rivers, lakes and coastal areas.
Extra-urban impacts of urban activities such as
ecological disruption and resource depletion in a city’s
hinterland, and emissions of acid precursors and
greenhouse gases.
Regional or global environmental burdens that arise
from activities outside a city’s boundaries, but which
will affect people living in the city.
12. MOST
DANGEREOUS
PART OF
URBAN
DEVELOPMEN
T
POLLUTION ?
14. Plastic shopping bags
are among the most
ubiquitous consumer
items on Earth.
Their light weight,
low cost, and water
resistance make
them so convenient
for carrying
groceries, clothing,
and other routine
purchases that it's
hard to imagine life
without them.
15. •Weighing just a few
grams and averaging a few
millimeters in thickness,
plastic bags might seem
thoroughly innocuous—were
it not for the sheer
number produced.
•Factories around the
world churned out a
whopping 4-5 trillion of
them in 2002, ranging
from large trash bags to
thick shopping totes to
flimsy grocery sacks.
16. Compared with paper bags, producing
plastic ones uses LESS ENERGy and wATER
AND GENERATES LESS AIR POLLUTION
AND SOLID wASTE. Plastic bags also take
up less space in a landfill. But many of these
bags never make it to landfills; instead,
they go airborne after they are discarded—
getting caught in fences, trees, even the
throats of birds, and clogging gutters,
sewers, and waterways. To avoid these
impacts, ThE BEST ALTERNATIVE IS TO
cARRy AND RE-USE yOUR OwN DURABLE
cLOTh BAGS.
18. Plastic bags start as crude oil,
natural gas, or other petrochemical
derivatives, which are transformed
into chains of hydrogen and carbon
molecules known as polymers or
polymer resin. After being heated,
shaped, and cooled, the plastic is
ready to be flattened, sealed,
punched, or printed on.
The first plastic “baggies” for bread,
sandwiches, fruits, and vegetables
were introduced in the United States
in 1957. Plastic trash bags started
appearing in homes and along
curbsides around the world by the
19. A quarter of the plastic bags used in
wealthy nations are now produced in Asia.
Each year, Americans throw away some
100 billion polyethylene plastic bags.
(Only 0.6 percent of plastic bags are
recycled.)
The Irish have been known to call the
ever-present bags their “national flag”;
South Africans have dubbed them the
“national flower.”
22. Think twice about taking a plastic bag
if your purchase is small and easy to
carry.
Keep canvas bags in your home, office,
and car so you always have them
available when you go to the
supermarket or other stores.
Ask your favorite stores to stop
providing bags for free, or to offer a
discount for not using the bags.
Encourage your local politicians to
introduce legislation taxing or banning
plastic bags.
23. PAPER BAGS
A paper bag or paper
sack is a preformed
container made of paper,
usually with an opening on
one side. It can be one layer
of paper or multiple layers of
paper and other flexible
materials.
Paper bags are readily
recyclable. Plastic or water-
resistant coatings or layers
make recycling more
difficult.
24. CANVASS BAGS
They are maufactured
from natural, dyed,
colored, bleached fabric
ranging from 4 Oz to 28
OZ 100% cotton . The
canvas bags are used as
canvas promotional
bags, canvas shopping
bags, canvas laundry
bags, drawstring bags,
canvas giveaway bags,
canvas trade show bags,
canvas carry bags,
canvas wine bags etc.
25. JUTE BAGS
an eco-friendly option
instead of poly and paper
bags as polybag are made
from petroleum and are
non-biodegradable and
manufacturing paperbags
requires large quantities of
wood. Jute has none of
these problems and is
therefore being used widely
for these purposes although
higher cost does place jute
27. •these can be used for picnic outings.
•They can also be used to bring lunch to work or
school, and often include insulated linings to
keep food fresh and beverages cool.
•There are others designed to carry several food
or specialty items. For instance, if you are
shopping for bottles of different wines, there
are picnic totes that are compartmentalized to
safely hold several bottles at once.
•Other bags are designed to hold a large amount
of food items and include pockets for
accessories such as your wallet, keys, and ID.
•They might have insulated pockets for items
that you wish to keep cold on your way home
28. ThE VARIOUS OThER
ALTERNATIVES:
•Use biodegradable bags made from fabrics.
•Ladies can fold a cotton bag or two in to their purses which can
be used to quench their sudden urge for shopping.
•Nylon bags can be used and reused several times.
•Donate old news papers and magazines to small scale
institutes that cut these old papers in to paper bags and
packets.
•Use a wicker basket. ( They can make a fashion statement
today.)
•Educate the local retailers on the ill effects of use of plastics.
•Insist your local retailers to use plastic bags of thicker variety
if at all he has to use.
•Offices can distribute canvas bags as New Year gifts instead of
diaries and other sweet nothings.
•Better still buy a foldable shopping trolley. When you can buy a
stroller for your new born this is not impossible you see.
•The common man is already burdened with spiraling prices, so
30. GOALS TO PREVENT
EARTH
Cleanly converting nonrecyclable
materials into energy through direct
combustion or after conversion into
secondary fuels;
Reducing societal consumption of non-
renewable fuels ;
Development of alternative, green,
low-carbon or renewable energy
sources;