Plastic bag usage adds to many environmental harms such as greenhouse gas emissions, marine life pollution and energy waste. These bags are not biodegradable and require more energy to produce than to reuse. In the USA, we use about 300 Billion plastic bags per year.
In an effort to end this waste of resources and to decrease the detrimental effects plastic bags incur, we encourage the White House to support efforts requiring businesses to charge a 5 cent tax for each plastic bag used by a consumer. With this, the public should then be encouraged to bring reusable bags whenever and wherever they shop. The moneys collected from this tax would be earmarked for recycling programs. Therein, continuing the environmentally friendly actions resulting from the decrease in plastic bag usage.