"Data released by the United States Environmental Protection Agency shows that somewhere between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year." (Roach) This statistic is shocking but unfortunately true. Many parts of the world contribute to these numbers, one of the main contributors being America. One of the states in America, San Diego, is recently considering to introduce the banning of plastic bags. This ban should be supported to save the environment of San Diego and to set an example for the rest of America and the world. Plastic bags ruin the landscape, clog the sewers, and end up in landfills where they may take a hundred of years or more to break down into smaller pieces that continue to pollute the environment; worst of all they are not biodegradable, and cannot be effectively recycled or incinerated, causing permanent damage. A fraction of the population is ignorant of the harms, neglecting the issue because it does not concern them, or due to selfishness in the convenience of free plastic bags. Because of these people, the introduction of the plastic bag ban must be in place to save the environment.
In America, eighty percent of the population chooses to use plastic bags. Statistics show "The oil used in America for plastic bags is greater than the entire oil demand of Iceland, or North Korea." (Plastic Bags - Pros and Con) As Oil or petroleum is the main component in the creation of plastic bags. These numbers put into perspective the excessive use of plastic bags in America. In San Diego the Encinitas-based Equinox Center revealed that five-hundred million plastic bags are used annually. Research shows most plastics is used only once before discarded. After becoming waste, only a very small amount is recycled or combusted into energy. The majority of plastic is transported to a landfill where it may take up to one thousand years to decompose, as estimated by scientists.