Non fiction Critical Analysis

      In the very interesting article "Bagging Plastic" by Veronica Majerol the issue is about plastic bags. Their has been a long debate about whether we should continue using plastic bags. Marine biologists and environmentalists all agree that plastic bags are damaging the environment. The main idea of this whole article is whether or not plastic bags should be banned. Some people say yes, others say no for different reasons. The details that Majerol put inside the article helped me understand the main idea more. For example "The idea that we grab for a plastic bag in a grocery store has become a part of our culture" this quote got me thinking about our culture, and how this is true. The stores that I go to always give me a plastic bag, and I have gotten so used to that idea that I wait for the person to hand me my plastic bag. Also when she Majerol mentions that we use about 100 billion plastic bags a year and generate about 32 million tons of plastic waste. This got me thinking about how this is a huge problem. This made me understand why the debate is taking place in the first place, and that's because of all this plastic we are generating. Finally when Majerol mentions that plastic manufacturing uses millions of barrels of oil a year. Which helps me understand the environmentalists point of view more. Our natural resources are getting drained. These details make me see the importance of this issue.
      Majerol wants us to think about how plastic bags are affecting the environment. She wants us to feel bad about the effect of these everyday bags. The author achieves this by interviewing lots of people that are for and against the idea of the ban. "The bans, she says, are about trying to reduce pollution little by little" from a high school junior Zola. This made me feel that this ban will do good. Pollution is an ongoing problem that affects everyone living on this earth. Also Majerol adds lots of facts about how much waste we produce and how much waste travels into the water and affects the marine life. Marine life are extremely affected by plastic bags. Some mistake these bags for food so they eat it and their stomach can't digest it.
      I think that we should we should regulate the number of bags or give a choice of buying cheap reusable bags. I understand both sides of the argument. Many jobs will be lost if we get rid of plastic bags. But on the other hand we save marine life and the earth. I'm in the middle of the argument or undecided.