Plastic Bags - Short Film

Non-biodegradable plastic poses a threat, to the environment.In the absence of adequate scientific recycling or disposal facilities, the bulk of plastic bags end up either in landfills, where they tend to last practically forever, or on city roads, where they pose a traffic hazard, and in drains, where they end up obstructing sewage systems. 
                                      As long as the plastic bags are manufactured it cannot be banned.The main argument of plastic bag manufacturers and of the traders, who use them, is that there is no equally inexpensive and convenient alternative. There was life before plastic bags came into mass use.Most shoppers, especially those buying vegetables and other consumables of daily use carried their own cloth, jute and paper bags and cane baskets from home to bring groceries.

After watching this short film Plastic Bag, I guarantee you’ll never look at one the same way ever again. The film does such a masterful job personifying the main character that you end up feeling genuine emotion for its predicament.

Synopsis:

       This short film by American director Ramin Bahrani traces the epic journey of a plastic bag searching for its lost maker, the woman who took it home from the store and eventually discarded it. Along the way, it encounters strange creatures, experiences love in the sky, grieves the loss of its maker, and tries to grasp its purpose in the world.

 Here is the short film:

                      
                          When we're all gone, plastic bags will live on.It takes between 500 and a thousand years for one of these bags to break down.But they degrade the environment. Like so much else, we throw them away as easily as we make them. But of course they don't actually go away: they just become casual parts of our urban landscapes. Also they strangle tortoises, choke birds, and poison water in ways that can deform our hormones and lead to cancer.

                           India can learn from the experience of countries that have managed to sharply reduce the use of plastic bags. Ireland imposed a tax on the use of plastic bags.This led to an over 90 per cent reduction in the use of plastic shopping bags. Several other countries such as Australia, South Africa, Thailand and some states in the US, have taken similar measures with varying degrees of success. 

                            India's district in the southern tip Kanyakumari where, throughout the district use of plastic bags is banned. It is against the law in the district to use any single use or throw-away plastic items like carry bags and cups. Anyone found carrying a plastic bag can be fined  Rs 100 by the authorities. Shops that provided or sold plastic bags or disposable plastic cups can be made to pay higher fines, have their materials seized and even be shut down for disobedience.May be other parts of India can also follow and make the country a better place to live in.

http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1504691/
The ending of this movie hits pretty hard with its message, so take a few minutes to enjoy this beautiful short.
If interested, you could also read this national geographic article about ocean plastics.
http://news.nationalgeographic.com/news/2009/08/090820-plastic-decomposes-oceans-seas.html