New Delhi: The problems of climate change and global warming are pushing the existence of Earth to the brink, and plastic pollution is one of the main reasons why our environment is getting more and more damaged. Every year, on July 12, World Paper Bag Day is celebrated to highlight the importance of using paper bags over plastic alternatives. In this article, we will learn more about this day.
The rise of paper bags
In 1852, Francis Wolle, a Pennsylvania schoolteacher came up with the first machine to mass-produce paper bags. He patented the machine along with his brother and founded the Union Paper Bag Company. In the next few years, several people came up with new ways to manufacture paper bags including James Baldwin in 1853, Margaret E. Knight in 1871 and Charles Stilwell in 1883. In 1912, Walter Deubener, a grocer in Minnesota used cords to reinforce paper bags and add carrying handles and it became the standard in departmental stores.
However, the popularity of paper bags took a hit when plastic bags were introduced in the 1970s. Since their manufacturing cost was low, plastic bags replaced paper bags in grocery stores. But in 1999, San Francisco banned plastic bags in grocery stores and pharmacies, becoming the first city worldwide to enforce such a prohibition. In the subsequent years, with the rise of awareness about our environment and how plastic is destroying it, paper bags have once again made a comeback. In 2015, the European Union adopted a that needs the consumption of single-use plastic bags per person to be reduced to 90 by 2019 and to 40 by 2025.
What is the significance of World Paper Bag Day?
At an age when plastic bags are increasingly damaging the environment since they cannot be decomposed, paper bags have come up as the feasible alternative option. While plastic bags are non-biodegradable, paper bags are highly biodegradable and recyclable, and have much less environmental footprint than plastic bags. In Europe, the fibres are reused 3.6 times on average while the world average is 2.4 times. Also, while plastic bags are difficult to recycle, paper bags are recycled through the re-pulping of the paper recycling and pressing into the required shapes. Hence, World Paper Bag Day provides us with a platform to raise more awareness about the need to use more and more paper bags for the benefit of our environment.
At an age when plastic bags are increasingly damaging the environment since they cannot be decomposed, paper bags have come up as the feasible alternative option. knowledge Knowledge News, Photos and Videos on General Knowledge
