LIBS 1910 - Environmental Science: Overconsumption and Alternatives

This essay addresses the environmental impact of overconsumption, focusing on the excessive use of plastic bags and exploring reusable alternatives. It highlights the advantages and disadvantages of materials like cotton, polypropylene, polyester, and hemp in the manufacturing of reusable shopping bags. Hemp is presented as a strong, durable, and eco-friendly option, although it can be costly. The essay concludes that reusable shopping bags made from hemp and cotton are preferable to plastic, offering a sustainable solution to reduce environmental pollution. The document emphasizes the need for alternatives to mitigate the environmental damage caused by plastic bags and promotes the adoption of eco-friendly practices. Desklib offers a platform for students to access this and other solved assignments.

Running head: ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Overconsumption
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author Note:

1ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Task 1
Introduction- reusable shopping bags are one of the most affordable and cheapest
solutions of stopping the reliance on the usage of the plastic bags that pollute the environment.
The plastic bags can be used at the most 2 to 3 times and then it becomes into unusable
substance. Often it is thrown as a waste and it pollutes the environment. In United Kingdom, bag
for life is another term which is used for the reusable shopping bags. The reusable plastic bags
are the best alternative for both the plastic bags and the paper bags (Karmarkar & Bollinger,
2015).
Discussion-manufacturing of the reusable shopping bags- Due to the increased drive for
cleaner environment, several sustainable enterprises and the environmental agencies have taken
up the responsibility of finding an alternative of the plastic bags which causes majority of the
pollution. The materials that are commonly used materials in the manufacture of the reusable
grocery/shopping bags are: cotton, polypropylene, polyester, hemp and nylon. Cotton- the
shopping bags that are made up of cotton are made from the organic cotton and traditional cotton
or recycled cotton (Muthu et al., 2012). The cotton comes in the different densities and the
heavier ones are denser. The conventional cotton bags are heavier in comparison to the normal
one and thus are costlier as well. Polypropylene- this material is relatively durable, low cost and
it is a versatile resin polymer. The nonwoven polypropylene are the best materials that can be
used for the reusable bags. The bags are strong and are resistant to the corrosion of chemical.
However, one of the major drawback is its non-biodegradable nature. Polyester- Polyester is also
a versatile material and is also water resistant, along with it they are foldable. However, the bags
are made from plastic and they do not breakdown easily. Hemp- Hemp is considered to be a
drought tolerant and at the same time uses no pesticides or fertilizers. An acre of hemp produces

2ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
about 6 tons of fibre which also requires less water to grow. The hemp fibres are durable, strong,
long and thus makes a reusable shopping bags (Dayo et al., 2017).
Comparison- it is thus important to mention that plastic bags lack the flexibility of using
multiple times and also lacks the strength. While shopping bags that are made from the hemp are
extremely strong and can also be used multiple times. The hemp products are even stronger than
the cotton and can be machine washed. The repeated usage of the shopping bags made from the
hemp material makes the bags sturdy in comparison to the plastic. However, one of the downside
is that the hemp products are very costly and needs to be imported from the western countries
(Shahzad, A. (2012).
Conclusion- from the above discussion it can be concluded that in comparison to the
plastics, reusable shopping bags that are made from the hemp and cotton are best alternatives.
The reusable shopping bags are eco-friendly and have zero issues with the environment.

3ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Task 2

4ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Reusable
shopping bagsPollution due to the
excessive usage of plastic
bags Solution
Plastic bags and its
non-biodegradable
nature
Hemp fibres
(biodegradable,
strong and
flexible)
Cotton bags
(biodegradable)
Polyester (foldable
and water
resistant); don’t
breakdown easily
Alternatives
Best alternative is hemp fibre
Alternatives
It can be integrated into the
system of reusable shopping
bag manufacture with the
hemp fibre to increase it’s
over all usablity

5ENVIRONMENTAL SCIENCE
Reference
Karmarkar, U. R., & Bollinger, B. (2015). BYOB: How bringing your own shopping bags leads
to treating yourself and the environment. Journal of Marketing, 79(4), 1-15.
Dayo, A. Q., Gao, B. C., Wang, J., Liu, W. B., Derradji, M., Shah, A. H., & Babar, A. A. (2017).
Natural hemp fiber reinforced polybenzoxazine composites: Curing behavior, mechanical and
thermal properties. Composites Science and Technology, 144, 114-124.
Shahzad, A. (2012). Hemp fiber and its composites–a review. Journal of Composite Materials,
46(8), 973-986.
Muthu, S. S., Li, Y., Hu, J. Y., Mok, P. Y., & Ding, X. (2012). Influence of consumer behaviour
and governmental policies in China, Hong Kong and India: an eco-impact assessment study of
reusable shopping bags. Energy Education Science and Technology Part A-Energy Science and
Research.