Plastic bags are becoming a major marine problem for the same reason that they have been a commercial success - they don’t break down.

Every year, an estimated 17½ billion plastic bags are given away by supermarkets. This is equivalent to over 290 bags for every person in the UK. We produce and use 20 times more plastic today than we did 50 years ago.

“The UK is addicted to plastic bags!" Charlie Browne, Ikea, June 2006

Sadly, mistaking polythene bags for jellyfish has caused many deaths of Leatherback turtles. A discarded bag fills with water and floats, semi-submerged on the water's surface. To a turtle this looks just like a jellyfish and is swallowed with terrible consequences, usually resulting in death for the turtle as the bag either twists in its gut or blocks digestion.

The plastic bag is highly over specified for the job for which it was designed. Required to serve us for the hour or two it takes us to get our shopping home instead it is expected that the bags will last for hundreds of years. The hazards of the plastic bag do not stop with the turtles. Plastics never fully degrade; plastic bags eventually turn into plastic “dust” which can still be ingested by filter feeding marine animals. Plastic is highly toxic, and toxins in filter feeders are passed up the food chain to the fish and ultimately human consumers.

 Until now, no studies were conducted on filter-feeding organisms such as jellies, whose feeding mechanisms do not permit them to distinguish between tiny fragments of plastic debris and plankton, and no studies to assess potential effects on these filter-feeders. It is now known that plastic fragments heavily impact these creatures. When broken into smaller pieces, these tiny plastic fragments accumulate non-water soluble toxicants such as PCB's, and pesticides such as DDT.

Plastic polymers, or tiny plastic resin pellets act as sponges for these chemicals and other persistent organic pollutants, concentrating such poisons up to one million times higher than their concentration in the water as free floating subs. These toxic particles move up the food chain form the small invertebrates and then to fish and then return to us on our plate!

Disposable Oceans- November 2006
Steve Smith, aboard the Greenpeace ship Esperanza, said: "Plastics in the oceans act as a toxic sponge, soaking up a lot of the persistent pollutants out here. We've seen photos of albatrosses who eat this plastic ... Even though their stomachs are filled, they end up starving because there's no nutrients in there.
"http://www.greenpeace.org/international/news/disposable-oceans-031106

Plastic bag bans around the world....

Bangladesh March 2002
In March 2002, Bangladesh slapped an outright ban on all polyethylene bags in the capital, Dhaka, after they were found to have been the main culprit during the 1988 and 1998 floods that submerged two-thirds of the country. The discarded bags were choking the drainage system. The population is obliged to use reusable bags.

Eritrea January 2005 Asmara
Parts of Eritrea once littered by a sea of flimsy shopping bags are being cleaned up thanks to a new law that entered into force in January to help the Horn of Africa country protect nature. In the capital Asmara and other outlying regions, the bags have been replaced by the cotton and nylon and Eritreans have no choice but to adapt. Since the introduction those who import, produce, distribute or sell plastic bags are fined.

India - Himachal Pradesh 2003
Under a new law, anyone found even using a polythene bag could face up to seven years behind bars or a fine of up to 100,000 rupees (£1,300). The new law is the most stringent bag law in India

Ireland 2002
Plastic Bag Tax in Ireland has dramatically reduced bag consumption. Percentage drop in plastic bag consumption in Ireland, after a 9p bag tax was introduced: 90 % Annual revenue generated by Irish bag tax: £6,900,000.00

Papua New Guinea December 2004
Environment and Conservation Minister William Duma announced the ban and stated that he used provisions of the Environment Act 2000 to introduce an interim policy to stop the import, manufacture and sale of plastic shopping bags in the country Somalia March 2005 Somaliland Bans Use of Plastic Bags. Prof Wangari Maathai, the 2004 Nobel Peace Prize winner and the Kenyan assistant minister for environment, has linked plastic bag litter with malaria. She said, the bags, once discarded, fill with rainwater, offering ideal breeding grounds for malaria-carrying mosquitoes.

South Africa May 2003
SA uses 8bn bags annually. Law aims to reduce bag use by 50% since May 2003, stores have been obliged to stop giving free, thin bags to customers, instead selling thicker, easily recycled bags, in a bid to reduce pollution. There are stiff penalties for infringements, including a R10 000 fine or 10 years' imprisonment, or both. Bags now must be thick as a rubbish bag South Australia 2008 South Australia's State Government is to introduce legislation to ban single-use bags from January 1, 2008. Taiwan 2003 Taiwan is began campaign against street litter on New Year's Day focusing on disposable bowls, bags and other utensils made out of plastic. The products will be banned in supermarkets, department stores, fast-food chains, restaurants and convenience stores.