Our group chose to put
our ‘This is Public Health’ sticker on a reusable Publix bag. These bags can be
purchased at any Publix super market and there are tons of different ones to
choose from. We decided to put our sticker on the bags because it has a lot to
do with environmental public health. When using these bags at the grocery
store, you are limiting the usage of plastic bags. The plastic bags can be very
harmful to our environment by the bags not being biodegradable and can get into
sewages and block them. On average, plastic bags can take anywhere from 15 to
1000 years to decompose. Plastic bags are light weight which makes them more
prone to flying away from landfills and settling in other places such as trees,
oceans, beaches, etc. Also, if animals
ingest this plastic, they have a very high chance of death. If they don’t die, the
plastic bags will be in their digestive systems and that will harm the food
chain that we eat from such as: fish and meat. Plastic bags are made from oil,
so with the production of them we are wasting a valuable source that we have
limited access too. We aren’t just wasting this limited source but helping to
raise the fuel cost with the production of these bags. Another thing that makes
these plastic bags harmful is the possibility of suffocation to not only
animals, but babies and children. They have warning post on them that even say,
“To avoid danger of suffocation, keep this plastic bag away from babies and
children.” Children are known to wonder into places that aren’t safe, so by
having these plastic bags around they are easy to access. Thinking paper is
better? Paper bags can be just as harmful and wasteful with the many trees that
are cut down each month just for the production of these fragile bags. With
these reusable bags, you will not have to use these harmful paper or plastic
ones and can look stylish while doing so, making your shopping experience a
pleasure.
-Nikki Hux, Alyssa Baumer, Joy Flesner, Whitney Mack
I think you girls did a great job being creative with your sticker. Recycling is a huge part of Public Health and these bags used not only a Publix but other stores like Walmart and WinnDixie have made a world of difference. It's amazing that there has been so much waste created by the plastic bags and it's nice to finally see a change.
ReplyDeleteThis is a great Public Health issue and it is one that most people would just look past. Sometimes we focus mainly on health preventative methods and tend to forget about the environment and how greatly it impacts our lives. Environmental Health is an increasing problem and you girls showing how recycled bags are Public Health and how recycling impacts the Earth, is extremely important.
ReplyDeleteI think you guys did a great job raising awareness of this public health issue. It targets several aspects within public health: environmental health along with health hazards in infants and animals. Because of the abundance of plastic everywhere people take for granted and take light for the fact on the consumption and use of plastics. Raising awareness on the health issues and environmental consequences the use of plastic bags can do along with the promotion of "reusable bags" can greatly reduce the amount of plastic bags waste thereby aiding individuals that would otherwise die due to plastic.
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