Current Improvements

Many countries have already begun to take steps towards eliminating the use of plastic bags. Ireland imposed it's "plastax" back in 2002 and cut its plastic bag use by 90% in only 6 months! Not only has the tax raised millions of euros to be used for environmental projects but it has also noticeably cleaned up the city streets of Ireland. China has implemented a ban on plastic bags all together, cutting their usage by 66% and saving them 1.6 billion tons of petroleum.  Countries such as Brazil, Zanzibar, and Bangledesh have also banned the use of plastic bags, and Australia is following in their footsteps, with South Australia and Victoria leading the way.

The efforts and results of these countries should be enough to push the rest of the world in the same direction. The proof that bag taxes and bans can work is right in front of us. By cutting our usage of plastic bags we could save billions of dollars of wasted petroleum, clean up our cities and towns, raise money for other environmental projects, save countless animals lives, and condition ourselves to live in a more environmentally friendly and sustainable world. By cutting petroleum usage we would be helping to reduce greenhouse gas emissions as well. We, as common citizens, can all help to accomplish these things by simply ditching the plastic and bringing our own bags with us to the grocery store, a small price to pay for the well-being of the world!

Sources:

BBC News     Green Joyment