Recycling
In this green, recycling aura many of us live in, we can convince ourselves that it’s okay to use those convenient plastic bags and not have to worry about bringing our own bags, because we recycle! There are some grim statistics on that approach:
EPA data shows that between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, less than 1% are recycled. However, increasing that percentage isn’t a solution. Jared Blumenfelt, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment tells it like it is:
There are harsh economics behind bag recycling. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can be sold on the commodities market for $32. Do the math.
Sources of Plastic Bag Litter
A study in 1975 showed that oceangoing vessels dumped 8 million pounds of plastic into our seas annually. Since then, ocean dumping is more closely regulated, although much of it still probably occurs. But those plastic bags and other non-degradable plastic litter also gets into the waterways through streams and storm sewers. Plastic bags have been found floating north of the Arctic Circle and as far south as the Falkland Islands.
According to the National Marine Debris Monitoring program, plastic bags account for more than 10% of the debris washed up on U.S. coastlines.
Plastic bags photodegrade over time into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers, according to CNN.com.
The effects on wildlife are catastrophic. Birds become terminally entangled. Nearly 200 different species of sea life, including whales, dolphins, seals, and turtles die due to ingesting plastic bags they mistake for food.
What We Can Do
We can use cloth reusable bags. I cloth bag, taken to every retail establishment visited, can replace:
· 6 bags/week
· 24 bags/month
· 288 bags/year
· 22,176 bags in an average lifetime
If only 1 out of 5 people in our country did this, we would save:
1,330,560,000,000 bags over our lifetime!
What Other Countries and Other Cities are doing
· Countries who have banned or are banning plastic bags: Bangladesh, China, Rwanda, Israel, Canada, Western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africe, Taiwan, Singapore
· Ireland led Europe by taxing plastic bags in 2002 and has reduced consumption by 90%
· In March 2007, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags. Oakland and Boston are considering a ban.
Another Huge Benefit of Banning Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, a thermoplastic made from oil. Decreasing plastic bags reduces foreign oil dependence. China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year due to their ban on free plastic bags.
Cut the Plastic!
In this green, recycling aura many of us live in, we can convince ourselves that it’s okay to use those convenient plastic bags and not have to worry about bringing our own bags, because we recycle! There are some grim statistics on that approach:
EPA data shows that between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Of those, less than 1% are recycled. However, increasing that percentage isn’t a solution. Jared Blumenfelt, Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment tells it like it is:
There are harsh economics behind bag recycling. It costs $4,000 to process and recycle one ton of plastic bags, which can be sold on the commodities market for $32. Do the math.
Sources of Plastic Bag Litter
A study in 1975 showed that oceangoing vessels dumped 8 million pounds of plastic into our seas annually. Since then, ocean dumping is more closely regulated, although much of it still probably occurs. But those plastic bags and other non-degradable plastic litter also gets into the waterways through streams and storm sewers. Plastic bags have been found floating north of the Arctic Circle and as far south as the Falkland Islands.
According to the National Marine Debris Monitoring program, plastic bags account for more than 10% of the debris washed up on U.S. coastlines.
Plastic bags photodegrade over time into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers, according to CNN.com.
The effects on wildlife are catastrophic. Birds become terminally entangled. Nearly 200 different species of sea life, including whales, dolphins, seals, and turtles die due to ingesting plastic bags they mistake for food.
What We Can Do
We can use cloth reusable bags. I cloth bag, taken to every retail establishment visited, can replace:
· 6 bags/week
· 24 bags/month
· 288 bags/year
· 22,176 bags in an average lifetime
If only 1 out of 5 people in our country did this, we would save:
1,330,560,000,000 bags over our lifetime!
What Other Countries and Other Cities are doing
· Countries who have banned or are banning plastic bags: Bangladesh, China, Rwanda, Israel, Canada, Western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africe, Taiwan, Singapore
· Ireland led Europe by taxing plastic bags in 2002 and has reduced consumption by 90%
· In March 2007, San Francisco became the first U.S. city to ban plastic bags. Oakland and Boston are considering a ban.
Another Huge Benefit of Banning Plastic Bags
Plastic bags are made from polyethylene, a thermoplastic made from oil. Decreasing plastic bags reduces foreign oil dependence. China will save 37 million barrels of oil each year due to their ban on free plastic bags.
Cut the Plastic!
