Plastic Bag Litter Kills

For some time now, I’ve been teaching a class called Aging with Pizzazz, one that helps people maximize their aging quality of life by using their experience and education to make a difference. I encourage people to become activists for a better world. While I spend no small amount of time volunteering for the Red Cross, I could do more. The question for me, has been, as it is for all of us, which of all the issues about which I feel strongly, should I devote myself to? Is it better to do a little for several issues, or really make an effort to become informed and make more of a difference for one cause?

I already know that answer. Years ago when my son was in Jr. High, I was volunteering with so many agencies in addition to my job that he came to me and said, “Mom, you are going to have to give up something. (And he hoped it wasn’t him!) So I said no to everyone except the Red Cross, reasoning that an in-depth knowledge of one organization would increase both my commitment to volunteering and my value to the Red Cross. That proved to be one of my best decisions.

I’m again at that crossroads: What to do: health care reform, global warming issues, homelessness, world ecology. It had to be something large enough to be a significant problem, and small enough to be able to take on. The answer turns out to be: plastic bag litter. Maybe that doesn’t seem like much in the whole scheme of things, but we really aren’t doing much about it in this country. Australia has some major plastic bag issues going, and we should, too. What makes it personal for me is our world travels. Everywhere we go to beautiful unspoiled places, the beauty is marred by plastic bag litter: Thailand, Costa Rica, Mexico. And it’s not only an eyesore. Plastic bags kill.

According to PlanetArk (www.planetark.com/plasticbags):

• In the marine environment, plastic bag litter kills at least 100,000 birds, whales, seals, and turtles each year. After an animal is killed by plastic bags, its body decomposes and the plastic is released back into the environment where it can kill again. Plastic bags can take 1000 years to decompose.
• Planet Ark has worked with a number of communities in Australia to become Plastic Bag Free Towns.

Since March 2002, Ireland has reduced its plastic check-out bag usage by 90%.

I’ll have more information on the problem, as well as resources for reusable bags, and other groups doing things. Not only has Ireland reduced its usage, there are major initiatives to either heavily tax their use or ban them all together going on in Taiwan, South Africa, and Bangladesh. Several other regions, including England and some U.S. cities are considering similar approaches.