Addressing the Plastic Bag Problem

Did you know that between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed each year?  China, Ireland, South Africa, Rwanda and many more countries have already moved towards reducing plastic bags.  Why can’t we? 
Plastic bags present a serious litter problem because they are lightweight and hard to contain.  They blow around and get stuck in trees and in waterways.  Plastic bags are:
·       Made from petroleum, a nonrenewable resource.
·       Non-biodegradable, breaking into smaller particles but never fully disappearing.
·       Mistaken for food by marine animals (particularly sea turtles).
·       One of the most numerous items of litter, along with cigarette butts and Styrofoam.
·       A major part of waste in our landfills.
What you can do:
·       Bring your own cloth bags to grocery stores and other stores.
·       Ask for a paper bag.
·       Ask your merchant to promote cloth bags.
·       Encourage development of bags from natural products.
·       Write your elected officials.

Be the first to comment

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published.


*


This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.