and found some good stuff in today’s paper to share:
Why Keep Harping About Plastic Bags?
Because we keep using them. Don’t have to. Some countries and cities have banned them or apply a surcharge for using them.
1. Plastic bags are a petroleum product and a waste of a non-renewable resource. Americans use 100 billion bags a year, requiring 12 million barrels of oil.
2. They don’t biodegrade. They photodegrade, becoming bits of plastic dust, a contaminant, and even that takes many, many decades.
3. They are rarely recycled (only about 1 percent) and become litter pollution. They sully streams and clog roadside drains. Plastic bags are a top debris item encountered during coastal cleanups.
4. They endanger wildlife, particularly sea life. Animals become entangled in them, get suffocated by them or ingest them. Every square kilometer in the ocean contains an estimated 18,000 pieces of plastic.
What to do:
1. Bring reusable bags to the store (AND NOT JUST TO THE GROCERY STORE–EVERYWHERE!!!). If you only have one or two items, don’t use a bag.
2. Choose paper instead? NO WAY! Manufacturing paper bags creates water and air pollution and uses lots of energy.
3. Recycle or reuse your plastic bags.
