The Danger of Plastic Bags

Data released by the United States Environ¬mental Protection Agency shows that somewhe¬re between 500 billion and a trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide each year. Less than 1% of bags are recycled. It cost more to recycle a bag than to produce a new one.



“There’s harsh economics behind bag recy¬cling: It costs $4,000 to process and recycle 1 ton of plastic bags, which can then be sold on the commodities market for $32” . - Jared Blumenfeld (Director of San Francisco’s Department of the Environment).

Then…Where Do They Go? A study in 1975, showed oceangoing ves¬sels together dumped 8 mi¬llion pounds of plastic annually. The r e a l reason that the world’s landfills weren’t overflowing with plastic was because most of it ended up in an ocean-fill.

Bags get blown around to different parts of our lands, and to our seas, lakes and rivers. Bags find their way into the sea via drains and sewage pipes.

Plastic bags have been found floating nor¬th of the Arctic Circle near Spitzbergen, and as far south as the Falkland Islands. Plastic bags account for over 10 percent of the debris washed up on the U.S. coastline

Plastic bags photodegrade:Over time they break down into smaller, more toxic petro- polymers which eventually contamínate soils and waterways.

As a consequence microscopic particles can enter the food chain. The effect on wildlife can be catastrophic, Birds become terminally en¬tangled. Nearly 200 different species of sea life including whales, dolphins, seals and turtles die due to plastic bags. They die after inges¬ting plastic bags which they mistake for food.

So what do we do? If we use a cloth bag, we can save 6 bags a week. That’s 24 bags a month! That’s 288 bags a ...