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    • Plastic Facts

    Posted: Fri, 07/24/2009 - 10:59 am | Read 4744 | Commented 5 | Emailed 0
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    I just visited my new favorite website, www.reusablebags.com to buy some reusable lunch bags and stainless steel water bottles, and as I was clicking on every part of their site (as I usually do!) I found some HORRIFYING facts about plastic bags and what they do to the earth. If this doesn’t make you want to utilize reusable bags, I honestly don’t know what will. And, by the way, if America is really serious about reducing our dependency on foreign oil, just take a look at how many million barrels of oil are used to make PLASTIC BAGS: 12 million. Come on, make an effort; Shoprite, Acme, and Walmart all sell reusable bags. Be patriotic, stop using plastic!

    So here’s the facts, courtesy of www.reusablebags.com

    Introduced just over 25 years ago, the ugly truth about our plastic bag addiction is that society's consumption rate is now estimated at well over 500,000,000,000 (that's 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute.
    Single-use bags made of high-density polyethylene (HDPE) are the main culprit. Once brought into existence to tote your purchases, they'll accumulate and persist on our planet for up to 1,000 years. 


    Australians alone consume about 6.9 billion plastic bags each year, that's 326 per person. According to Australia's Department of Environment, an estimated 49,600,000 annually end up as litter. 


    In 2001, Ireland used 1.2 billion disposable plastic bags, or 316 per person. An extremely successful plastic bag tax, or PlasTax, introduced in 2002 reduced consumption by 90%. 


    According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags. 

    Four out of five grocery bags in the US are now plastic. 

    According to the Wall Street Journal, Target, the second-largest retailer in the U.S., purchases 1.8 billion bags a year. 


    Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food. 


    In a dramatic move to stem a tide of 60,000 metric tons of plastic bag and plastic utensil waste per year, Taiwan banned both last year. 


    According to the BBC, only 1 in 200 plastic bags in the UK are recycled. 


    As part of Clean Up Australia Day, in one day nearly 500,000 plastic bags were collected. Unfortunately, each year in Australia an estimated 50,000,000 plastic bags end up as litter. 


    The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store. 

    Each high quality reusable bag you use has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime. The bag will pay for itself if your grocery store offers a $.05 or $.10 credit per bag for bringing your own bags. 


    Windblown plastic bags are so prevalent in Africa that a cottage industry has sprung up harvesting bags and using them to weave hats, and even bags. According to the BBC one group harvests 30,000 per month. 


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    Wed, 08/05/2009 - 7:07pm - Posted by: Tanya

    Tanya
    Be a Friend to Eco

    You've made some very good points allisonfaith, who likes to be swimming in the ocean with a plastic bag wrapping itself around their legs? (Or be a bird completely encased in one, as in the photo) I think the cons of single use plastic bags definitely outweigh any pros.

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    Tue, 08/04/2009 - 10:18am - Posted by: allisonfaith81

    Without a doubt I agree with Tanya. It seems that the first two posts only chose to look at half of the picture and process that a plastic bag goes through during its lifecycle. You also need to take into account the amount of fuel that is used to transport plastic bags to retail outlets all over the world, let alone production. Yes reusable bags are not guilt free when it comes to shipping and fuel expenditure, but at least their transportation occurs once since the bag is kept and used again. With plastic bags you need to take into account the trash or recycling (even though plastic bags can't technically be recycled) trucks that get rid of them after their 30 second use from inside Wawa to the car seat.

    It seems that some people are happy living in their self fulfilling prophecy. If the demand for reusable bags was greater, us greedy Americans would see the profit margain and bring their production back to our shores. Until the demand is there, our "get the money and get out" philosophy will reign at the expense of trashing the land and sea.

    Also, you plastic bag lovers haven't thought about the impact of dirty beaches and dying fish stock on tourism. We live in an area where the economy is based on the cleanliness of our beaches and the health of the fish. The minute that goes, we will all be dead in the water...clutching on to our single use plastic bags for dear life.

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    Thu, 07/30/2009 - 10:19pm - Posted by: Tanya

    Thank you for your very passionate response kenholmes, are you denying that plastic bags are a problem for our environment? What is your solution for the billions that are decomposing in our landfills releasing toxins as they break down? I agree with you 100% that we all need to REUSE first, have you tried reusing plastic shopping bags? They have holes in them after the first use. I understand that a company that sells reusable bags will want to show plastic bags in a bad light, but it's not just businesses that present these facts. The amount of oil saved might be miniscule, but I feel that our every action produces an impact, and it might be a tiny impact, but we should still do what we can when we can. If you are dead set against the usual reusable bags you might consider the bags that terracycle makes, from plastic shopping bags. They're made in America (possibly even in NJ). And if you love plastic bags I'd really like to know why!

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    Mon, 07/27/2009 - 4:20pm - Posted by: kenholmes

    Oh, Tanya ... this is just proof that anyone can blog about stuff whether they are smart, dumb, informed, or just spouting nonsense.

    Where to begin... reusablebags.com is in business to SELL BAGS. They market their bags by demonizing the competition. The facts they present are very one sided.

    12 million barrels of oil is about 1/10 of 1% of the oil we use, and reuducing a fraction of that isn't even a noticable change. Besides, most bags in the US are made with natural gas, and again, only about 1/10 of 1% is made into plastic bags.

    Big numbers don't always mean big impact. Ireland's tax resulted in 90% drop in one type of bag, but sales of packaged bags went up about 400% for a net gain in plastic bags going to the landfill.

    Africa and other developing nations have a serious litter problem because the west imported our lust for capitalism and consumer culture without also intruducing any infrastructure to deal with the waste. It's a waste problem, and it isn't just plastic bags, it's everything. We need to stop people from littering. Blaming bag manufacturers for litter is like blaming Toyota when a drunk driver in a camry causes a wreck.

    And really, you want to bring patriotism into the debate? OK, how about this. Most plastic bags are made domestically, while ALL of the bags reusablebags.com sells are imports and their sales don't benefit the US economy.

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    Mon, 07/27/2009 - 3:09pm - Posted by: pfielding6

    So you visit an enviornmental website and get only one side of the story, SURPRISE, SURPRISE. For instance, did you know that nearly 100% of the multi use plastic bags made in the US are produced from Polyethylene which is made from natural gas and not oil. And the Ireland ban which is held up as the model certainly did reduce plastic bag usage, but the sale of garbage bags has incerased by some 400%. Don't have the space to give you all of the other counterpoints including the exportation of American jobs by buying reusable bags (they're all made in China you know) and the fact that it takes more energy and resources to produce the the reusable when compared to the multi use plastic bag. I'd encourage all of you to become more informed and recognize this issue for what it is, a liter issue which we as humans have the ultimate control over. The best way to oombat the issue, REDUCE, REUSE, RECYCLE!

    In the Green

    By Tanya Hunter

    Tanya is a wife, mom, and student at ACCC. She is trying, in today’s disposable times, to be a “green mom”. Like life, living green is a journey that starts with a single step. Tanya is passionate about sharing ideas and tips from her own life that can inspire others to be "A Friend to Eco."

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