In response to my plastic bag 'Erks" I thought I would post some information on plastic bags. Thanks for reading and for your comments! I adore you all....Each year, an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That comes out to over one million per minute. Billions end up as litter each year.
According to the EPA, over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
According to The Wall Street Journal, the U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. (Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion)
According to the industry publication Modern Plastics, Taiwan consumes 20 billion bags a year - 900 per person.
The sad effect:
Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.
Plastic bags don't biodegrade, they photodegrade - breaking down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating soil and waterways and entering the food web when animals accidentally ingest.
Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.
Each high quality reusable shopping bag you use has the potential to eliminate hundreds, if not thousands, of plastic bags over its lifetime.
Every year, Americans throw away some 100 Billion plastic bags after they've been used to transport the smallest of things or one item from the drugstore or supermarket. This is the equivalent to dumping 12 Million barrels of oil.
http://www.reusablebags.com/ (some info from)
5 comments:
I hear ya Raquell, and truly I have thought about this. But, I can't seem to make it work in my brain. #1 Remember the eco friendly bags & my kids. #2 remember to get the eco friendly bags from the car before going into the store. #3 Not having them destroyed at the bottom of the cart by the groceries stacked on top and the kids sitting in the cart!
If you have any suggestions on how to make this work, let me know! Albertsons have them is so many fun colors, and I really have considered buying a bunch, but my brain still has those few issues!
I'm sorry KT, I'll have to think about that for you. It was an issue for me remembering the bags too, now I just always keep at least one in my car. if it comes down to remembering the kids or the bags, I'm glad the kids win that! LOL!
That's so sad about the animals that try to eat plastic bags. That's been my experience every time I go to a chain restaurant like Chilli's or Red Robin. I'd take the plastic bag over their food. So I went to the grocery store this morning to buy my eco-friendly bags and they were $1.99 each. I wasn't sure how many to buy and I didn't want to spend too much. So I chickened out basically. Le sigh. Where did you get yours? And how many bags do you need to carry about a cart load of groceries. Thanks for the help! You are saving the earth, one blogger at a time!
Don't get me wrong, though. The cost is no excuse, I'm buying the bags. What bags I buy and how many is what I'm currently working on...
I have 3 bags. 2 from Whole foods, they are big and green and one from Ralph's (So Cal Version of Smith's)I also have one other small bag that folds up really small, its a canvas bag that I carry in my purse. Its like a canvas tote, it can carry a few items. I usually only use the 2 or 3 larger onces if its a cart full of groceries. They carry a lot and they can handle weight.
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