Both of these patches of trash in the ocean consist mostly of plastic debris. Lot's of this is water bottles, and other containers that don't break down easily, but there is a lot of this that is also the simple one time use plastic bags.
Reusable bags can take up to 450 years to biodegrade! The process of making paper bags creates more pollution then plastic. The recycling process for plastic itself is a dirty, pollution causing process. Need to know more? Click here for 25 reasons why you shouldn't be using anything but reusable shopping bags.
There's more when it comes to the bags too. Cheap reusable bags aren't doing you any good either. Get yourself about 5 or so good quality bags, and never worry about them again. I suggest Flip and Tumble or Envirosax. My favorite cheap bag is from Ikea. I've had my 99 cent bags for YEARS! Crafty types can make their own (which I am crafty, but I haven't done that yet...I'm busy!!).
Source:
1. Reuse this bag
2. Reusit!
3. Altantic Garbage Patch
We all know we should use re-usable shopping bags, but to get these occasional reminders (and nasty photos) every once in a while helps us recall us why it's so important! Thanks!
ReplyDelete-Deb for Ecover
A few years ago, here in Ireland the government started charge 22 cents tax on each plastic bag in the grocery stores. Most people now bring a reusable bag to the shoot with them.
ReplyDeleteWhen I visit the States, I am amazed by the amount of plastic bags the store clerks use to bag my purchases.
In one store I was buying a candy bar. As the clerk went to put it in a plastic bag I said "no bag please". Because she had started to bag my item, she threw the bag in the trash!!!!
How awful! Sometimes I forget my reusable bags, but there are so many places that take them for recycling no one should be tossing them in the trash. :(
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