Reusable Bags - Twenty-Five Reasons to Go Reusable!

2019 SOUTH AMBOY GREEN WEEK Reusable Bags - Twenty-Five Reasons to Go Reusable! A plastic shopping bag can Plastic bags don't 1 2 3 The cost to recycle plastic take anywhere from 15 to 1000 biodegrade, but are at risk for bags so outweighs their value years to decompose. In a photo degradation, light that most recycling facilities will compressed landfill, deprived of exposure dissolving them into not take them, leading more and atmosphere to help them toxic polymer particles. Most more to just be thrown out with biodegrade, paper bags don't often, when this happens, it the rest of the trash. fare much better. happens in the ocean. 4 According to the Wall Street 5 The United States alone uses 6 Thanks to their light weight, Journal, only 1% of plastic bags approximately 100 billion new plastic bags are the debris most are recycled world-wide; the rest plastic bags per year - the likely to fly away from landfills, are left to live on indefinitely in average person goes through settling instead in trees, storm landfills. between 350 and 500. drains, beaches, and the ocean. 9 According to the British 7 Public agencies in California 8 Plastic bags make up over Antarctic Survey, discarded plastic bags have been found as alone spend over $300 million on 10% of washed-up debris far north as the Arctic Circle coastal litter clean-up per year. polluting the US coastline. and as far south as The Falkland Islands. 10 An estimated one million Made from petroleum birds and 100,000 turtles and 11 12 It takes 12 million barrels other sea animals die of products and natural gas, plastic of oil to produce the amount of starvation each year after bags utilize nonrenewable plastic bags the US uses per ingesting discarded plastic bags resources, ultimately helping to year. which block their digestive drive up fuel prices. tracks. Think paper bags are 13 14 It requires 13% more better? The United States cuts 15 Made with chemicals energy to produce one single down 14 million trees per year processed at high temperatures, paper bag than to produce two simply to supply the demand for paper bag production releases plastic bags. paper shopping bags. many toxins into the atmosphere at much the same rate as plastic production. 17 Despite their high 18 In landfills, paper bags 16 Paper bags weigh nearly recyclability factor, research produce over twice as much ten times their counterparts in shows that only 20% of paper atmospheric waste as plastic, plastic, requiring more fuel to bags end up recycled while the making them questionable at ship them out to stores. rest share a fate with their plastic best as the superior choice for brethrens. the environment. Ireland, the first European 19 21 Reusable bags come in all country to impose a tax on them, 20 In the past five years, over sorts of smart and stylish shapes has decreased plastic shopping a dozen countries have banned or and prints, making your bag consumption by 90% since put a tax on disposable bags. shopping trips a little less 2002, reducing overall plastic bag routine and a little more fun. usage by 1.08 billion. In New York City, one less 22 Some grocery stores even 23 grocery bag per person would 24 The average reusable bag offer discounts for customers reduce waste by 5 million pounds has the lifespan of over seven who bring their own bags - now and save $250,000 in disposal hundred disposable plastic bags. that's incentive! costs. 25 Over a lifetime, use of reusable bags by just one person would save over 22,000 plastic bags. Isn't that even better incentive? .

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