Do you know that by 2003 statistics, 500 billion plastic bags were consumed yearly?
Yet less than 1% was recycled because it costs more to recycle than to make new ones. Plastic bags was found floating north of the Arctic Circle near Spitzbergen. They are found as far south as the Falkland Islands.
Plastic bags photo degrades. Over time they break down into smaller, more toxic petro-polymers, which would eventually contaminates soil and water ways. Microscopic particles of such polymers are entering the food chain and we have yet to see the full effects on wild life. The pictures I saw on line was heart rending, birds were entangled in plastic bags and starved. Whales, dolphins, seals and turtles would mistake them for food. They die after eating plastic bags.
Ireland took the lead in Europe by taxing plastic bags in 2002. Consumption had been reduced by 90%. Israel, Canada, Western India, Botswana, Kenya, Tanzania, South Africa, Taiwan, and Singapore have banned or are working towards banning plastic bags. On March 27, 2007, San Francisco became the first US city to ban ...
I know I am contributing to the contamination whenever I forgot to bring reusable containers to buy food. Even when I buy a loaf of bread, I end up with one plastic bag. As much as in using trolley and boxes to transport groceries home, it is just lessening the number of plastic bags consumed. The invention of thermoplastic made from petroleum is what got us into this self-imposed bind.
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