News Article: Consumers Worried about Plastic Bags' Impact on the Environment

Plastic bags are being consumed at a rate of more than 500 billion bags per year worldwide, according to an AP article from September 29th, Consumers Worried about Plastic Bags' Impact on the Environment.

The frightening thing: only 1 to 3 percent of those bags are recycled. That means that last year's 495 billion unrecycled plastic bags are sitting in landfills or, even worse, are littered about the Earth or making their way into our oceans. And wherever the bags land, they will rest there for hundreds of years before they break up into "toxic bits that mix with the soil and water."

One might ask, why use plastic bags then? According to the article, "manufacturers and retailers advocate plastic bags for their convenience, strength and protection to goods from outside contamination."

Seems they forgot that the bags are the things contaminating the outside.

Comments

Unknown said…
Not only are the plastic bags contaminating the outside, they are contaminating the very thing they are supposed to be protecting......what is inside the bag! Plastic is known to leech into food it makes contact with!

Use re-usable bags made of natural materials to replace both plastic and paper grocery store bags. Not only is that better for your health, but reduces consumption of single use bags by 99.9 %.
You can find ones for produce and bulk items at www.HandsOnHemp.com

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