Green Cotton

Photosource: Guardian UK

Last spring on Green Cotton we posted an article on plastic bag usage, sharing the rather unpalatable statistics on our global usage. 

If we had to name our nation’s top ten environmental accomplishments in 2008, I seriously doubt that recycling plastic bags would make it on the list. We currently recycle a mere 1-3% of plastic bags (we have 97% room for improvement).

Unfortunately, making matters worse, it is currently more expensive to recycle plastic bags and bring them back into the market than it is to make new ones. No wonder companies are producing, producing, producing and not recycling. All the more reason for us consumers to rise up and make change happen on our own. Our current economic downturn has plummeted the recycling further, making it even more economically unappealing to corporations.

So let’s revisit the statistics as we kick off 2009:

Plastic Bag Consumption Facts

• Each year, we consume an estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags 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.
• Americans alone discarded more than 3.3 million tons of low- and high-density polyethylene bags, sacks, and wraps in 2000 (EPA).
• The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually.
• Taiwan consumes 20 billion bags a year—900 per person (industry publication, Modern Plastics).
• Four out of every five bags handed out at grocery stores in the USA are plastic.

Estimated Cost of Plastic Bags in US

• Estimated cost to retailers is $4 billion (source EPA.gov)

Environmental Cost of Plastic Bags

• Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales and other marine mammals die every year from eating discarded plastic bags mistaken for food.
• Turtles think the bags are jellyfish, their primary food source.
• On land, many cows, goats and other animals suffer a similar fate to marine life when they accidentally ingest plastic bags while foraging for food.
• Plastic bags are among the 12 items of debris most often found in coastal cleanups, according to the nonprofit Center for Marine Conservation.

- Sources (reusablebags.com and verdavivo blog)

Recycling Facts

• Plastic bags are rarely recycled, merely 1-3% currently in the US
• Plastic bags don’t degrade easily in natural environments nor landfills. In fact they do not biodegrade, they photo-degrade, which can take up to 1,000 years breaking into smaller and smaller particles (often toxic to surrounding ecosystems).
• It is more expensive to recycle plastic bags and bring them back into the marketplace than to create new ones.

Curbing and Banning Plastic Bag Consumption

• One of the poorest countries in the world, Bangladesh has banned plastic bags since 2002
• China has even banned free plastic bags (resulting in 27 million barrels of oil saved)
• San Francisco has banned plastic bags in stores
• Certain counties in NY have banned plastic bags and LA has imposed strict limitations
• Whole Foods and Trade Joe’s have banned plastic bags
• Some retailers offer incentives to bring your own; few however impose an extra cost for plastic bag use

So where does the solution for change lie? With us consumers.

According to last Spring’s plastic bag survey on Green Cotton the number one barrier to change was consumer awareness….So that’s why we are posting this again, and its also why we ask you to take this survey now (45 seconds of your time) if you have not already done so. It will make a difference.

Take this plastic bag survey right now and be a part of the change.

http://www.surveymonkey.com/s.aspx?sm=2WbhOHprWJwBI8YLpimD8A_3d_3d

We’ll post the results of the survey in a week.

Primary sources for this blog post: resuablebags.com, EPA.gov, Trellisearth.com as well as several other websites listed above as hyperlinks.

Photosource top: Guardian UK