Just Say ‘No” to Plastic Bags
Sunny
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“The ocean is like a soup of plastic mostly
composed of fragments invisible to the human eyes, killing life and affecting
dangerously our health.” –
Pierre Fidenci, President, Endangered Species International
SurfWriter
Girls think that it’s time to talk about plastic bags and the impact they have
on our lives and the environment.
Next
time you run into the supermarket for a quart of milk, shop in a department
store, or buy something on Main Street at the beach, don’t just think about the
purchase you’re making, but the bag
you carry it home in. Is it a plastic, paper or reusable bag? Your answer makes
a big difference to the future of our planet.
Close to 400 billion plastic bags
are used in the United States every year. That’s more than 1,200 bags per person
per year.
About 100 billion plastic bags are shopping
bags.
Less than 2% of plastic bags in America
are recycled.
Californians
receive 600 plastic bags every second. Most of these are used only one time and
then discarded.
Globally
we use more than 260 million tons of
plastic each year.
Because of plastic pollution in the
environment thousands of marine animals and more than1 million birds die each
year.
The United Nations estimates that there are over 45,000 pieces of
plastic litter per every square mile of ocean. Much of this litter is plastic
bags.
Animals often mistakenly ingest
plastic bags, which clog their intestines and result in death by starvation.
Fish and birds frequently get entangled
in plastic bags, become incapacitated and die.
SurfWriter Girls learned that even so-called
“biodegradable” plastic bags don’t really break up fully and the toxic
particles they give off can enter the environment and the food chain.
On
May 11, 2012, Hawaii became the first state to ban plastic bags.
Most
of the marine debris in the world is comprised of plastic materials (between 60
to 80% of total marine debris). Field studies have shown that plastics in the
ocean are concentrated in the highest densities in the Northern Hemisphere, near
urban areas. The longevity of some plastics is estimated to be hundreds to
thousands of years!
To
illustrate the plastics problem, the students at Red Hill Elementary School in Tustin, CA, turned plastic trash into a giant Coral Reef
sculpture made from 100s of plastic grocery bags. Audrey Benedict, a student at
the school, shared this video.
What can you do?
Refuse
Just say “No” to single-use and disposable plastics such as bags and bottles, straws, cups, plates, silverware and razors.
Just say “No” to single-use and disposable plastics such as bags and bottles, straws, cups, plates, silverware and razors.
Reduce
Reduce your waste: buy vegetables without prepackaging and/or look for products and packaging made from renewable resources. Look for products that have the least amount of disposable parts.
Reduce your waste: buy vegetables without prepackaging and/or look for products and packaging made from renewable resources. Look for products that have the least amount of disposable parts.
Reuse
Reuse rather than throw away. Glass and stainless steel containers can be used over and over.
Reuse rather than throw away. Glass and stainless steel containers can be used over and over.
Recycle
Recycle. Choose products and packaging that can be recycled. Then make sure that you dispose of them properly.
Recycle. Choose products and packaging that can be recycled. Then make sure that you dispose of them properly.
Join the Surfrider
Foundation in its efforts to
Ban the Bag
and Rise Above Plastics!
Don’t be a Bag Monster!
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