You've heard a lot about
recycling. Perhaps your community has curbside recycling, and you've already
gotten with the program. You dutifully separate your glass bottles and your
metal cans and your cardboard and newspapers and plastic and put them in the
recycling bin every week. Congratulations!
But there may be
something else that you could be doing that you're not thinking of. The next
time you go to the supermarket, think about those disposable plastic bags that
you get when you go through the checkout line. They seem inconsequential...
they are just flimsy little things that go right into the trash. No harm done,
right?
Think again. According
to reusablebags.com, a public-interest group, plastic grocery bags are a huge
global problem. Check out these statistics:
• Each year, an
estimated 500 billion to 1 trillion plastic bags are consumed worldwide. That's
over one million bags per minute.
• According to the U.S.
Environmental Protection Agency (EPA), over 380 billion plastic bags, sacks and
wraps are consumed in the U.S. each year.
• According to The
Wall Street Journal, the U.S.
uses 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. The estimated cost to
retailers is $4 billion.
• Every year in
Washington state--a typical U.S. example--people throw away about 270,000 tons
of plastic bags and wrappings. That's nearly five percent of all garbage going
to landfills and incinerators in the state, according to Gretchen Newman,
recycling coordinator for the Washington State Department of Ecology.
Plastic bags end up in
landfills, in the nation's waterways, on the sides of highways, in the ocean,
fluttering from the branches of trees--you name it. And they aren't harmless.
Hundreds of thousands of sea turtles, whales, and other marine mammals die
every year from eating discarded plastic bags. Unlike many other materials,
plastic bags don't biodegrade. (Biodegradable matter is defined as either
organic material or artificial material that is similar enough to plant and
animal matter to be consumed by microorganisms.) Plastic bags photodegrade,
which means they break down into smaller and smaller toxic bits contaminating
soil and waterways. They enter the food web when animals accidentally ingest them.
Some
nations, states, and cities are taking action. Plastic bag litter has become
such an environmental problem that Ireland, Taiwan, South Africa, Australia,
and Bangladesh have heavily taxed plastic bags or banned their use outright.
Several other regions, including England and some U.S. cities, are considering
similar actions. In 2007, San Francisco's Board of Supervisors approved
groundbreaking legislation to outlaw plastic checkout bags at large
supermarkets. Similar measures are being considered in Boston; Baltimore;
Oakland, Calif.; Portland, Oregon; Santa Monica, California; and Steamboat
Springs, Colorado.
China uses more plastic
bags than any other country, and every year China uses 37 million barrels of
crude oil to manufacture plastic bags. Amazingly, in January 2008, China's
State Council ordered a nationwide ban on plastic bags. The cabinet demanded
all stores (from major supermarkets to small shops) go plastic bag-free after
June 1, 2008. The nationwide ban will no doubt help improve China's
environmental image, especially during the Beijing Olympic Games.
What's a diva to do?
It's easy! Most U.S. supermarkets sell reusable tote bags. Typically they cost
a dollar each. They're bigger and stronger than plastic bags and they often
look nice, too, with attractive ecological designs. The next time you're
shopping, pick up five or six reusable bags. Stash them in your car so that
they'll be handy the next time you shop. Reusable bags will help you eliminate
hundreds, if not thousands, of the plastic and paper shopping bags that are
choking our planet. It's an easy and fun way to do your part!
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