Made out of low density polyethylene, they are among the products that are most commonly used by consumers due to their light weight, availability, low cost and huge variety of types.
However, apart from these advantages for use, plastic bags are utterly dangerous for the environment. Their production process consume large amounts of non-renewable petrolium. They are not biodegradable, ie. they can not be degrade by biological activity, such as enzymatic action, altering the chemical structure of the material.
Morover, only 1-2 percent of plastic bags in USA are recycled, the rest end up in landfills polluting the soil and water, where needless to say they pose a serious danger for wild animals and birds.
Do you need all those plastic?
Most people think that plastic bags are an indispensible part in our daily lives. We grab them everywhere, in malls, grocery, bookstores… For the last one year, I started resisting plastic bag offers in all such occasions and drastically reduced my use.Americans throw away 100 billion plastic bags yearly.
Made out of low density... more
As we close in on the first Ban the Bag Day September 26th, please support our push to ban the bag forever by signing the petition.
On September 26th ask everyone you know to say NO to single use plastic shopping bags.
Tell everyone to sign the Petition to STOPlasticBags.
Thank You
Greenhouse Neutral Foundation & supporters - United Nations Environment ProgramAs we close in on the first Ban the Bag Day September 26th, please support our push to... more
Have you ever lost a pair of flip flop going on a dinghy? No problem, gulfstream could have take them in Kenya: overthere a local company is able to make a businnes of garbage. Flip flop are converted in something else: in this way plastic is recycled, 150 people are working and turtles start to lay eggs, again.
So a country in Africa can teach something to the polluted Western world.Have you ever lost a pair of flip flop going on a dinghy? No problem, gulfstream could... more
Garbage is a problem of developing countries, too. It's the case of Democratic Republic of Congo and of its capital, Kishasa. It had any kind of waste all over the city, that's why the Congolese ecologist Party has launched a campaign entitled "A kilo of plastic bags for a dollar".
So people, overwhelmed by hunger, started to collect bags and now they are succeding where the government is not. Unfortunately they don't receive a dollar for their plastic bags but only a quarter. We can at least hope the government starts give them back what they would expect.Garbage is a problem of developing countries, too. It's the case of Democratic... more
Un Paese che vede la spazzatura aumentare in modo impressionante è riuscito grazie alla campagna ecologista "Un chilo di buste di plastica per un dollaro" a convincere molti congolesi a raccogliere buste in plastica.
In un mese 200mila persone hanno raccolto 15 tonnellate di sacchetti non biodegradabili. Così il popolo, sopraffatto dalla fame, è riuscito (per meno di un dollaro al giorno) a risolvere il problema spazzatura. Mentre il governo resta impotente nell'angolo.Un Paese che vede la spazzatura aumentare in modo impressionante è riuscito grazie... more
Supermarkets in Britain are giving out almost half as many plastic shopping bags as they were three years ago after a campaign to slash use of the environmental hazards, officials have saidSupermarkets in Britain are giving out almost half as many plastic shopping bags as... more
The number of plastic bags given to customers by Scottish supermarkets has almost halved in the last three years.
Seven supermarkets signed up to the voluntary Scottish Government scheme which aimed to reduce the number of bags given out by 50%.
This led to the equivalent of nearly 39 million fewer bags being used in May 2009 compared with May 2006 - a 49.4% reduction - new figures showed.
The reduction was equivalent to about 460 million fewer bags over the course of a year.
A similar scheme was later adopted across the whole of the UK.The number of plastic bags given to customers by Scottish supermarkets has almost... more
It began in 2007 with a few traders in the small town of Modbury in Devon refusing to give out plastic bags. But yesterday their small green revolution reached a national milestone: British shoppers have nearly halved the number of single-use bags they get through.
Figures from Wrap, the government's waste and resources programme, show that whereas 870m single-use plastic bags were handed out in the UK in May 2006, the figure for May 2009 was down to 450m – a 48% reduction, and 4,740 tonnes to send to landfill against 8,890 tonnes in May 2006.
Nationwide rejection of the bags, which take up to 1,000 years to decompose and clog drains and pollute oceans, followed a government challenge to retailers to voluntarily halve bag use by June 2009.
Yesterday the Welsh Assembly government said the dramatic reduction in bag use would not affect its proposal to introduce a 15p charge on single-use carrier bags. "Wales is still using 27m plastic bags a month, or 324m a year, " said the environment minister Joan Davidson.
Rebecca Hosking, the BBC filmmaker who persuaded Modbury and other towns to reject plastic bags after seeing how they killed wildlife around the world, yesterday said the supermarkets had fought hard against the voluntary reduction in bag use. "What has been achieved is fantastic but they have complained non-stop like little children. You'd have thought they were being asked to go on a vegan diet or something. This has not been difficult at all. No-one has lost trade, or gone out of business in Modbury or anywhere else," she said.It began in 2007 with a few traders in the small town of Modbury in Devon refusing to... more
How can we possibly stop using the plastic in our life..plastic bags or plastic container that are bad for our health?
Here are some great tips to live without plastic!
Say NO to plastic!
www.alternativechannel.tv
-The international Web TV devoted to sustainable developmentHow can we possibly stop using the plastic in our life..plastic bags or plastic... more
A strict Chinese limit on ultra-thin plastic bags significantly reduced bag-related pollution nationwide during the past year. The country avoided the use of 40 billion bags, according to government estimates.
Plastic bags are commonly found in waterways, on beaches, and in other "unofficial" dumping sites across China. Litter caused by the notorious bags has been referred to as "white pollution."
The State Council, China's parliament, responded in January 2008 by prohibiting shops, supermarkets, and sales outlets from providing free plastic bags that are less than 0.025 millimeters thick.
The State Administration of Industry and Commerce also threatened to fine shopkeepers and vendors as much as 10,000 yuan (US$1,465) if they were caught distributing free bags.
In its first review of the ban, the National Development and Reform Commission (NDRC) announced earlier this month that supermarkets reduced plastic bag usage by 66 percent since the policy became effective last June. The limit in bag production saved China 1.6 million tons of petroleum, the NDRC estimated.
Prior to the ban, an estimated 3 billion plastic bags were used daily across China, creating more than 3 million tons of garbage each year. China consumed an estimated 5 million tons (37 million barrels) of crude oil annually to produce plastics for packaging.
The China Chain Store and Franchise Association undertook an analysis of the ban as well. The association announced earlier this month that foreign-owned and local supermarkets reduced plastic bag usage by 80 and 60 percent, respectively.
"Supermarket consumers are used to bringing along shopping bags and reusing plastic bags," an association statement said. "The awareness of environment is enhanced. The declined usage of plastic bags has no negative effect on the sales of supermarkets."
But compliance with the ban appears to be inconsistent across the country. A survey by Global Village, a Beijing-based environmental group, found that more than 80 percent of retail stores in rural regions continued to provide plastic bags free of charge.
The survey also found that nearly 96 percent of open food markets throughout Beijing continued to provide bags. The policy exempts the use of plastic packaging for raw meat and noodles for hygiene and safety reasons.
The commerce administration enforced the ban through a 600,000-strong army of regulators who inspected some 250,000 retail stores or markets, according to China Daily. The regulators dispensed about 2 million yuan (US$293,000) of fines.
Suiping Huaqiang Plastic, a 20,000-employee bag manufacturer, experienced the ban's economic effects almost immediately. The company went out of business last year, soon after the government announced the plastic bag policy.
Despite backlash from the plastics industry, numerous countries and cities worldwide have adopted bag limits in recent years. Mumbai, India, banned thin plastic bags in 2000 to prevent garbage from clogging storm drains during monsoon season. Bans or taxes have since been adopted in localities including Australia, Ireland, Italy, South Africa, and various U.S. cities. In Tanzania, selling a thin plastic bag risks the maximum penalty of six months in jail and a 1.5 million shilling (US$1,170) fine.
Depending on its composition, plastic debris can require more than a century to decompose, gradually breaking down into smaller pieces over time. The Pacific Ocean is home to a floating heap of debris estimated to be twice the size of France and to weigh at least 3 million tons.A strict Chinese limit on ultra-thin plastic bags significantly reduced bag-related... more
Plastic takes thousands of years to decompose — but 16-year-old science fair contestant Daniel Burd made it happen in just three months.
The Waterloo, Ontario high school junior figured that something must make plastic degrade, even if it does take millennia, and that something was probably bacteria.
(Hey, at between one-half and 90 percent of Earth’s biomass, bacteria’s a pretty safe bet for any biological mystery.)Plastic takes thousands of years to decompose — but 16-year-old science fair... more
San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is interviewed by Current Green's Leah Lamb about the new recycling and composting laws. The question was chosen by Huffington Post Green, and submitted by asherp. Newsom spoke to land fill diversion, zero waste, water bottle bans, plastic bag bans, landfill diversions, the garbage police, community gardens, composting, and the influence of Bill Bill McDonough and the cradle to cradle theory.San Francisco Mayor Gavin Newsom is interviewed by Current Green's Leah Lamb about the... more
Introduced just over 30 years ago in 1977, the ugly truth about our plastic bag addiction is that society's consumption rate is now estimated at well over 500,000,000,000 (that's 500 billion) plastic bags annually, or almost 1 million per minute.
The Greenhouse Neutral Foundation and its many friends and allies all around the world on Saturday September 26 2009 will call for the world to BAN THE BAG. Our vision will be that by the turn of the clock at midnight on December 31st 2010 they will be BANNED forever globally.
By signing this petition today you will have taken a simple step to make this happen.
Why is this so important?
Some of the ugly facts:
Once brought into existence to tote your purchases, they'll accumulate and persist on our planet for up to 1,000 years.
The U.S. goes through 100 billion plastic shopping bags annually. An estimated 12 million barrels of oil is required to make that many plastic bags. That’s more than 1,200 bags per US resident, per year. Four out of five grocery bags in the US are now plastic.
The average family accumulates 60 plastic bags in only four trips to the grocery store.
Australia, a country of only some 22 million or so, consumes about 6.9 billion plastic bags each year, that's 326 per person. According to Australia's Department of Environment, an estimated 49,600,000 annually end up as litter.
Every single piece of plastic ever manufactured is still on the planet.
It is in use, intact in landfills, as windblown litter, and also toxically contaminating global river systems and oceans.
There is an estimated 46,000 pieces of plastic in each square mile of ocean. Plastic bags cause over 100,000 sea turtle and other marine animal deaths every year when animals mistake them for food.
There are over 3,300 deaths of children each year in the US alone who die from asphyxiation from plastic bags.
WSJ Target, the second-largest retailer in the U.S., purchases 1.8 billion bags a year. In the U.S. alone $4 billion per year is spent by retailers giving away free plastic bags.
The simple act of saying NO to plastic bags is something every global citizen can do.
We have the choice and, the reasons to are clear.
Throughout the ongoing campaign Countries will be petitioned to implement a total ban on the use of plastic bags and confirm a date for their eradication.
Companies who presently support the use of plastic bags will be highlighted for their environmental impact and disregard to the outcome of their actions.
Consumers who support the use of plastic bags will be educated on the outcome of their choice and encouraged to say NO to plastic bags. Each high quality reusable bag used has the potential to eliminate an average of 1,000 plastic bags over its lifetime.
By signing this petition today you will have taken a simple step to make this happen. Spreading the word to BAN the BAG will be an environmental achievement you can, and will be proud of.
Thank you from Bob Willamson Founder & Chair and all at the Greenhouse Neutral Foundation and the global team of STOPlasticBags.STOPlasticBags
A GLOBAL PETITION TO BAN THE BAG
Sign here ………... more
The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is aiming for plastic bags to be manufactured with 40 percent recycled content by 2015, which is expected to reduce waste by 300 million pounds per year.
Meeting the goal will require two primary objectives be met:
1. The manufacturing process will need to be overhauled, so the plastic bag industry is looking to invest $50 million for this purpose
2. The industry will need to collect more plastic bags to provide the additional recycled content, although no specific numbers have been mentioned
The ACC says plastic bag recycling has increased by 27 percent from 2005 to 2007, when 830 million pounds were collected. This was also before large cities and states developed bag recycling programs in retail stores.
When plastic bags are collected for recycling, they are shredded into pellets that can be used for new bags as well as plastic lumber. Recycled content plastic bags usually look more green or gray than those without plastic content.
One potential obstacle for plastic collection is the rise in popularity of reusable bags, which allow customers to shop without using plastic bags at all. Whole Foods estimates that reusable bag use has tripled in the last year alone.
The new campaign has already received support from several retailers, including Walgreens and Publix, as well as regional groups like the Arizona Retailers Association, the California Retailers Association, the Illinois Retail Merchants Association, the Ohio Grocers Association and the Texas Retailers Association.The American Chemistry Council (ACC) is aiming for plastic bags to be manufactured... more
Article clipping:
The basic building block of modern day plastics is cellulose that is taken from petroleum, but toxic petrochemical compositions are not the only way to derive plastics.
Plastics can be derived from plant cellulose, and since hemp is the greatest cellulose producer on Earth (hemp hurds can be 85% cellulose), it only makes sense to make non-toxic, biodegradable plastic from hemp and other organics, instead of letting our dumps fill up with refuse.
Hemp plastic is tough, durable, contains no harmful chemicals,
is bio-degradable and looks fantastic!Article clipping:
The basic building block of modern day plastics is cellulose that... more
Plastic bags are handed out in their billions, used for a few minutes then discarded to pollute the earth for hundreds of years. Here we trace the life cycle of a plastic bag...
Use - For every one of us, 216 plastic bags a year are handed out. A typical free supermarket bag is used for an average of 20minutes before it is thrown away.
Landfill - A third of us use plastic bags as bin liners. Another third re-use them for shopping. But eventually, more than 98% end up in landfill. About 200million litter the countryside.
Decay - Plastic bags have only been around since the Thirties, so no one knows how long they last. But scientists estimate they take 400 to 1,000 years to vanish. Some are designed to turn into carbon dioxide, water and compost within a month or two - but only in a composter. Chemicals in some bags, particularly the inks used in printing, can leak and cause poisoning or turn into noxious compounds if burned. In the oceans, they can survive intact for years. A recent Greenpeace report found that one remote area, called the Pacific Gyre, a whirling current, contained more than a million items of plastic microdebris in every square kilometre of ocean surface.
Recycling - Only 5% of us recycle bags. UK facilities are so limited that about 100million a year are shipped back to China. There, they are shredded, melted and turned into plastic beads. The dyes and inks in bags do not make them harder to recycle - but they turn the plastic grey or black. The beads can be used to make new bags. Plastic bags are cheaper than paper bags, but may be worse for the environment. Four times as much energy is used to produce them and 85 times as much to recycle them, the US. Environmental Protection Agency says. But paper takes up nine times the space of a plastic bag at landfill. And paper bags are four times more expensive.
End of life - In the oceans, plastic bags and other waste kill a million sea birds and 100,000 animals such as whales, dolphins, turtles and seals, each year. Once the animal's body has rotted, the bag is released back into the sea, to kill again and again.Plastic bags are handed out in their billions, used for a few minutes then discarded... more
A haunting image of a sea turtle, struggling through the deep ocean waters as discarded plastic bags wrap themselves around its flippers and body.
These majestic animals are dying in alarming numbers because they mistake the flimsy translucent bags - which could in theory come from British supermarkets - for jellyfish, a key element of their diet.
Once swallowed by the turtle, the tough plastic becomes lodged in its gut, sealing the fate of the sea creature. The plastic is indigestible and wraps around the turtle's insides. Slowly, agonisingly, the animal starves to death.
The endangered Green Turtle provides a potent symbol of the deadly threat to wildlife and the blight on the natural world caused by throwaway plastic bags handed out free in their billions to shoppers.
The oil used to make a plastic bag takes millions of years to form in the Earth - the bag is used for a few minutes and it then lasts in the environment for 1,000 years. Is that a wise use of the material?'A haunting image of a sea turtle, struggling through the deep ocean waters as... more
Target: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor
Sponsored by: Save The Bay
Plastic bags and other marine debris cause serious problems for the health of our coast and bay shorelines. Each year an estimated million plastic bags make their way into San Francisco Bay, where they pollute the water and endanger the 500 species of animals that live in the Bay.
Plastic litter never biodegrades. It is an eyesore for our communities and costs local governments millions to clean up. The Governor's Ocean Protection Council will vote soon on whether or not to support local efforts to reduce plastic bag litter. Please ask Governor Schwarzenegger to be a leader in the effort to eliminate plastic bags in our communities. Hurry! The vote is set for April 23. Choose the Bay over the bag!
AddThis
deadline: 4-23-2009
goal: 5,000
Plastic bags and other marine debris cause serious problems for the health of our coast and bay shorelines. Each year an estimated one million plastic bags make their way into San Francisco Bay, where they pollute the water and endanger the 500 species of animals that live in the Bay.
Plastic litter never biodegrades. It is an eyesore for our communities and costs local governments millions to clean up. The Governor's Ocean Protection Council will vote soon on whether or not to support local efforts to reduce plastic bag litter.
Please ask Governor Schwarzenegger to be a leader in the effort to eliminate plastic bags in our communities. Hurry! The vote is set for April 23. Choose the Bay over the bag!
Thank you for making a difference to California's fragile ecosystems and wildlife habitat today.
Robyn E.
Care2 Petition Site TeamTarget: Arnold Schwarzenegger, Governor
Sponsored by: Save The Bay
Plastic bags and... more
The San Fransicso “Save the Bay” group has waged war on plastic bags in a campaign called “The Bay vs. The Bag,” while some feel it’s a fight not worth fighting.
Guardian columnist, George Monibot, wrote last week in his column “plastic bags are not the scourge of the planet, their biggest evil is to distract us from more pressing causes.”The San Fransicso “Save the Bay” group has waged war on plastic bags in a campaign... more
